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.

Backwaters Press

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $32
Application Deadline: 5/1/26
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Backwaters Press, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, is given annually for a poetry collection. An honorable mention prize of $1,...

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McGill University

Cash Prize: $14,418
Entry Fee: $18
Application Deadline: 5/1/26
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $20,000 Canadian (approximately $14,418) is given biennially for a poem. Natalie Diaz will judge, and Jaswinder Bolina, Kayla Czaga, Boris Dralyuk, Iona Lee, Brandy...

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High Desert Museum

Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/1/26

A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a work of nonfiction that recognizes “the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and the human narrative.” The winner is...

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Winning Writers

Cash Prize: $3,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/1/26

Two prizes of $3,500 each, two gift certificates for two-year memberships to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually...

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Academy of American Poets

Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 5/15/26
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $25,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a living poet published in the United States during the previous year. The winner also receives a 10-day...

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Academy of American Poets

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/15/26
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a second poetry collection by a living poet to be published in the next calendar year. The winner also receives an all-expenses-paid...

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Regal House Publishing

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/15/26
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a novella. The editors will judge. English translations of works originally written in another...

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Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 5/15/26
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a debut novel primarily set in the American South. Authors living anywhere are eligible. Self-published books are accepted, but books...

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Trio House Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/15/26

A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a book of nonfiction by a writer living in the United States. Deborah Derrickson...

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Georgia Review

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/15/26
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500 and publication in Georgia Review is given annually for a single poem. Brian Teare will judge. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than 10...

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