A comprehensive source of contests, markets, book recommendations & publishing tips for emerging writers.
Deadline: February 28, 2019
Entry: via Submittable; $16 fee
Eligibility: Any short story (300-3000 words) that has not appeared in a print publication. Open to all writers.
Prize: $1000 and publication in Glimmer Train
Deadline: June 30, 2018
Prize: $2,500, publication in Glimmer Train, 10 copies
Entry: $18 fee, Submittable
Eligibility: Emerging writers whose fiction has not appeared in any print publication with a circulation over 5,000.
Emerging Writer’s ContestSince 1971, Ploughshares has been committed to promoting the work of up-and-coming writers. Over the years, Ploughshares has helped launch the careers of great writers like Edward P. Jones, Sue Miller, Mona Simpson, Tim O’Brien, and many more.
In the spirit of the journal’s founding mission, the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each genre per year will receive $2,000 and publication in the literary journal. We consider authors “emerging” if they haven’t published or self-published a book.
The Emerging Writer’s Contest is now open. See the full guidelines to submit.
DEADLINE: May 15th NOON EST.
CONTEST GUIDELINESOpen only to writers whose fiction has not appeared, nor is scheduled to appear, in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Entries must not have appeared in print, but previous online publication is fine.) Most entries run from 1,000 to 5,000 words, but any lengths up to 12,000 are welcome.
The Short Story Award for New Writers contest is held three times a year and is open to submissions in January/February, May/June, and September/October, with the following deadlines:
February 29 | June 30 | October 31
NOTE: All contest deadlines have a one-week grace period.
$18 per submission
1st place: $2,500 | publication in Glimmer Train Stories | 10 copies
2nd place: $500*
3rd place: $300*
*Or, if accepted for publication, $700 and 10 copies of that issue
Winners will be contacted directly one week prior to public announcement in our bulletins:
January/February contest announces May 1.
May/June contest announces September 1.
September/October contest announces January 1.
CONTEST GUIDELINESOpen only to new writers whose fiction has not appeared, nor is scheduled to appear, in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Entries must not have appeared in print, but previous online publication is fine.) Most entries run from 1,000 to 5,000 words, but any lengths up to 12,000 are welcome.
The Short Story Award for New Writers contest is held three times a year and is open to submissions in January/February, May/June, and September/October, with the following deadlines:
February 29 | June 30 | October 31
NOTE: All contest deadlines have a one-week grace period.
$18 per submission
1st place: $2,500 | publication in Glimmer Train Stories | 10 copies
2nd place: $500*
3rd place: $300*
*Or, if accepted for publication, $700 and 10 copies of that issue
Winners will be contacted directly one week prior to public announcement in our bulletins:
January/February contest announces May 1.
May/June contest announces September 1.
September/October contest announces January 1.
1st-place: Courtney Knowlton for “Mean Blonde Ponytail Girl”
2nd-place: Alexandra B. Chang for “Tomb Sweeping Day”
3rd-place: Amanda S. Torres for “Fortuna”
Deadline: June 30, 2017
Entry Fee: $13
1st Prize: €3K (approximately $3,170) & publication
2nd Prize: Week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France with small travel stipend & publication
3rd Prize €1K (approximately $1,060) & publication
Email: editor@themothmagazine.com
Website: http://www.themothmagazine.com
JUDGE: Belinda McKeon. Her debut novel Solace won the Faber Prize and was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Her essays and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian and the Paris Review. As a playwright, she has had work produced in Dublin and New York, and is currently under commission to the Abbey Theatre. She lives in Brooklyn and is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Rutgers University.
Previous Judges include John Boyne, Martina Evans, Donal Ryan and Mike McCormack.
SUBMIT: Previously unpublished story of up to 6,000 words. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.
The Moth, International Short Story Prize, Ardan Grange, Milltown, Belturbet, County Cavan, Ireland. Rebecca O’Connor, Editor.
Deadline: 6/30/17The Drue Heinz Literature Prize offers a prize of $15,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Writers who have published at least one previous book of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in nationally distributed magazines or literary journals are eligible. Submit a manuscript of 150 to 300 pages between May 1 and June 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
University of Pittsburgh Press, Drue Heinz Literature Prize, 7500 Thomas Boulevard, 4th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $17
Deadline: Extended to 7/31/17
Genre: Fiction and Drama
Email: hiddenriverarts@gmail.com
Website: http://hiddenriverarts.wordpress.com
PLEASE NOTE: DEADLINES FOR BOTH THE WILLIAM VAN WERT FICTION AWARD AND THE HIDDEN RIVER PLAYWRIGHTING AWARD ARE EXTENDED TO JULY 31, 2017.
An annual prize of $1,000 from Hidden River Arts, a literary arts organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will be given in the following categories: (1) to the best unpublished short story or novel excerpt (2) the best unproduced full-length play
Guidelines (Please read FULLY): Continue reading “Hidden River Arts Awards”
Deadline: June 30, 2017 by 5pm
Entry Fee: $25
Prize: $1,000 & Publication
Website: http://untpress.unt.edu/contest
Katherine Anne Porter Guidelines:
The University of North Texas Press announces the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. The winner of this annual award will receive $1000 and publication by UNT Press. Entries will be judged by an eminent writer.
Dates for submission: Manuscripts may be submitted between 9:00 a.m. on May 1 and 5:00 p.m. on June 30. The winning manuscript will be announced in January 2018.
Entries can be a combination of short-shorts, short stories, and novellas, from 100 to 200 book pages in length (word count between 27,500 and 50,000). Material should be previously unpublished in book form. Once a winner is declared and contracted for publication, UNT Press will hold the rights to the stories in the winning collection. They may no longer be under consideration for serial publication elsewhere and must be withdrawn by the author from consideration.
Manuscript Guidelines:
Blind review: Manuscripts will be considered on the merits of the fiction and neither the initial reading committee members nor the final judge will be aware of the names or publication records of the authors. Please do not include your name on the pages of the manuscript—only in the form boxes of the electronic submission manager. The first page of the manuscript should include the title of the collection only.
Previous Winners
The Expense of a View by Polly Buckingham was our 2016 winner, judged by Chris Offutt
Last Words of the Holy Ghost by Matt Cashion was our 2015 winner, judged by Lee K. Abbott
The Year of Perfect Happiness by Becky Adnot-Haynes was our 2014 winner, judged by Matt Bell
In These Times the Home Is a Tired Place by Jessica Hollander was our 2013 winner, judged by Katherine Dunn.
Venus in the Afternoon by Tehila Lieberman was our 2012 winner, judged by Miroslav Penkov.
Out of Time by Geoff Schmidt was our 2011 winner, judged by Ben Marcus.
A Bright Soothing Noise by Peter Brown was our 2010 winner, judged by Josip Novakovich.
Irish Girl by Tim Johnston was our 2009 winner, judged by Janet Peery.
Last Known Position by James Mathews was our 2008 winner, judged by Tom Franklin.
Wonderful Girl by Aimee LaBrie was our 2007 winner, judged by Bill Roorbach.
Body Language by Kelly Magee was our 2006 winner, judged by Dan Chaon.
What Are You Afraid Of? by Michael Hyde, was our 2005 winner, judged by Sharon Oard Warner.
Let’s Do by Rebecca Meacham was our 2004 winner, judged by Jonis Agee. Let’s Do was selected for the Spring 2005 Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Program.
Here Comes the Roar by Dave Shaw was our 2003 winner, judged by Marly Swick.
The Stuntman’s Daughter, a collection of stories by Alice Blanchard, was the 1996 winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. Ms. Blanchard went on to sign a lucrative contract with Bantam for her first novel, Darkness Peering.
JUDGE: Final Judge for the New American Fiction Prize this year is Lori Ostlund, author of the novel After the Parade and a story collection, The Bigness of the World.
PAST WINNERS: Gina Frangello selected Welcome to Freedom Point, by Marina Mularz of Los Angeles, to receive the 2016 New American Fiction Prize.
Finalists for the 2016 Prize include:
—The Rink Girl, a collection by Mark Brazaitis of Morgantown, VA
—X, a novel by Peter Grandbois of Granville, OH
—The Gravity of Longings, a collection by Kathryn Paulsen of New York, NY
—Locked Gray/Linked Blue, a collection by Kem Joy Ukwu of Bloomfield, NJ
Semifinalists for the 2016 Fiction Prize include:
—South of Wall, a novel by Michael Bourne of Vancouver, BC
—Long White Robe, a novel by Polly Buckingham of Medical Lake, WA
—Motherland and Other Stories, by Alix Christie of Nevada City, CA
—Going Under, a collection by H. E. Francis of Huntsville, AL
—Report from a Place of Burning, a collection by George Looney of Erie, PA
—Bringing Back Bobbie, a novel by Mary Lotz of Hudsonville, MI
—Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons, a collection by Keith Rosson of Portland, OR
—Come Again No More, a novel by David Wesley Williams of Memphis, TN
CONTESTS IN PROGRESS:
Submissions for the 2017 New American Poetry Prize are currently being read with interest. The winner will receive $1,000 and a publication contract. Jesse Lee Kercheval will serve as the final judge.
Gabriel Gudding selected The Underneath, by Christopher Cokinos, to receive the 2016 New American Poetry Prize. Finalists for the 2016 Prize include:
—Nostalgia for a World Where We Can Live, by Monica Berlin
—The Ghosts of Lost Animals, by Michelle Bonczek
—The Iron Staircase and Other Disturbing Tales of Woe, by Sydnee Brower
—Nimrod in Hell, by James Capozzi
—Sentences, by Richard Carr
—Pause, Now Pause, by D. Gilson
—Taking the Homeless Census, by Alexis Ivy
—Overseeing the Downfall, by Jeff Nesheim
—The Listening Room, by Kathleen Rooney
—If the Girl Never Learns, by Sue William Silverman
While you’re here, check out the jaw-dropping lineup for the most recent volume of New Stories from the Midwest:
1. Thomas M. Atkinson “Grimace in the Burnt Black Hills”
2. Charles Baxter “Forbearance”
3. Catherine Browder “Departures”
4. Claire Burgess “Upper Middle Class Houses”
5. Peter Ho Davies “Chance”
6. Stephanie Dickinson “JadeDragon_77”
7. Jack Driscoll “All the Time in the World”
8. Nick Dybek “Three Summers”
9. Stuart Dybek “Tosca”
10. Abby Geni “Dharma at the Gate”
11. Albert Goldbarth “Two brothers”
12. Baird Harper “Patient History”
13. Rebecca Makkai “Dead Turtle”
14. Monica McFawn “Out of the Mouths of Babes”
15. John McNally “The Magician”
16. Emily Mitchell “Three Marriages”
17. Devin Murphy “Levi’s Recession”
18. Joyce Carol Oates “A Book of Martyrs”
19. Lori Ostlund “The Gap Year”
20. Nicole Louise Reid “A Purposeful Violence”
21. Christine Sneed “In the Bag”
22. Anne Valente “The Lost Caves of St. Louis”
23. Lauren van den Berg “Lessons”
24. Josh Weil “Long Bright Line”
25. Theodore Wheeler “On a Train from the Place Called Valentine”
Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $15
Deadline: 6/15/17
Genre: Fiction
The Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction is an annual national short fiction contest that features a first place $2,000 cash award and invitation to an awards dinner on the campus of Rosemont College; a second place cash prize of $500; and third place cash prize of $250. The winner stories will be published in the print issue of Fall of Philadelphia Stories. The Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction is made possible by the generous support of the McGlinn and Hansma families.
Willow Springs Books is pleased to announce the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction!Willow Springs Books invites submissions for the 2017 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction until June 5, 2017 .
PRIZE: $2,000 plus publication
OPEN TO: All U.S. authors regardless of publication history
DEADLINE: June 5th, 2017
To enter, please submit:
♦ A book-length manuscript. Manuscripts should be no less than 98 pages (with no maximum page count) and include at least 3 short stories. Manuscripts should be organized with page numbers and a table of contents. Stories may have been previously published in journals, anthologies, or limited edition volumes. However, selected story collections (stories previously published in books) will not be considered. Please do not send novels.
♦ A SASE for notification (if submission is by mail)
♦ A cover letter including your name, address, phone number, and email address, as well as a short bio.
♦ A $27.50 reading fee paid through Submittable or via check made out to “Willow Springs Editions” (check or money order only) for each manuscript entry.
♦ Entries must be submitted through Submittable or postmarked by June 5, 2017
Submit online via Submittable:
or send entries by mail to:
Willow Springs Books
c/o Inland Northwest Center for Writers
668 N. Riverpoint Blvd. 2 RPT– #259
Spokane, WA 99202
For questions related to the prize, email willowspringsbooks@gmail.com
Recent Winners Include:
2016 Ventriloquisms by Jaclyn Watterson
2015 Suffering Fools by Glori Simmons
2014 Here Among Strangers by Serena Crawford
2013 All the Wrong Places by Molly Giles
2012 The Empty House Stories by Nathan Oates
2011 You are Not Alone by Sherril Jaffe
2010 Love Songs for the Quarantined by K.L. Cook
2009 Strange Weather by Becky Hagenston
2008 This Is Not Your City by Caitlin Horrocks
2007 Forgetting English by Midge Raymond
2006 The High Heart by Joseph Bathanti
2005 Woman in the Woods by Ann Joslin Williams
Past judges have included Rick Bass, William Kittredge, Jess Walter, John Keeble, Shawn Vestal, and Sharma Shields.
Emerging Writer’s ContestSince 1971, Ploughshares has been committed to promoting the work of up-and-coming writers. Over the years, Ploughshares has helped launch the careers of great writers like Edward P. Jones, Sue Miller, Mona Simpson, Tim O’Brien, and many more.
In the spirit of the journal’s founding mission, the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each genre per year will receive $2,000 and publication in the literary journal. We consider authors “emerging” if they haven’t published or self-published a book.
The Emerging Writer’s Contest is now open. See the full guidelines to submit. The 2017 contest judges are Garth Greenwell (fiction), Meghan Daum (nonfiction), and Natalie Diaz (poetry).
DEADLINE: May 15th NOON EST.
CONTEST GUIDELINESOpen only to writers whose fiction has not appeared, nor is scheduled to appear, in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Entries must not have appeared in print, but previous online publication is fine.) Most entries run from 1,000 to 5,000 words, but any lengths up to 12,000 are welcome.
The Short Story Award for New Writers contest is held three times a year and is open to submissions in January/February, May/June, and September/October, with the following deadlines:
February 29 | June 30 | October 31
NOTE: All contest deadlines have a one-week grace period.
$18 per submission
1st place: $2,500 | publication in Glimmer Train Stories | 10 copies
2nd place: $500*
3rd place: $300*
*Or, if accepted for publication, $700 and 10 copies of that issue
Winners will be contacted directly one week prior to public announcement in our bulletins:
January/February contest announces May 1.
May/June contest announces September 1.
September/October contest announces January 1.
One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train continues to actively champion emerging writers through various fiction contests. The magazine is represented in recent editions of the Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, New Stories from the Midwest, the O. Henry Prize Stories, New Stories from the South, Best of the West, New Stories from the Southwest, Best American Short Stories, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading.
Very Short Fiction (1st place – $2,000): We invite any length stories from 300 to 3,000 words. Deadline: August 31.
Fiction Open (1st place – $3,000): Open to all subjects and themes. Most entries run from 3,000 to 6,000 words, but we invite stories from 3,000 to 20,000 words. Deadline: August 31.
The Barthelme Prize for Short Prose is open to pieces of prose poetry, flash fiction, and micro-essays of 500 words or fewer. Established in 2008, the contest awards its winner $1,000 and publication in the journal. The Gulf Coast Prize will offer two honorable mentions of $250, and all entries will be considered for paid publication on our website as Online Exclusives. To view last year’s winner and honorable mentions, you can purchase issue 28.2 here. Contest judge Jim Shepard has written seven novels, including The Book of Aron, published in 2015, which won the Sophie Brody Medal for Excellence in Jewish Literature and the PEN/New England Award for Fiction. Deadline: August 31, 2016 at 11:59 CST.
An Indiana Review Prize, aka the “1/2 K” prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review is given annually for a poem or a work of flash fiction or nonfiction of up to 500 words. Aimee Nezhukumatathil will judge. Submit up to three poems or pieces of fiction or nonfiction of up to 500 words each with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Indiana Review, by August 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines: https://indianareview.org/contests/.
The Emerging Voices Fellowship is a literary mentorship that aims to provide new writers who are isolated from the literary establishment with the tools, skills, and knowledge they need to launch a professional writing career.
LITERARY MENTORSHIP BENEFITS
By the end of the Emerging Voices Fellowship, a writer will leave with:
Age 21 and over. Entry fee: $10. DEADLINE: August 1, 2016