An award of $1,000, publication in Pinch, and two contributor copies will be given annually for a work of flash creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission...
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.
Schaffner Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Schaffner Press is given annually for a poetry collection, a novel, a story collection, an essay collection, or a memoir that “deals in...
read moreNimrod International Journal
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Two prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Nimrod International Journal are given annually for a poem or group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each...
read moreMasters Review
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $3,000 and online publication in Masters Review is given biannually for a short story by an emerging writer. Writers who have not published a book, have...
read moreBiographers International Organization
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to writers working on a book-length biography of an African American figure (or figures) “whose story provides a significant...
read moreAmerican Short Fiction
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $18
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in American Short Fiction is given annually for a work of flash fiction. Using only the online submission system, submit up to two...
read morePoetry Center at Passaic County Community College
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Paterson Literary Review is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of $1,000 and publication is also given. The...
read morePoetry Center at Passaic County Community College
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the previous year. The winning poet is expected to participate in an awards ceremony, give a reading,...
read moreWB Yeats Society of NY
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the WB Yeats Society of NY website is given annually for a single poem. The winner also receives a two-year membership to the organization...
read moreSalem State University
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Soundings East, the annual literary journal of Salem State University, is given annually for a group of poems. Susan Rich will...
read moreStadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two residencies of up to four months at the Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts at Bucknell University, which include a stipend of $5,000 each, are given annually to...
read moreSlippery Elm
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Slippery Elm are given annually for a single poem and a short story or essay. Using only the online submission system,...
read moreBrick Road Poetry Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 2/1/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Brick Road Poetry Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Matthew Layne will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50...
read morePoetry Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/2/26
Genre: Poetry
An award of $10,000 and publication by Graywolf Press will be given triennially for a poetry collection by a U.S. poet who is 40 years old or older. Poets who have published no...
read moreSouthern Indiana Review
Cash Prize: $6,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 2/2/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $6,000 and publication by Southern Indiana Review Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Carl Phillips will judge. Submit 40 to 120 pages of poetry (no...
read moreAcademy of American Poets
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A fellowship of $25,000 is given biennially to support the translation into English of a work of modern Italian poetry. The winning translator will also receive a five-week...
read moreFinishing Line Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Finishing Line Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Leah Huete de Maines will judge. Submit a manuscript of 16 to 34 pages, a...
read moreAcademy of American Poets
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the United States during the previous year....
read morePlentitudes
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in the Plentitudes is given annually for a single poem, a short story, an essay, and a work of flash fiction or nonfiction....
read moreGay & Lesbian Review
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Up to three grants of up to $5,000 each and publication of an article in the Gay & Lesbian Review will be given annually for projects with a primary focus...
read morePoetry Northwest
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Poetry Northwest are given annually for a single poem by an Indigenous poet. The winners also receive an all-expenses-paid...
read moreFurious Flower Poetry Center
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Obsidian, the literary journal of Illinois State University, is given annually for a group of poems in conversation with the...
read moreSarabande Books
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $34
Application Deadline: 2/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication by Sarabande Books are given annually for a poetry collection, a work of fiction, and an essay collection. For the Kathryn A. Morton...
read moreWest Chester University
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 2/20/26
Genre: Poetry
Five prizes of $1,000 to $1,500 each are given annually for a single poem “composed in the traditional modes of meter, rhyme, and received forms” (Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award...
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