Welcome to our June 27, 2025 writing prompt and submission opportunities roundup—your weekly dose of inspiration and places to share your work.
It’s the final full week of June—hard to believe the year is already half over, isn’t it? If you’re lucky enough to be getting a break from the heat vortex that’s been smothering much of the country in sweaty malaise and creative inertia, maybe now’s the time to hit the pool. Or, if it’s still too hot to think, stay inside and focus on your writing, editing, and submission goals.
This week, I was torn between which writing prompt to include in the newsletter versus our weekly roundup of submission opportunities—but in the end, I went with my gut.
Since the end of 2023, I’ve been dealing with a new gut issue: acid reflux. It’s amazing what stress (and the bad eating habits that come with it) can do to your stomach on top of some newly discovered FODMAP issues. That got me thinking…
Writing Prompt: Gut Instinct
When the world is too loud, sometimes the only voice we can trust is the one rumbling in our gut. Whether it’s intuition, indigestion, or something in between, this week we invite you to write about your gut—literally or metaphorically.
- What if your gut had a voice?
- What if it was a character, a symbiote, a weather vane for your emotional climate?
As Ebenezer Scrooge once said in The Muppet Christmas Carol, “You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.”
Sometimes our ghosts—and our stories—start in the stomach.
And in the immortal words of Little Giants:
“I use these for acid indigestion.”
“What are we going to use them for?”
“Intimidation.”
If you know, you know. If you don’t…go watch Little Giants now.
Gut health is a serious topic, but maybe getting creative about our woes and maladies can bring some relief—if not physical, then at least mental or spiritual.
After going with your gut, keep scrolling to find a submission opportunity that speaks to it.
Submission Opportunities: 51 Ways to Share Your Work
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🌱 New to submitting? Check out our Guide to Submission Opportunities for further details on these calls and contests.
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June 2025
- Jerboa Lit. 500 Flash Fiction Contest | Fiction | Fee: $25 | Prize: $1,000 | June 27–29, 2025
- Barrow Street Press 2025 Poetry Book Prize | Poetry | $30 fee | Prize: $1,500 and book publication | Judge: John Murillo | Deadline: June 30, 2025
- Burnside Review Press. Chapbook Contest | Poetry | Fee: $15 | Prize: $200 + chapbook + 10 copies | Deadline: June 30, 2025
- HEART Poetry Award | Poetry | $10 fee | Prize: $500 and publication | Judge: Grey Held | Deadline: June 30, 2025.
- The Letter Review Letter Review Prize | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $15-$25 fee | Prize Pool: $4,000. 12-16 winners will share the prize pool and receive publication | Deadline: June 30, 2025.
- Sky Island Journal Issue 32 | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, translations | $4.99 fee (waivers available) | Deadline: June 30, 2025.
- Slate Roof Press 2025 Elyse Wolf Prize | Poetry | $10 fee (sliding scale available) | Prize: $500 and publication (winner); $100 (runner up) | Deadline: June 30, 2025
*Must be able to make 3-year commitment to the press.*
July 2025
- Bellevue Literary Review.
- Felice Buckvar Prize (Nonfiction) | Fee: $20 | Prize: $1,000 + publication | Judge: Nicole Chung | Deadline: July 1, 2025
- Goldenberg Prize (Fiction) | Fee: $20 | Prize: $1,000 + publication | Judge: Joan Silber | Deadline: July 1, 2025
- John & Eileen Allman Prize (Poetry) | Fee: $20 | Prize: $1,000 + publication | Judge: Joan Silber | Deadline: July 1, 2025
- Embracing Our Differences 2026 Exhibition | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, art, photography | Free | Deadline: July 1, 2025
- Orison Books. Orison Chapbook Prize | Fee: $15 | Prize: $300 + chapbook | Deadline: July 1, 2025
- Vine Leaves Press 2026 International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition | Nonfiction | $25 fee | Prize: $1,000 and book publication | Deadline: July 1, 2025
- Winning Writers North Street Book Prize | Mainstream/literary fiction, genre fiction, creative nonfiction & memoir, poetry, children’s picture book, middle grade, graphic novel & memoir, art book | $85 fee | Prizes: $10,000 (grand prize); $1,000 (top prize/genre); $500 (honorable mentions) | Deadline July 1, 2025
- #Ranger. Issue 11 | All genres + multimedia | Free | Deadline: July 15, 2025
- Blink-Ink Issue #61: Phones | Fiction | Free | Deadline: July 15, 2025
- Driftwood Press.
- Adrift Chapbook Contest (Poetry) | Fee: $25 | Prize: $750 + publication + 20 copies | Judge: Matthew Olzmann | Deadline: July 15, 2025
- Adrift Short Story Contest (Fiction) | Fee: $30 | Prize: $500 + print copies | Judge: Kelly Link | Deadline: July 15, 2025
- New American Press New American Fiction Prize | Fiction, cross-genre, translations | $25 fee | Prize: $1,500, publication, 25 copies, promotional support | Final Judge: Clancy Martin | Extended Deadline: July 15, 2025
- Gutsy Great Novelist | Page One Prize | Fiction | Fee: $20 | Prizes: $1,000 (first), $500 (second), $250 (third) | Deadline: July 16, 2025 at 5PM ET
- WCSU MFA: Housatonic Book Awards. All genres | Fee: $25 + processing | Prize: $1,000 honorarium + $500 travel stipend | Deadline: July 18, 2025
- MudRoom | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free ($3 expedited submissions available) | Deadline: July 25, 2025
- Press 53 2026 Press 53 Award for Poetry | Poetry | $30 fee | Prizes: $1,000 advance, publication, 53 author copies (winner); $500 advance, publication, 25 copies (runner-up) | Judge: Tom Lombardo | Deadline: July 31, 2025.
- Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize | Poetry | $15 fee | Prizes: $1,000, publication, broadside (winner); $500 and publication (second); $250 and publication (third) | Final Judge: Stephen Kuusisto | Deadline: July 31, 2025
- Wordrunner eChapbooks Prose Collections | Fiction, nonfiction | $8 fee | Payment: $125 + royalties for kindles | Deadline: July 31, 2025.
August 2025
- About Place Journal Fall 2025: On Freedom | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, cross-genre, drama, graphic narratives, screenplays, interviews, reviews, translations, art, photography, audio, video | Free | Deadline: August 1, 2025
- The Nomad Review Fragility theme | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, comics, graphic narratives, reviews, interviews, art, photography | Free | Deadline: August 1, 2025
- Orison Books. Best Spiritual Literature Awards | Fee: $12 | Prize: $500 + publication | Deadline: August 1, 2025
- Radar Poetry 12 Annual Coniston Prize | Poetry | $20 fee | Prize: $1,000 and publication | Deadline: August 1, 2025
- Speckled Trout Review Summer 2025 Issue | Poetry | Free | Deadline: August 20, 2025
September 2025
- The Main Street Rag: North Coast Voices. Poetry Anthology | Fee: $3 | Payment: copies | Deadline: September 1, 2025
- Last Syllable. Book Awards in Poetry & Prose | Fee: $25 | Prize: $1,000 + travel + Visiting Writer Series feature | Deadline: September 1, 2025
- The Branches Fall 2025 Issue: VOICE | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, screenplays, graphic narratives, graphic novels, reviews, art, photography, audio, video | Free | Deadline: September 13, 2025.
October 2025
- DuFrank Lit. Fiction | Free | Submissions reopen July 1 | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Willow Springs Books. Spokane Prize for Short Fiction | Entry fee | Prize: $2,000 + publication | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Kings River Review. Fall 2025 Issue (all genres + art) | Free | Must be a 2-year college student | Deadline: October 15, 2025
November 2025
- Black Fox Literary Magazine. Winter Issue | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Submissions re-open July 1 | |Deadline: November 30, 2025
Year-Round Opportunities
- Blue Mountain Review | Prose, poetry, music, visual art | Fee: $5
- The Capra Review | All genres + multimedia | Free
- Changing Skies | Creative nonfiction, poetry, art | Free
- Decolonial Passage | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free
- Driftwood Press | All genres + graphic works | Fees vary
- Fahmidan Journal | All genres | Free | Payment: $15
- Feels Blind Literary | All genres + comics | Fee: $3 (free on Mondays)
- Gambling the Aisle | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre | Free
- Hindsight Journal | Art, photography, nonfiction, poetry | Free
- Jewish Fiction | Fiction, translation | Free
- Kaleidoscope | Articles, fiction, poetry, reviews, visual art | Free | Payment: $10–$100
- New Verse News | Current-events poetry | Free
- Palooka | Magazine & chapbook submissions | Fee: $3 (magazine), $8 (chapbook) | Payment: copies
- Philly Poetry Chapbook Review | Excerpts, interviews, reviews | Free
- Pictura Journal | August 2025 Issue (all genres + art) | Free (tip jar) | Payment: $5
- Plant-Human Quarterly | Poetry, essays | Free
- Stone Circle Review | Poetry | Free
Ready to submit? Bookmark your favorites, mark your calendar, and good luck sharing your work!
Where to Submit Roundup: September 12, 2025
Where to Submit Roundup: September 5, 2025
Where to Submit Roundup: August 29, 2025
