Half-term and full-term fellowships of $16,000 and $30,000 respectively are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, and...
read moreWriting 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.
American Academy in Rome
Cash Prize: $16,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 11/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Stanford University
Cash Prize: $75,000
Entry Fee: $55
Application Deadline: 11/2/26
Ten fellowships, five in poetry and five in fiction, of $75,000 each per year to attend Stanford University’s two-year creative writing program are given annually for...
read moreConduit Books & Ephemera
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/3/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 15 author copies is given annually for a book of poetry. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48...
read moreOnly Poems
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $22
Application Deadline: 11/7/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Only Poems will be given annually for a single poem that is in the spirit of Leonard Cohen and “deals in some way with the...
read moreMasters Review
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 11/8/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for an excerpt of an unpublished novel or novel-in-progress by an emerging writer. The winner...
read moreF(r)iction
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/13/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the F(r)iction website is given biannually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 1,001 to...
read moreNarrative
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 11/13/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,500 is given annually for a short story, a work of flash fiction, an essay, a memoir, a photo essay, a short graphic narrative, or an excerpt from a longer work...
read moreAcademy of American Poets
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Academy of American Poets website in the Poem-a-Day series is given annually for a poem that helps readers recognize “the vulnerable...
read moreNightboat Books
Cash Prize: $1,200
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry
Up to four prizes of $1,200 each, publication by Nightboat Books, and 25 author copies are given annually for poetry collections. The editors will judge. Using only the online...
read moreArkansas International
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Arkansas International will be given annually for a single poem. Writers who have not published a poetry collection by May 1, 2027...
read moreBrooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $500 and publication on the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website is given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the...
read moreFine Arts Work Center
Cash Prize: $1,300
Entry Fee: $40
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Fellowships for a seven-month residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are given annually to four poets and four fiction writers who have not...
read moreCommonwealth Club of California
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Five prizes of $2,500 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, a first book of fiction, a book of creative nonfiction, and a book dealing with a...
read morePushcart Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given occasionally for a fiction or nonfiction manuscript that has been rejected by a commercial publisher. The award recognizes “worthy manuscripts that...
read moreLitMag
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication in LitMag is given annually for a single poem. The winner will also have their work reviewed by agents Amy Bishop-Wycisk (Trellis...
read moreNarratively
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $3,000 and publication on Narratively’s storytelling platform is given annually for a short work of memoir written in the first person. Using only the online...
read morePerugia Press
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000, publication by Perugia Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a woman poet, inclusive of all gender-...
read moreFordham University at Lincoln Center
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 11/15/26
Genre: Poetry
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Fordham University Press are given annually for poetry collections. The winners also receive a one-on-one publicity consultation...
read moreWriter’s Digest
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 11/16/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a short short story. The winner is also provided money for travel and lodging expenses to attend the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference....
read moreGunpowder Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/16/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, bilingual publication in English and Spanish by Gunpowder Press, and 10 author copies will be given annually for a poetry chapbook by a Latinx poet who is...
read moreThe Story Prize
Cash Prize: $20,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 11/16/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a story collection written in English and published in the United States in the current year. Two runners-up will receive $5,000 each,...
read moreCommunity of Literary Magazines & Presses
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $65
Application Deadline: 11/18/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each are given annually for a book of poetry, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction published by an independent press in the current year...
read moreUniversity of North Texas
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/30/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the current year by a midcareer poet. The winner will also give a reading and book signing at the...
read moreMichigan Quarterly Review
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/30/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review is given annually for a short story. Bruna Dantas Lobato will judge. Using only the online submission...
read more