Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: January 7, 2022

Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that 2022 is filled with great news on the writing and craft advancement front for you all. To help you start out the new year and keep your submissions goals strong, here are submission opportunities featured on NewPages this past week.

Don’t forget that newsletter subscribers get a first peek before everyone else. Subscribe today! Besides our weekly newsletter, subscribers also receive our monthly eLitPak. Our next eLitPak is slated for January 19, so stay tuned!

Calls for Submissions

You can view all active calls for submissions by visiting our website. Plus, if you have a young writer in your house, don’t forget you can find publications for them to submit to in our Young Writers Guide.

Heron Tree: Call for Submissions. Heron Tree is open for submissions through January 15, 2022. We will read submissions and make decisions on a rolling basis. Accepted poems will be published individually online (one poem a week beginning in February 2022) and then collected in Heron Tree volume 9, which will be available as a free downloadable ebook. This special issue will be devoted to found poetry. See our detailed submission guidelines at herontree.com/how/.

Girls Right the World. Issue 6. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, comics, cross-genre, drama. No fee. Extended Deadline: January 31, 2022. *Open to female-identifying writers ages 14-21.*

Split Rock Review. Issue 18. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, comics, cross-genre, reviews, interviews, audio. First 300 submissions each month are free. Deadline: January 31, 2022.

Wordrunner eChapbooks. 2022 Anthology. Fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, poetry, prose poetry. $3 fee. Payment: $7.50 – $25. Deadline: February 28, 2022.

Feels Blind Literary. Issue 7. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, drama. No fee Mondays; $3 fee. Deadline: March 6, 2022.

Mistake House Magazine Seeks Submissions from Graduate & Undergraduate Writers. Mistake House Magazine publishes fiction and poetry by students in graduate or undergraduate programs worldwide. We seek inventive work that speaks to the heart in a complex global context, including work expressive of documentary poetics. Submission window: October 15, 2021 to March 15, 2022. Submission fee $5. Guidelines at www.mistakehouse.org/submit/.

Kings River Review Call for 2-Year College Student Submissions. The Kings River Review publishes artwork, creative nonfiction, short fiction, and poetry of current 2-year community college students. Submission Deadlines: April 1 for the spring issue and October 15 for the fall issue. Submission requirements: up to 5 pieces of artwork and photography sent as .JPEG files; creative nonfiction and fiction of up to 3,000 words; and up to 5 poems. Go to kingsriverreview.com for full submission guidelines.

Allium. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $3 fee. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

Clinch. Martial arts related fiction, nonfiction, poetry. No fee. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

Atmosphere Press Reading Book Manuscripts in All Genres. Atmosphere Press currently seeks book manuscripts from diverse voices. There’s no submission fee, and if your manuscript is selected, we’ll be the publisher you’ve always wanted: attentive, organized, on schedule, and professional. We use a model in which the author funds the publication of the book, but retains 100% rights, royalties, and artistic autonomy. This year Atmosphere authors have received featured reviews with Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and have even appeared on a giant billboard in Times Square. Submit your book manuscript at atmospherepress.com. Deadline: Rolling.

Call for Submissions: Storm Cellar. Storm Cellar seeks new and amazing writing and art for its spring issue! We are a journal of safety and danger, in many senses, in print and ebook formats since 2011. Send secrets, codes, adventures, mad experiments, and wild things. Black, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, fat, border-straddling, poor, and other marginalized authors encouraged, bonus points for a Midwest connection. Now paying; limited no-fee submissions available each month. Full guidelines and f.a.q. at stormcellar.org/submit. Deadline: Rolling.

CHESTNUT REVIEW (“for stubborn artists”) Invites Submissions Year Round. CHESTNUT REVIEW (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year-round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $120. Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new! chestnutreview.com

Palooka. Chapbook manuscripts, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, photography, graphic narratives, and comic strips. $8 fee (chapbooks); $3 fee (magazine submissions). Deadline: Year-round.

Blue Mountain Review. Fiction, essays, poetry, music, visual art. $5 fee. Deadline: Year-round.

The New Verse News. Current event poetry. No fee. Deadline: Year-round.

Works Progress. Fiction. No fee. Deadline: Year-round.

Writing Contests

Don’t forget to check out all active contests on our website! Like to plan your submissions calendar in advance? The Big List of Writing Contests lists a variety of book, magazine, and chapbook contests by their deadline date. Plus, don’t forget to go through our contests for young writers. The majority of those contests are free to enter.

Driftwood Press In-House Short Fiction & Single Poem Contests. Submit soon to our In-House Short Fiction & Single Poem Contests! On the short fiction side, we’re proud to announce that we’ve upped the award to $500 for the winning story and $150 for all runner-ups! Winners and runner-ups also receive publication, an interview, and an illustration that will appear alongside their story. All stories submitted are considered for publication by not one—but two editors, and response times are faster than usual. On the poetry side, all works are also considered for publication, with the runner-ups awarded an interview, publication, and $50 per poem. The winner of the In-House Poetry Contest will receive $400, publication, a featured interview, and a commissioned illustration to appear alongside their work. Deadline: January 15, 2022.

Holden Vaughn Spangler Award Deadline Extended! MUSE is especially looking to publish work from under- or misrepresented groups, such as people of color, disabled people, LGBTQ+, present/formerly incarcerated people, and others from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Deadline extended to January 15 for Spangler Award submissions. Submit up to three poems about a child or childhood, $5 fee payable by check or Venmo @rccmuse. Mail to RCC MUSE, Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506 or email. If emailing, send as attachment with “LastName – Spangler – Title” in the subject line (e.g., Smith – Spangler – “Summer”). Please include contact information. See full submission guidelines at rcc.edu/muse.

$1,200 Prize Each! Acacia Fiction Prize & Saguaro Poetry Prize Deadlines Extended through 1/24/22! Extended deadlines for the Acacia Fiction Prize and Saguaro Poetry Prize! Each winner receives $1,200 and publication + 20 copies. Fiction Judge is Gabino Iglesias. Poetry Judge is Wendy Barnes. Send us your polished manuscripts. See our website for full details.

2022 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Submissions are now being accepted for the 10th Saroyan Prize. The awards, co-sponsored by Stanford Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation, are “intended to encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan legacy of originality, vitality, and stylistic innovation.” Two prizes of $5,000 each are given for works of fiction and nonfiction. Writers who have published four books or more are ineligible. Submit five copies of your work published between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, with a $50 entry fee by January 31, 2022. Visit our website for complete eligibility and submission details: library.stanford.edu/saroyan.

3rd Annual Short Short Story Contest to Support Literacy. Ethos Literacy—a nonprofit literacy program—announces its 3rd Annual Short Short Story Contest. 100-word limit on one of these topics: chewing gum, horror movies, skyscrapers, or tubas. Cash prizes: Best in Contest: $250; Best Youth Prize (14 years or younger): $100; 4 Best of Category: $100; People’s Choice $100. Publication in a digital magazine + webcast of winners reading their stories. Submission fee: $10. Proceeds support literacy programs for teens and adults. Deadline: January 31, 2022.

Inlandia Books. Eliud Martinez Prize. Fiction, creative nonfiction. $15 fee. Prize: $1,000 and book publication. Deadline: January 31, 2022. *Open to Hispanic, Latino/a/x, and Chicana/o/x writers.*

Roadrunner Review. Art & Writing Contest. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography. No fee. Prize: $100 and publication per genre. Deadline: January 31, 2022. *For graduate and undergraduate writers only.*

BreakBread Magazine. Villena-Aldama Art & Writing Contest. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, comics, cross-genre, drama. No fee. Prize: $250 and publication. Deadline: March 31, 2022. *For writers and artists under the age of 25.*

2022 Prime Number Magazine Awards for Poetry and Short Fiction. $1,000 first prize in each category plus a Pushcart Prize nomination. Winners and two Runners-up in each category published in Prime Number Magazine. Reading fee $15. Poetry judged by Faith Shearin, author of Lost Language and others. Short Fiction judged by Jubal Tiner, author of The Waterhouse and founding editor of Pisgah Review. Open January 1 to March 31. Submit online through Submittable. Details at www.Press53.com/prime-number-magazine-awards.