A prize of $1,000 and a two-week residency at the Mission Hill Casitas that John Updike owned and worked out of in Tucson is given annually for a group of poems or a work of...
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.
John Updike Society
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreConduit 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...
read moreMasters 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A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for an excerpt of an unpublished novel or novel-in-progress displaying “a strong voice,...
read moreUniversity 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...
read moreBrooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
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 moreAcademy 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.”...
read moreLitMag
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...
read moreYale 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...
read moreLoft Literary Center
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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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