Runaway
In the aftermath of his father’s death, an encounter with a literary hero at the Disquiet International Literary Program gives the author of Wyoming what he needs to write again: gratitude.
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Tags: novel
Crime and Compassion: A Profile of T Kira Māhealani Madden
T Kira Māhealani Madden’s new novel, Whidbey, asks challenging questions about how we as a society treat and talk about both the survivors and perpetrators of sexual abuse.
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The Accordion Method of Time Management, or Thoughts on Scene
The author of Clutch (Tin House, February 2026) reflects on poetic time, dialogue, and writing effective scenes.
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Award Series
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
Entry Fee:
$30
Deadline:
February 28, 2026
Three prizes of $5,500 each and publication by a participating press are given annually for a poetry collection, a short story collection, and a novel. A prize of $2,500 and publication by a participating press is also given annually for an essay collection or a memoir. For the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages. For the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, submit a manuscript of 150 to 300 pages. For the James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel, submit a manuscript of 60,000 to 110,000 words. For the Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction, submit a manuscript of 150 to 300 pages. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript with a $30 entry fee ($20 for AWP members) by February 28. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
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Big Moose Prize
Black Lawrence Press
Entry Fee:
$30
Deadline:
January 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a novel. The contest is open to traditional novels as well as “novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.” The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 90 to 1,000 pages with a $30 entry fee by January 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
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First Novel Fellowship
James Jones Literary Society
Entry Fee:
$33
Deadline:
March 15, 2026
A fellowship of $12,000 is given annually for a novel-in-progress that honors “the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture as exemplified by (the writings of) James Jones.” The first runner-up receives $3,000 and the second runner-up receives $2,000. U.S. writers who have not published a novel are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit the first 50 pages of a novel-in-progress and a synopsis of up to two pages with a $33 entry fee by March 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
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Literary Awards
Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Entry Fee:
$0
Deadline:
December 31, 2025
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 2025 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.
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Ten Questions for E. Y. Zhao
“I try to write every day, whether that’s generating new words or taking a walk to think about a revision problem.” —E. Y. Zhao, author of Underspin
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Ten Questions for Austyn Wohlers
“[Y]ou can’t edit something into being good before getting it down.” —Austyn Wohlers, author of Hothouse Bloom
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Looking for Love in a Time of Global Loneliness: A Profile of Kiran Desai
In her third novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, which comes out nearly twenty years after her Booker Prize–winning The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai considers loneliness in all its states of loss and heartache, possibility and promise, through the lens of a love story.
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