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.

North American Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $23
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for a work of speculative fiction. Rachel Yoder will judge. Submit up to two works of...

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Conduit Books & Ephemera

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/3/25
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...

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Cave Canem Foundation

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/3/25
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000; publication by O, Miami Books; and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook by a Black poet. The winner will also receive a residency in the...

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Masters Review

Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 11/9/25
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A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for an excerpt of an unpublished novel or novel-in-progress displaying “a strong voice,...

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University of Wisconsin Press

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 11/10/25
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500 and publication by University of Wisconsin Press is given annually for a poetry collection in translation. Daniel Borzutzky will judge. Using only the online...

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Perugia Press

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
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 writer who identifies as a woman, including...

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Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival

Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25

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...

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Academy of American Poets

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Academy of American Poets website is given annually for a poem that helps readers recognize “the vulnerable state of our environment.”...

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LitMag

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $18
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
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...

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Loft Literary Center

Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25

Four prizes of $25,000 each are given annually to Minnesota poets, prose writers, and spoken word artists. Fellows will also receive an all-expenses-paid, one- or two-week...

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Yale University Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Yale University Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has not published a full-length book of poetry and who...

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