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 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.
American Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 4/19/21
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
American Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $6,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/19/21
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $6,000 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: 4/19/21
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 moreWhiting Foundation
Cash Prize: $40,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/19/21
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 moreSixfold
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $5
Application Deadline: 4/23/21
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...
read moreF(r)iction
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/29/21
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 is given twice yearly for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 1,000 to 7,500 words with a $15 entry fee by April 29. All...
read moreUniversity of Iowa Press
Cash Prize:
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
Publication by University of Iowa Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 150 pages with a $20...
read moreUniversity of Mississippi
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,500 is given annually for a single poem that evokes the American South. The winner will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the...
read moreOversound
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $18
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Oversound, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Timothy Donnelly will judge. Using only the online submission...
read moreBeloit Poetry Journal
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Beloit Poetry Journal is given annually for a single poem. Natasha Trethewey will judge. Using only the online submission system,...
read moreTupelo Press
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $3,000, publication by Tupelo Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. Victoria Chang will judge. Submit a manuscript...
read moreMarsh Hawk Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Marsh Hawk Press is given annually for a poetry collection. David Lehman will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a...
read moreJust Buffalo Literary Center
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A fellowship, which includes a stipend of $1,500 and a monthlong residency in Buffalo, New York, will be given annually to a poet. The fellowship includes lodging at a private...
read moreDIAGRAM/New Michigan Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
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 moreGhost Story
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website is given twice yearly for a short story with a supernatural or magic realism theme. The winning work will...
read moreTrio House Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Lee Ann Roripaugh will judge. Using only the online...
read moreUniversity of Pittsburgh Press
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $5,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $25 entry fee...
read moreTrio House Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. Steve Healey will judge. Using only the...
read moreWinning Writers
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
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. Unpublished and...
read moreInlandia Institute
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
Two prizes of $1,000 each, publication by the Inlandia Institute, and twenty author copies are given annually for a poetry collection by a U.S. resident and a poetry collection...
read morePoetry International
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International is given annually for a single poem. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems with a...
read moreOmnidawn Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in OmniVerse, the online journal of Omnidawn Publishing, is given annually for a single poem. The winner also receives 50 copies of a...
read moreAshland Poetry Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Ashland Poetry Press, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Maggie Anderson will judge. Using only the online...
read moreUniversity of Mississippi
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/30/21
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a novel published during the previous year that is set in the South and reflects Willie Morris’s “hope for belonging, for belief in a...
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