Three prizes of $1,000 each and a five-day stay at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, are given annually for a poetry collection, a book 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.
Arts + Literature Laboratory
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
North Carolina Writers’ Network
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $12
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay “that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The winning essay is also...
read moreGeorgia Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Georgia Review is given annually for a short story or an essay. Kiese Laymon will judge. Submit a story or essay of up to 9,000...
read moreEllen Meloy Fund
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy’s writing” to...
read moreStanford University Libraries
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 1/30/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $5,000 each are given biennially for books of fiction and nonfiction published in the previous two years. The awards, cosponsored by the Stanford University...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Nine fellowships of $1,500 each and participation in a virtual five-month mentorship program, which includes one-on-one mentorship with an established writer; introductions to...
read morePrairie Heritage, Inc.
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a published poetry collection, book of fiction, or book of creative nonfiction that “illuminates the heritage of North America’s mid-...
read moreIowa Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,500 each and publication in Iowa Review are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission...
read moreswamp pink
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in swamp pink are given annually for a single poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system,...
read moreMoney for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Grants of up to $2,000 each are given in alternating years to feminist poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who are citizens of the United States or Canada. This year...
read moreAustin Community College
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,500 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction published during the previous year. Authors or...
read morePinch
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
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 moreFish Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,155
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,155) and publication in the annual Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short memoir. The winner is also invited to give a...
read moreChautauqua Institution
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 and publication in Chautauqua is given annually for a single work of fiction or nonfiction by an emerging writer displaying “daring formal and...
read moreSchaffner 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 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 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 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 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 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 moreAssociation of Writers & Writing Programs
Cash Prize: $5,500
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 2/28/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $5,500 each and publication by a participating press are given annually for a poetry collection, a short story collection, and a novel. A prize of $2,500 and...
read moreMississippi Arts Commission
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Fellowships of up to $5,000 each are given in alternating years to Mississippi poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. This year the fellowships will be...
read moreBiographers International Organization
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/1/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a work-in-progress by a debut biographer. The winner also receives a review of their manuscript proposal by an agent, publicity through...
read moreAlabama State Council on the Arts
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/2/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
At least two fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who are legal residents of Alabama and have lived in the...
read moreDayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $100
Application Deadline: 3/4/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for a book of fiction and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published in the previous year that “foster peace,...
read more