Writing 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.

Tupelo Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 10/31/24

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Tupelo Press will be given annually for a full- or chapbook-length poetry collection or a book of nonfiction (including memoir, essays, and...

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Red Hen Press

Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $3,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Jason Schneiderman will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a...

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Comstock Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 10/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Comstock Review, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Abayomi Animashaun will judge. Submit a manuscript of 25 to 34...

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Persea Books

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 10/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Persea Books is given annually for a debut poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. The winner also receives an optional...

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Tucson Festival of Books

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/31/24

Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The winners will also receive scholarships to attend a workshop at the...

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University of North Texas Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of...

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Saturnalia Books

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/31/24

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Saturnalia Books is given annually for a poetry collection in translation. Translators who identify as female (including those who are...

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Cloudbank Books

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/31/24

A prize of $1,000, publication by Cloudbank Books, and 50 author copies is given annually for a collection of poetry, flash fiction, or a combination of the two. Submit a...

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River Teeth

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 10/31/24

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of New Mexico Press is given annually for a book of creative nonfiction. Beth Nguyen will judge. Using only the online...

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Stanford University

Cash Prize: $102,000
Entry Fee: $55
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Five fellowships in poetry and five fellowships in fiction, each of $51,000 per year to attend Stanford University’s two-year creative writing program, will be given annually...

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Fiction Collective Two

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,500 and publication by Fiction Collective Two is given annually for a novel, a story collection, a novella, or a novella collection. Writers who are from or are...

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North American Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $23
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for a single poem. Stephanie Burt will judge. Submit up to five poems of any length with a $...

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African Poetry Book Fund

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500 is given annually for a group of poems by an African poet who has not published a full-length collection. Writers who were born in Africa, are nationals or...

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John Updike Society

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/1/24

A prize of $1,000 and a two-week residency at the Mission Hill Casitas in Tucson, Arizona, will be given annually for a group of poems or a work of fiction or nonfiction. The...

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American Academy in Rome

Cash Prize: $16,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 11/1/24

Half-term and full-term fellowships of $16,000 and $30,000 respectively are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, and...

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Brick Road Poetry Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Brick Road Poetry Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Miriam Calleja will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50...

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North American Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $23
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for a work of speculative fiction. Kevin Brockmeier will judge. Submit up to two works of...

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Moment Magazine

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a story that relates to Judaism or Jewish culture or history. The winning story will be considered for publication in Moment...

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Fiction Collective Two

Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $15,000 and publication by Fiction Collective Two, an imprint of University of Alabama Press, is given annually for a novel, a story collection, a novella, or a...

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Malahat Review

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $26
Application Deadline: 11/1/24

Three prizes of $2,000 Canadian (approximately $1,461) each and publication in Malahat Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the...

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F(r)iction

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the F(r)iction...

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Conduit Books & Ephemera

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/3/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 30 author copies is given annually for a book of poetry. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48...

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University of Wisconsin Press

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 11/7/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500 and publication by University of Wisconsin Press will be given for a poetry collection in translation. Idra Novey will judge. Using only the online submission...

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Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival

Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/24

Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website is given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the borough’s “rich soul and intangible...

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Perugia Press

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $2,000, publication by Perugia Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. Using...

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