Two prizes of $1,500 each, publication by Washington Writers’ Publishing House, and 25 author copies are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection or...
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.
Washington Writers’ Publishing House
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 6/30/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Bellevue Literary Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 7/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellevue Literary Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay about health, healing, illness, the...
read moreFarrar, Straus and Giroux
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/3/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $15,000 is given annually to an emerging poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer from an underrepresented community who has not published and is not...
read moreLos Angeles Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 7/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Los Angeles Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, a work of flash fiction, and an essay. Using only the...
read moreBlack Warrior Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Black Warrior Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system...
read moreGranum Foundation
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually to a poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer to support the completion of a manuscript-in-progress. Up to three finalists are...
read morePrairie Schooner
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/1/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Prairie Schooner is given annually for an essay. Submit up to 5,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by August 1. Visit the...
read moreDelaware Division of the Arts
Cash Prize: $8,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/3/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Established Professional Fellowships of $8,000 each and Emerging Professional Fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction...
read moreLiterary Arts
Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 8/7/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Fellowships of $4,000 each are given annually to aid Oregon writers in initiating, developing, or completing literary projects in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction....
read moreTulipTree Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/9/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay that responds to the following prompt: “What if the only way to save yourself from this reality is to...
read moreFuturepoem
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 8/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Cross-Genre
A prize of $1,000, publication by Futurepoem, and 25 author copies is given annually for a book of innovative poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid work “that...
read moreMasters Review
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 8/30/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for a short story or an essay by an emerging writer. Writers who have not published a book, self-...
read moreBlack Lawrence Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 8/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a debut collection of poems, short stories, or essays. The editors and a...
read moreAmerican Literary Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 9/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in American Literary Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission...
read moreLiterary Arts
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $55
Application Deadline: 9/4/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and general nonfiction published in the current year by writers living in...
read moreDogwood
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 9/5/26
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. Using only the online submission system, submit up...
read moreHarvard University
Cash Prize: $78,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/10/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Fellowships of $78,000 each, as well as office space at the Radcliffe Institute and access to the libraries at Harvard University, are given annually to poets, fiction writers...
read moreAmerican-Scandinavian Foundation
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
A prize of $5,000 and publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review is given annually for an English translation of a work of poetry, fiction, or creative...
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