writing contests

Nine frequent contest judges—who also happen to be some of the most productive writers and editors working today—offer advice and insight about what they look for in entries, how they winnow the piles, and what it takes to win.

The current judge for America’s oldest and most prestigious first-book prize for poets discusses his encounter with the poems from Blue Yodel, Ansel Elkins’s 2014 prize-winning collection, which will be published next year by Yale University Press. 

Six winners of recent writing contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction share the ways that winning has changed their lives and work, and how previous losses have paved the way to success.

A poet seeks out the plentiful—and often profitable—foreign prizes open to American writers.

More than 475 awards worth over $4,544,505 are available with no entry fees to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers this year.