A prize of $2,500 and publication by the Center for Literary Publishing is given annually for a poetry collection. Craig Morgan Teicher will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to...
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.
WOMR/WFMR Community Radio
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. Marge Piercy will judge. Submit up to five poems totaling no more than seven pages with a $15 entry fee by January 15....
read moreLongleaf Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Longleaf Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to give a virtual reading in early...
read morePoetry Society of Virginia
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $36
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the current year. The winner is also invited to read at the Poetry Society of Virginia’s annual...
read moreNorth Carolina Writers’ Network
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $12
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
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 moreEllen Meloy Fund
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
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 moreRed Hen Press
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a story collection, a novella, a novel, or other book-length work of fiction. E. P. Tuazon will judge....
read moreAsheville Poetry Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore...
read moreVirginia Commonwealth University
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is given annually for a first or second book of poetry...
read moreGeorgia Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Georgia Review will be given annually for a short story or an essay. Allegra Hyde will judge. Submit a story or essay of up to 9,...
read moreNational Endowment for the Arts
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/16/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Approximately 20 grants of up to $25,000 each are given annually to translators of poetry and prose. Writers who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States and...
read moreAustralian Book Review
Cash Prize: $3,236
Entry Fee: $19
Application Deadline: 1/28/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 AUD (approximately $3,236) is given annually for an essay. A second-place prize of $3,000 AUD (approximately $1,942) and a third-place prize of $2,000 AUD (...
read moreNorth Carolina Writers’ Network
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story or a self-contained novel excerpt. The winning work of fiction is also considered for publication in Thomas Wolfe...
read moreBlack Lawrence Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Cross-Genre
A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a novel. The contest is open to traditional novels as well as “novels-in-...
read moreRegal House Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $25...
read moreswamp pink
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
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 moreIowa Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
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 moreMoney for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
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 moreArts Literature Laboratory
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer who is a resident of Wisconsin (or who has previously resided in Wisconsin for at least five years)...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
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 moreNimrod International Journal
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
Two prizes of $2,000 and publication in Nimrod International Journal are given annually for a poem or group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category...
read moreChautauqua Institution
Cash Prize: $7,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
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 moreArts Literature Laboratory
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of fiction by a writer who is a resident of Wisconsin (or who has previously resided in Wisconsin for at least five years)...
read moreArts Literature Laboratory
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of nonfiction, including creative nonfiction, by a writer who is a resident of Wisconsin (or who has previously resided in...
read moreSchaffner Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/25
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 more