A prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review is given annually for a poem or a work of flash fiction or creative nonfiction. Submit up to three poems, stories,...
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.
Indiana Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/15/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Grayson Books
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $26
Application Deadline: 8/15/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Grayson Books is given annually for a poetry collection. John Sibley Williams will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a...
read moreFuturepoem
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 8/15/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000, publication by Futurepoem, and 25 author copies is given annually for a book of innovative poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid-genre work “that challenges...
read moreKallisto Gaia Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/20/22
Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication in Ocotillo Review are given annually for a poem and a short story. Zoë Fay-Stindt will judge the Julia Darling Memorial...
read moreAesthetica
Cash Prize: $3,256
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Two prizes of £2,500 (approximately $3,256) each and publication in Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual are given annually for a poem and a short story. In addition, the...
read moreUtica College
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the previous year by a resident of upstate New York. The winner will also give a reading and teach a...
read moreMunster Literature Centre
Cash Prize: $1,089
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,089) and publication by the Munster Literature Centre is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner will also receive accommodations...
read moreTalking Gourds
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. The winner will also be featured in a Bardic Trails online reading in 2023 and will receive a $100 honorarium for...
read moreGrid Books
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Grid Books is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer over the age of 60. Garrett Hongo will judge. Using only the online...
read moreGulf Coast
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $26
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given annually for a short work of prose. Submit a prose poem, a work of flash fiction, or a micro essay of up to 500...
read moreOmnidawn Publishing
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $3,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 100 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Shane McCrae will judge. Submit a manuscript of 40 to...
read moreGulf Coast
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given in alternating years for a group of poems or a prose excerpt translated from any language into English. The 2022...
read moreBlack Lawrence Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 8/31/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Black Lawrence Press is given annually for a debut collection of poems, short stories, or essays. The editors will judge. Using only the...
read moreAcademy of American Poets
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 9/1/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $5,000, publication by Graywolf Press, and a six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy, is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet...
read moreAmerican-Scandinavian Foundation
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/1/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review is given annually for an English translation of a work of poetry, fiction, or creative...
read moreDogwood
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $12
Application Deadline: 9/5/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Dogwood are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than 10...
read moreHarvard University
Cash Prize: $78,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/8/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Fellowships of $78,000 each, office space at the Radcliffe Institute, and access to the libraries at Harvard University are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and...
read moreFinishing Line Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 9/15/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Finishing Line Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook by a writer who identifies as a woman and has not yet published a full-length...
read moreCave Canem Foundation
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/15/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Jai-Alai Books is given annually for a poetry chapbook by a Black poet. The winner will also give a reading at the O, Miami Poetry Festival...
read moreThe Moth
Cash Prize: $1,089
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 9/15/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,089) and publication in the Moth is given annually for a poem, story, or essay that features “an exploration of the writer’s...
read moreLightscatter Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 9/15/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, 25 author copies, and multimodal publication by Lightscatter Press will be given annually for a poetry collection written by an emerging writer. Hybrid works...
read moreJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Cash Prize: $50,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/16/22
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Fellowships of approximately $50,000 each are awarded annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on the basis of “exceptional creative ability.”...
read moreCoffee-House Poetry
Cash Prize: $2,507
Entry Fee: $7
Application Deadline: 9/26/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of £2,000 (approximately $2,507) is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,254) is also given. Both winners receive...
read moreUniversity of Mississippi
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/30/22
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a single poem that evokes the American South. The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the...
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