Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Florida Review are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge. Submit...
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.
Florida Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/15/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Hidden River Arts
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/15/20
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Hidden River Publishing is given annually for a book-length work of nonfiction. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission...
read moreNew Ohio Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/15/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,500 each and publication in New Ohio Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Ada Limón will judge in...
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 4/20/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $2,500 each are given annually for a book of poetry and a book of prose translated from any language into English and published in the previous year. For the...
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/20/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of poetry or a text from Zen Buddhism translated from an Asian language into English and published in the previous year....
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/20/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction translated from Italian into English and published in the previous year. Publishers or translators may...
read moreDIAGRAM/New Michigan Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/27/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000, publication by New Michigan Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a chapbook of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid-genre work. Ander...
read moreWinning Writers
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/20
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $3,000 each and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually for a short story and an essay. Dennis Norris II will judge. Using only the online...
read moreRestless Books
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/1/20
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $10,000 and publication by Restless Books is given in alternating years for a debut book of fiction or nonfiction by a first-generation immigrant. The 2020 prize...
read moreWhiting Foundation
Cash Prize: $40,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/4/20
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Up to eight grants of $40,000 each are given annually for creative nonfiction works-in-progress to enable writers to complete their books. Creative nonfiction writers under...
read moreNational Book Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $135
Application Deadline: 5/13/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually to honor books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and young people’s literature written by U.S. writers and published in the United...
read moreAcademy of American Poets
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/15/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a second book of poetry by a living poet to be published in the coming calendar year. The winner also receives an all-expenses paid...
read morePloughshares
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $24
Application Deadline: 5/15/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreNew Letters
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $24
Application Deadline: 5/18/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,500 each and publication in New Letters are given annually for a group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Submit up to six poems or a story or...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/1/20
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A grant of $10,000 will be given annually for a nonfiction work-in-progress that “uses oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement.” Using only the...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/1/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Grants of $2,000 to $4,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously appeared...
read moreWriter’s Digest
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 6/5/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000, publication on the Writer’s Digest website, and an all-expenses paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City is given annually for a...
read moreWestern Connecticut State University
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/14/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published in the previous year. The winners also receive $500 in travel expenses to...
read morePulitzer Prizes
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 6/15/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $15,000 each are given annually to U.S. writers for books of poetry, fiction, general nonfiction, and biography or autobiography (including memoir) published in...
read moreAmerican-Scandinavian Foundation
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/15/20
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 moreTowson University
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/15/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction by a current resident of Maryland who has lived in the state for at least three years...
read moreMaine Arts Commission
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/18/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A fellowship of up to $5,000 is given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, or a creative nonfiction writer who has lived in the state of Maine for at least one year. The...
read moreMexico
Cash Prize: $150,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/22/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $150,000 is given annually to honor the lifetime achievement of a poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer who writes in Catalan, French, Galician,...
read moreGreat Lakes Colleges Association
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/25/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes are given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer to honor their first books. The winners each receive an all-expenses paid trip to...
read moreArtist Trust
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/29/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Grants of $1,500 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who are residents of Washington State. Students enrolled in a degree-granting program...
read more