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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.
Find a home for your poems, stories, essays, and reviews by researching the publications vetted by our editorial staff. In the Literary Magazines database you’ll find editorial policies, submission guidelines, contact information—everything you need to know before submitting your work to the publications that share your vision for your work.
Whether you’re pursuing the publication of your first book or your fifth, use the Small Presses database to research potential publishers, including submission guidelines, tips from the editors, contact information, and more.
Research more than one hundred agents who represent poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, plus details about the kinds of books they’re interested in representing, their clients, and the best way to contact them.
Every week a new publishing professional shares advice, anecdotes, insights, and new ways of thinking about writing and the business of books.
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Find a home for your work by consulting our searchable databases of writing contests, literary magazines, small presses, literary agents, and more.
Poets & Writers lists readings, workshops, and other literary events held in cities across the country. Whether you are an author on book tour or the curator of a reading series, the Literary Events Calendar can help you find your audience.
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Writing Contests, Grants & Awards
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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.
Loft Literary Center
Mcknight fellowships for writers.
Four prizes of $25,000 each will be given annually to Minnesota poets, prose writers, and spoken word artists. Fellows will also receive an all-expenses-paid, one- or two-week...
Poetry and Short Story Awards
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...
Fall Story Contest
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,...
Green Linden Press
Wishing jewel prize.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Green Linden Press is given annually for an innovative book of poetry “that questions the boundaries of genre, form, or mode while engaging...
Anton Chekhov Award for Flash Fiction
A prize of $1,250 and publication in LitMag is given annually for a work of flash fiction. The winner will also have their work reviewed by agents Jenny Bent (Bent...
Tadpole Press
100-word writing contest.
A prize of $2,000 and publication on the Tadpole Press website and in Tadpole Press Literary Magazine is given biannually for a work of flash poetry or prose. Submit a...
University of North Texas
Rilke prize.
A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the current year by a midcareer poet. The winner will also give a reading and book signing at the...
Stephen Mitchell Translation Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Green Linden Press is given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction translated from any language into English....
Red Hen Press
Quill prose award.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a story or essay collection, a novel, a memoir, or a hybrid work of prose by a queer writer. Raymond...
University of Georgia Press
Georgia poetry prize.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to read from their book at the Georgia...
BOA Editions
A. poulin jr. poetry prize.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a debut book of poetry. Maya C. Popa will judge. Submit a manuscript of 65 to 120 pages with a $30 entry...
Quarter After Eight
Robert j. demott short prose contest.
A prize of $1,008.15 and publication in Quarter After Eight is given annually for a prose poem, a short short story, a micro essay, or other work of short prose. Lily...
Fish Publishing
Fish short story prize.
A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,302) and publication in the annual Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short story. The winner will also be invited to attend...
Nina Riggs Poetry Foundation
Nina riggs poetry award.
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem that examines relationships, family, or domestic life and was published in a book or magazine in the last three years....
Munster Literature Centre
Gregory o’donoghue international poetry competition.
A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,202) and publication in Southword is given annually for a single poem. The winner will also receive a four-night hotel stay with...
Beloit Poetry Journal
Chad walsh chapbook series.
A prize of $2,500, publication by Beloit Poetry Journal , and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The editors will judge. Using only the online...
White Pine Press
Poetry prize.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by White Pine Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Submit a manuscript of 60 to 80 pages with a $20 entry fee by November 30....
Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Literary award.
Up to two prizes of $1,000 each and an invitation to give a public lecture at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia will be given annually for books of fiction and/or nonfiction...
Pushcart Press
Pushcart prizes.
Publication in The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses is awarded annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published by literary magazines...
Five Points
James dickey prize for poetry.
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Five Points is given annually for a group of poems. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...
Waywiser Press
Anthony hecht poetry prize.
A prize of $3,000 and publication by the Waywiser Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published no more than one previous collection. The winner...
Poetry International
C.p. cavafy poetry prize.
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International is given annually for a single poem. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit...
Regal House Publishing
W.s. porter prize for short story collections.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a story collection. Heather Bell Adams will judge. Submit a manuscript of 100 to 350 pages...
African Poetry Book Fund
Sillerman first book prize for african poetry.
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press and Amalion, an independent publishing house based in Dakar, is given annually for a debut poetry collection...
Slipstream Press
Poetry chapbook contest.
A prize of $1,000, publication by Slipstream Press, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of up to 40 pages...
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