Writing Contests, Grants & Awards

The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

Maine Arts Commission

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/3/24

A fellowship of up to $5,000 is given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, a creative nonfiction writer, or a writer working in a genre outside these categories who is a...

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Conduit Books & Ephemera

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/7/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 30 author copies is given annually for a debut poetry collection. Bob Hicok will judge. Submit a manuscript...

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Ledbury Poetry

Cash Prize: $1,268
Entry Fee: $8
Application Deadline: 7/8/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,268) and publication on the Ledbury Poetry website is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to attend a weeklong...

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Stony Brook Southampton 

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/14/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story by a current undergraduate college student. The winner also receives a full scholarship to attend the Southampton Writers...

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University of Canberra 


Cash Prize: $9,892
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 7/14/24
Genre: Poetry

A first-place prize of $15,000 AUD (approximately $9,892) and a second-place prize of $5,000 AUD (approximately $3,297) are given annually for a single poem. The winners will...

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Rattle

Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 7/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $15,000 and publication in Rattle is given annually for a single poem. A Readers’ Choice Award of $5,000 is also given to one of ten finalists. Using only the...

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Pulitzer Prizes

Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 7/15/24

Six prizes of $15,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, general nonfiction, U.S. history, biography, and memoir first published in the United States during...

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Comstock Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 7/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Comstock Review is given annually for a single poem. Charles Rafferty will judge. Submit up to five poems of no more than 60 lines...

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Ghost Story

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 7/15/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Ghost Story website is given biannually for a work of flash fiction with a supernatural or magical realist theme. The editors...

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The Word Works

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by the Word Works, and 30 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published at least two full-length books of...

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Cincinnati Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/15/24

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Cincinnati Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Erica Dawson will judge in poetry, Michael...

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Regal House Publishing

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/15/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a novel. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript...

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Narrative

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $26
Application Deadline: 7/18/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a poem or group of poems. The poetry editors will judge. Using only the online submission system,...

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Sixfold

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $5
Application Deadline: 7/24/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...

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Anthology Magazine 

Cash Prize: $1,088
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 7/31/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,088) and publication in Anthology Magazine is given annually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a...

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Red Wheelbarrow

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 7/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Red Wheelbarrow is given annually for a single poem. The winner also receives 20 copies of a letterpress broadside of the winning...

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Sewanee Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 7/31/24

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sewanee Review are given annually for a single poem or group of poems, a short story, and a creative nonfiction essay....

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Connecticut Poetry Society

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 7/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Connecticut River Review is given annually for an innovative poem. Claire Donato will judge. Using only the online submission system...

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Narrative

Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 7/31/24

A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a work of flash fiction, a short story, a graphic story, an essay, a memoir, or an excerpt from a...

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Press 53 

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 7/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Press 53, and 53 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Tom Lombardo will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 120 pages with...

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PEN America

Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/1/24

Ten grants of $3,000 to $4,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously...

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Granum Foundation

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/1/24

A prize of $5,000 is given annually to a poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer to support the completion of a manuscript-in-progress. Up to three finalists will...

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Radar Poetry

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/1/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Radar Poetry is given annually for a group of poems by a poet who identifies as a woman. Using only the online submission system,...

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Delaware Division of the Arts

Cash Prize: $8,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/1/24

Established Professional Fellowships of $8,000 each and Emerging Artist Fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to at least four poets, fiction writers, and creative...

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PEN America

Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/1/24

Two grants of $15,000 are given annually for nonfiction works-in-progress that “use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement.” Using only the online...

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