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.

Winning Writers

Cash Prize: $3,500
Entry Fee: $22
Application Deadline: 5/1/24

Two prizes of $3,500 each, two gift certificates for two-year memberships to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually...

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High Desert Museum

Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/1/24

A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a work of nonfiction that recognizes “the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and the human narrative...

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Backwaters Press

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $32
Application Deadline: 5/1/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Backwaters Press, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, is given annually for a poetry collection. An honorable...

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Ashland Poetry Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 5/1/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Ashland Poetry Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Matthew Rohrer will judge. Using only the online...

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Writer’s Digest

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 5/6/24

A prize of $5,000, an interview in Writer’s Digest, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference is given annually for a single poem, a short...

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Ploughshares

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $24
Application Deadline: 5/15/24

Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Each winner also receives a...

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Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 5/15/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a debut novel set in the American South. The author may live anywhere, but eligible novels must be set primarily in Alabama, Arkansas,...

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Trio House Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/15/24

A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies will be given annually for a book of nonfiction by a writer living in the United States. The editors...

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Regal House Publishing

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/15/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a novella. The editors will judge. English translations of works originally written in another...

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Academy of American Poets

Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 5/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $25,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a living poet published in the United States during the previous year. The winner also...

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Academy of American Poets

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a second book of poetry by a living poet to be published in the next calendar year. The winner also receives an all-...

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