Genre: Fiction

Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction

LitMag
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
December 31, 2024
A prize of $2,500 and publication in LitMag is given annually for a short story. The winner will also have their work reviewed by agents Lisa Bankoff (Bankoff Collaborative), Jenny Bent (Bent Agency), Sonali Chanchani and Erin Harris (Folio Literary Management), Emily Forland (Brandt & Hochman), David Forrer (Inkwell Management), Mollie Glick (Creative Artists Agency), Nat Sobel (Sobel Weber Associates), and Monika Woods (Triangle House). The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 3,000 to 8,000 words with a $20 entry fee by December 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Cabell First Novelist Award

Virginia Commonwealth University
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
December 30, 2024
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a debut novel published during the current year. The winner is also provided money for the cost of travel and lodging to attend the Cabell First Novelist Award event at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in fall 2025. A committee of VCU faculty and MFA candidates will judge. Agents, editors, and authors may submit one digital copy and five hard copies of a book published in 2024 by December 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 
first book awards

Rising Writer Prize

Autumn House Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
November 15, 2024
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given in alternating years for a debut work of poetry or fiction. The 2025 prize will be given for fiction. The winner will also receive a $1,000 stipend for travel and book promotion. K-Ming Chang will judge. Submit a novel, novella, or story collection of 100 to 200 pages with a $30 entry fee by November 15. The submission fee may be waived in cases of financial need. All finalists are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Jesmyn Ward Prize in Fiction

Michigan Quarterly Review
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
December 31, 2024
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review is given annually for a short story. Ghassan Zeineddine will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 1,500 to 7,000 words with a $25 entry fee by December 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Short Short Story Competition

Writer’s Digest
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
November 15, 2024
A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a short short story. The winner is also provided money for travel and lodging expenses to attend the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference. A second-place prize of $1,500 is also awarded. The winners will both be published in Writer’s Digest. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of up to 1,500 words with a $30 entry fee by the early bird deadline of November 15 or with a $35 entry fee by December 16. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
December 31, 2024
A prize of $15,000 is given annually to an emerging African American writer for a book of fiction published in the current year. The winner is also provided money for the cost of travel and lodging to attend an awards ceremony and participate in educational outreach events in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2025. Anthony Grooms, Edward P. Jones, Opal J. Moore, Francine Prose, and Patricia Towers will judge. Submit eight copies (or bound galleys) of a story collection or novel published in 2024 by December 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Mississippi Review Prize

Mississippi Review
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
January 1, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Mississippi Review are given annually for a single poem, a short story, and an essay. Current or former University of Southern Mississippi students are ineligible. Submit three to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages or a story or essay of 1,000 to 8,000 words with a $15 entry fee ($16 for electronic submissions), which includes a copy of the prize issue, by January 1, 2025. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Nutty Fever Dream

The Time Is Now
10.9.24

Nutter Butter, the peanut butter sandwich cookie that launched in 1969, has recently found itself the topic of internet discussion revolving around videos posted on their TikTok page, which combine the bizarre and psychedelic with the creepy and cryptic. In an interview with the New York Times, a social media manager for the cookie company’s accounts spoke about how social media content performs best when it’s confusing and surreal, remarking: “We were trying to tap into: What is a Nutter Butter’s fever dream?” Write a short story inspired by imagining the fever dream of an object of your choosing—perhaps a favorite snack or household product. How might leaning into the nonsensical open new pathways for your story’s forward momentum?

Literary Awards

Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
December 31, 2024
Four prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a debut novel, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) by African American writers published in the United States in the current year. The awards honor books that depict the “cultural, historical, or sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora.” Publishers may nominate books published in 2024 by December 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for a list of jurors to whom books should be sent and complete guidelines.
Tags: 
novel | African American | book awards | first book awards

Fall Story Contest

Narrative
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
November 26, 2024
A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, a memoir, a photo essay, a short graphic narrative, or an excerpt from a longer work of prose. A second-place prize of $1,000 and publication in Narrative is also awarded. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 15,000 words of prose with a $27 entry fee by November 26. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 
essays | short stories | short-shorts

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