A prize of $1,000 and publication in Sonora Review is given annually for a work of creative nonfiction on a theme. This year’s theme is “Encounter.” Hybrid work is...
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.
Sonora Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/15/19
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Washington College
Cash Prize: $45,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A nine-month fellowship, which includes a stipend of $45,000, at the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, is...
read morePleiades Press
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/15/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Pleiades Press with distribution by Louisiana State University Press is given annually for a collection of short stories, short short...
read moreSonora Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $8
Application Deadline: 11/15/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Sonora Review is given annually for a work of short prose on a theme. This year’s theme is “Encounter.” Hybrid work is encouraged...
read morePushcart Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given occasionally for a fiction or nonfiction manuscript that has been rejected by a commercial publisher. The award recognizes “worthy manuscripts that...
read moreNarrative
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/17/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a poem, a short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a longer work of fiction or creative...
read moreNarrative
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 11/30/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a longer work of prose. A second-...
read moreQuarter After Eight
Cash Prize: $1,008
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/30/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,008.15 and publication in Quarter After Eight is given annually for a prose poem, a short short story, or a micro-essay. Using only the online submission...
read morePushcart Press
Cash Prize:
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/1/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Publication in The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses is awarded annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published by literary magazines...
read moreBrooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/1/19
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $500 and publication on the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website is given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the...
read moreFriends of American Writers
Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/10/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of up to $4,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction published during the previous year by a writer who is a resident of the Midwest (or who...
read moreCommonwealth Club of California
Cash Prize:
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/15/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Five prizes are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, a first book of fiction, a book of creative nonfiction, and a book of fiction or nonfiction that...
read moreWillow Books
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 12/15/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Willow Books are given annually for a book of fiction and a book of creative nonfiction by writers of color. Using only the online...
read moreBefore Columbus Foundation
Cash Prize:
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/31/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Awards are given annually for books published in the United States during the previous year to recognize “outstanding liter-ary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’...
read moreFlorida Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 12/31/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Florida Review is given annually for a chapbook of short fiction, short nonfiction, or graphic narrative. Submit a manuscript of...
read moreNew Rivers Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 12/31/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $1,000 each, publication by New Rivers Press, and 15 author copies are given annually for a poetry collection and a book of fiction or creative nonfiction by an...
read moreCleveland Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/31/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three to four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published during...
read moreAshland Creek Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 12/31/19
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given for an unpublished or published book of fiction or creative nonfiction that focuses on the environment, animal protection, ecology, or wildlife. The...
read moreBlack Caucus of the American Library Association
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 12/31/19
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $500 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a first novel, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) by an African...
read moreNowhere Magazine
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/1/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Nowhere Magazine is given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, or an essay that “possesses a powerful sense of place.” Porter...
read moreMississippi Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 1/1/20
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Mississippi Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Current or former University of Southern...
read moreSan José State University
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/2/20
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Yearlong residencies at San José State University in San José, California, which include a stipend of $15,000 each, are given annually to fiction writers and creative...
read moreNorth Carolina Writers’ Network
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/2/20
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and possible publication in the Carolina Quarterly is given annually for a short story or an essay that “conveys the rich and varied existence of...
read moreFrench-American Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/14/20
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for translations from French into English of a book of fiction and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published...
read moreEllen Meloy Fund
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/15/20
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 more