A prize of $2,500 and publication in Philadelphia Stories is given annually for a short story. The winner will also receive travel and lodging expenses to read at...
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.
Pulitzer Prizes
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 6/15/18
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 moreOmnidawn Publishing
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 6/18/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $3,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 100 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. Srikanth Reddy will judge. Submit a...
read moreMexico
Cash Prize: $150,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/22/18
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 moreArtist Trust
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/25/18
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Grants of up to $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...
read moreGlimmer Train Press
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $18
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication in Glimmer Train Stories is given three times yearly for a short story by a writer whose fiction has not appeared in a print...
read moreUniversity of Pittsburgh Press
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $15,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Writers who have published at least one previous book...
read moreBarrow Street Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Barrow Street Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Ada Limón will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $25 entry...
read moreLos Angeles Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Los Angeles Review are given twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay. Douglas Manuel...
read moreCider Press Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $26
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Cider Press Review, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48...
read moreEngine Books
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Engine Books is given annually for a short story collection, a novella, a novella collection, or a novel. Using the online submission...
read moreThe Moth
Cash Prize: $3,690
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Fiction
A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,690) and publication in the Moth is given annually for a short story. A second-place prize of publication, a weeklong retreat at...
read moreHidden River Arts
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $17
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Hidden River Review of Arts & Letters is given annually for a short story or a novel excerpt. Using the online submission...
read moreParlor Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Parlor Press in the Free Verse Editions series is given annually for a poetry collection. Jon Thompson will judge. Using the online...
read moreUniversity of Canberra
Cash Prize: $11,900
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $15,000 AUD (approximately $11,900) and publication in an e-book anthology is given annually for a poem. A second-place prize of $5,000 AUD (approximately $3,950)...
read moreGriffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry
Cash Prize: $50,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry
Two prizes of $65,000 CAD (approximately $50,000) each are given annually for poetry collections by a Canadian poet or translator and by an international poet or translator...
read moreWinning Writers
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $60
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A grand prize of $3,000 and five prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for self-published books of poetry, fiction, genre fiction, creative nonfiction, and children's...
read moreUniversity of North Texas Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Using the online submission system, submit a...
read moreAutumn House Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Autumn House Press are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction. Each winner...
read moreBauhan Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/30/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Bauhan Publishing, and 100 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. David Blair will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 80...
read moreClaremont Graduate University
Cash Prize: $100,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/1/18
Genre: Poetry
The $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award is given annually to honor a book of poetry by a midcareer U.S. poet. The winner spends one week in residence at Claremont Graduate...
read moreNuclear Age Peace Foundation
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 7/1/18
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website is given annually for a poem that explores "positive visions of peace and the human spirit."...
read moreBellevue Literary Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 7/1/18
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellevue Literary Review are given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer for works...
read morePrairie Heritage, Inc.
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/1/18
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction published in the previous year that "illuminates the heritage of America's mid-...
read moreBlue Mountain Center
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/1/18
Genre: Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 and a monthlong residency at the Blue Mountain Center, an artists colony in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, is given annually to an essayist or journalist whose...
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