Jump to navigation Skip to content
“I could say grace was a woman with time on her hands, or a white buffalo escaped from memory. But in that dingy light it was a promise of balance,” reads Joy Harjo from her poem “Grace” in this 2019 reading at the offices of the Academy of American Poets.
Writers of all stripes will find opportunities in the last contests of May and the first of June. With deadlines of May 30, May 31, or June 1, these opportunities include a prize for undergraduate fiction writers, several contests awarding book publication, and grants supporting the translation of book-length works of poetry and prose. All offer a cash award of $1,000 or more and three charge no entry fee.
American Short Fiction Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize: A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Short Fiction is given annually for a short story. Deadline: June 1. Entry fee: $20.
Anhinga Press Prize for Poetry: A prize of $2,000, publication by Anhinga Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Ellen Bass will judge. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $25 ($28 for electronic submissions).
BOA Editions Short Fiction Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a short story collection. Peter Conners will judge. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $25.
Boulevard Emerging Poets Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a group of poems by a poet who has not published a poetry collection with a nationally distributed press. The editors will judge. Deadline: June 1. Entry fee: $16.
Bridport Arts Centre Bridport Prizes: Two prizes of £5,000 (approximately $6,871) each and publication in the Bridport Prize anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. Two second-place prizes of £1,000 (approximately $1,375) each and publication are given in each category. A prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,375) and publication is also given for a work of flash fiction. Raymond Antrobus will judge in poetry and Robert McCrum will judge in fiction and flash fiction. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: £10 (approximately $14) for poetry, £12 (approximately $17) for fiction, and £9 (approximately $12) for flash fiction.
Center for Fiction New York City Emerging Writer Fellowship: Nine fellowships of $5,000 each and a one-year membership to the Center for Fiction in New York City are given annually to fiction writers living in New York City who have not yet published a book of fiction. Winners also have the opportunity to meet with editors and agents who represent new writers, and have access to the center’s writing space, the Writers Studio, for one year. Students who will be enrolled in a degree-granting program during the fellowship period, or who are currently under contract with a publisher for a work of fiction, are ineligible. Deadline: May 30. Application fee: none.
Elixir Press Fiction Award: A prize of $2,000, publication by Elixir Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a short story collection or a novel. Ann Harleman will judge. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $40.
Milkweed Editions Max Ritvo Poetry Prize: A prize of $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions is given annually to a U.S. poet for a debut poetry collection. Henri Cole will judge. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $25.
PEN America PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants: Ten grants of $3,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an “outdated or otherwise flawed translation.” An additional $5,000 grant, the PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature, will be given to support the translation of a book of fiction or nonfiction from Italian into English. Manuscripts with up to two translators are eligible. Deadline: June 1. Entry fee: none.
Salamander Fiction Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Salamander is given annually for a short story. Yiyun Li will judge. Deadline: June 1. Entry fee: $15.
Southern Poetry Review Guy Owen Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $20.
Stony Brook Southampton Undergraduate Short Fiction Prize: A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story by a college student. The winner also receives a full scholarship to attend the Southampton Writers Conference in summer 2022, and their winning work will be considered for publication in Southampton Review. Deadline: June 1. Entry fee: none.
University of Georgia Press Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction: A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $30.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
“I got something out of being a teacher, I had to make things understood, and that put me in the class of poets who wanted to be understood,” says Robert Frost in this rare 1952 interview for NBC with Bela Kornitzer, in which the renowned poet speaks about his childhood, early publishing career, and the development of his craft, and reads two of his poems: “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “The Drumlin Woodchuck.”
“I write, I free write, I type it in a computer, and then I start over from the beginning and then I add to it.” In this 2017 City of Asylum video, Yona Harvey speaks about her revision process, self-censorship, and the difference processes for writing poems, essays, and comic books. Harvey’s second poetry collection, You Don’t Have to Go to Mars for Love (Four Way Books, 2020), won the 2020 Believer Book Award in poetry.
“She seems a part of me, / and then she seems entirely like what she is: / a white dog, / less white suddenly, against the snow,” writes Carl Phillips, recipient of the 2021 Jackson Poetry Prize, in his poem “White Dog” from his collection The Rest of Love (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004). In the poem, the speaker recounts walking their dog during the first snow of the year and realizing through their relationship the limits of love and loss. Inspired by Phillips, write a poem featuring a beloved pet of yours or an animal you’ve befriended in which you learn something new.
“The orchard was on fire, but that didn’t stop him from slowly / walking / straight into it, shirtless,” reads Carl Phillips from his poem “Dirt Being Dirt” in this video produced by Washington University in St. Louis where he is a professor. Phillips, author of fifteen books of poetry, most recently Pale Colors in a Tall Field (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), is the recipient of the 2021 Jackson Poetry Prize.
In this reading presented by the Kenyon Review, Shira Erlichman, Ross Gay, and Saeed Jones read poetry and present interdisciplinary work, as well as discuss their inspirations and writing processes in a discussion with the magazine’s editor Nicole Terez Dutton.
“Great blue mountain! Ghost. / I look at you / from the porch of the farmhouse / where I watched you all summer / as a boy,” reads the late Donald Hall from his poem “Mount Kearsarge” in this 2018 PBS NewsHour video commemorating his death at the age of eighty-nine. For more Hall, read “Fleeting: In Memory of Donald Hall” by Christopher Locke.
The Motown Mic spoken word competition came to an exciting conclusion with a grand finale virtual event on April 29 featuring five poets: Arrie Lane, Dizmantle, Keebie Mitchell, Kyle Mack, and Vizo. This annual poetry slam hosted by the Motown Museum in Detroit was open for submissions earlier this spring asking for pieces from poets that helped celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Motown legend Marvin Gaye’s record “What’s Going On.”
Interviews with all five poets can be found on their Instagram page, @motownmuseum. Each poet had the unique opportunity to work with performance coaches in the Motown Museum studio to record video and audio of their poetry performances to be aired for the grand finale. Former Motown Mic winner Mikhaella Norwood hosted a beautifully curated airing of the short films and performances from each poet of their submitted piece. At the end of the event, viewers were able to use a unique link to vote for their favorite poet.
On April 30, the 2021 Motown Mic spoken word artist of the year was announced via Instagram Live: Kyle Mack! Mack is a musician and rapper and his poem “Young America” is the first spoken word poem he’s ever written. The rhythmic piece reflects on what the city of Detroit means to him. In my next blog post, I’ll be interviewing Mack about his inspirations and what this victory means to him. Looking forward to it!
You can watch the grand finale event with an introduction from Smokey Robinson here:
Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.“At some level, I’m never quite sure how the poem is going to resolve itself and that I'm always in some way surprised—I make a discovery in the poem as I write it,” says former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove in this 2009 interview for Big Think, in which she answers questions about poetry and her writing process.
