Join us to celebrate the best published work from 2025 by Wisconsin writers. The award ceremony includes brief readings by first place winners and will be followed by a reception and book signing by the authors. The Wisconsin Writers Awards was established in 1964 and is Wisconsin’s longest-running literary award for published work. The eight awards include four awards for books; three awards for short form works including short stories, poetry, and nonfiction; and one special prize for writing by a Wisconsin high school student.
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.





