Writing Contests & Book Contests
NewPages Classifieds

Deadline: January 1, 2022
What happens after Pinocchio becomes a real boy? This autumn, the tiny journal invites you to fall back on past great stories and poems that have inspired societies for centuries. Whether it’s an old fable, classic, parable, or fairy tale, any story can be reinvented. Our submissions are open from September 1st-January 1st. The first place winner receives $50, and the runner-up will be published in issue v. Any change could bring about a completely different small and mighty ending.

Deadline: December 31, 2021
Press 53 Award for Short Fiction: First Prize $1,000, publication, and 50 copies (ten hardcover and 40 softcover) awarded to an unpublished collection of short stories. Press 53 Short Fiction Editor, Claire V. Foxx, will judge. Enter online through Submittable. Deadline: midnight, December 31, Eastern Time. Winner and finalists announced before May 1, 2022. Reading fee: $30. Complete information, plus a list of past winners at www.press53.com/award-for-short-fiction. Questions should be directed to Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher and Editor in Chief at or 336-770-5353

Deadline: January 15, 2022
Background: The contest is in honor of Emma Howell who was born in Portland, Oregon, and died in 2001, at the age of twenty. She left behind a single volume of poetry: Slim Night of Recognition. This prize is an effort to promote the publication of young poets, to honor Emma’s memory, as well as honor the time and effort her father, Christopher Howell, former Director of Willow Springs Books, has put into our press. Prize: $2000 + manuscript publication. Eligibility: Poets 35 years old and younger who have not yet published a book-length poetry manuscript. Submit: bit.ly/3aE00R3.

Extended Deadline: November 15, 2021
The Vern Rutsala Book Prize is an annual contest sponsored by Cloudbank Books. New deadline for submissions is November 15, 2021. Winner receives a $1,000 cash award, plus publication. Judge is Doug Ramspeck. Recent prize winners were John Kooistra for Long Voyage Gathering Light and Jane Craven for My Bright Last Country. For details visit Contest Guidelines. Cloudbank also awards a $200 prize for one poem or flash fiction published in each magazine. Regular submissions are accepted year round. Visit Cloudbank for more information.

Deadline: December 15, 2021
For this contest, we’re doing things differently. We picked the art first, and those images are the theme for submitting writers. We’re not looking for anyone to write new pieces—rather, we’re looking for finished and polished stories, essays, and poems that are in conversation with the theme images. The winner of each category (poetry and prose) and up to 3 honorable mentions will receive a tiered percentage of the total entry fees plus publication in the contest print issue. Entry fee for the contest is $10. Full contest guidelines and theme images can be seen on our website.

Deadline: December 1, 2021
december magazine seeks entries for our 2022 Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize. Grace Cavalieri is judging. Prize: $1,500 & publication (winner); $500 & publication (honorable mention). All finalists will be published in the 2022 Spring/Summer awards issue. Submit up to 3 poems per entry. $20 entry fee includes copy of the awards issue. Submit October 1 to December 1. For complete guidelines please visit our website decembermag.org/2022-jeff-marks-memorial-poetry-prize.

Deadline: November 30, 2021
The Wishing Jewel Prize honors an innovative manuscript that challenges expectations of what a book of poems can be. Named for an essay in Anne Carson's innovative Plainwater, we seek work that questions the boundaries of genre, form, or mode while engaging the rich possibilities of lyrical expression. Winner receives $1,000 and publication by Green Linden Press. All finalists are considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. $25 fee (discounts available). Visit www.greenlindenpress.com/submit.

Deadline: November 15, 2021
Carve Magazine's Prose & Poetry Contest is open October 1 - November 15. Accepting submissions from all over the world, but work must be in English. Max 10,000 words for fiction and nonfiction; 2,000 words for poetry. Prizes: $1,000 each for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. All 3 winners published in Spring 2022. Entry fee $17 online only. Guest judges are Lydia Conklin for fiction; Julietta Singh for nonfiction; and Jihyun Yun for poetry. www.carvezine.com/prose-poetry-contest/

Deadline: October 31, 2021
Minerva Rising seeks submissions for the 2021 Memoir Contest. We want to read your honest, intimate, and compelling story. And we want to be awed by your mastery of narrative. Creative nonfiction, multi-genre, hybrid text are all welcome. We’re interested in stories by all women and encourage women of color and women who feel marginalized to submit. Submit a completed, polished manuscript of 25,000 – 70,000 words and a one-page synopsis. More details are available on our website, minervarising.com/submissions/memoir/.

Deadline: October 31, 2021
Minerva Rising is seeking short story collections, novellas, and novels (literary, romance, historical fiction, mystery/suspense, speculative) that give voice to the marginalized and underrepresented. We are particularly interested in themes that address mental health, aging, sexuality, racial injustice, and other current social issues. Submit a completed, polished manuscript of 40,000 – 70,000 words and a one-page synopsis. Prize: $1,000 and 10 copies. More details are available on our website, minervarising.com/submissions/fictionprize-submissions/.

Deadline: October 31, 2021
The 2021 Dillydoun International Fiction Prize: Enter Now Via Submittable. Deadline: October 31, 2021. Winners announced by November 30, 2021. 8,000 word max, no minimum. All genres welcome. Entry Fee: $25. CASH PRIZES: 1st – $2,000; 2nd – $1,000; 3rd – $500; Honorable Mentions – $50. Winners and honorable mentions will be published in the print anthology, and will receive one free contributor copy. All other entries will be considered for publication in a TDR Issue/TDR Daily. All TDR publications are considered at the end of the year for our Best of the Best print anthology. Writer may refuse offer to publish.

Deadline: November 26, 2021
We are accepting short stories, poetry, and flash fiction for our Winter Edition Contest with guest judges Chris Clancy and Becky Hinshaw. All works are narrated and include an author interview in our bimonthly Story Discovery Podcast. There is no theme. We welcome all styles, genres, and types of writing as long as the piece is engaging. The early bird deadline with reduced entry fee of $7.50 is October 8, 2021. The regular contest fee is $11. Awards: 1st - $350; 2nd - $150; 3rd - $50; Three Honorable Mentions of $25 each. Enter via submittable. More info at: www.onyxpublications.com/contest.

Deadline: November 15, 2021
We’re looking for manuscripts of at least 48 pages that engage the perilous conditions of life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. Because we believe the truth is always experimental, we’ll especially appreciate books with innovative approaches. Beginning in 2021 and going forward, Interim will be publishing two books in their Test Site Poetry series—one title publicized as the winner of the Test Site Poetry Series and the other as the Betsy Joiner Flanagan Award in Poetry. Both winners will receive $1,000 and publication by the University of Nevada Press. www.interimpoetics.org/test-site-poetry-series

Deadline: November 30, 2021
Baltimore Review Winter Contest – Theme: “Reasons.” We want to understand why. We want reasons. We may not always like the reasons. We may not always understand the reasons. But we still want reasons. Interpret this any way you’d like. We do want to see the word reason or reasons (or explanation or rationale or justification—or some similar word) somewhere in the title or the work. All entries considered for publication. $300 prize for each category (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction): $8 fee. Final judge: Tara Lynn Masih. Deadline: November 30. For more details: www.baltimorereview.org.

Deadline: Halloween 2021
Final Judges of the 2022 Geri Digiorno Multi-Genre Prize are Dorianne Laux & Joseph Millar. Each submission to Raleigh Review is carefully read multiple times by our highly skilled team members to allow for an objective selection process. Also, we are open to flash fiction contest submissions now through Halloween as well as short fiction submissions for the month of October 1st -31st. raleighreview.submittable.com/submit

Deadline: October 21, 2021
Interlochen Arts Academy is now accepting submissions for the 2022 Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition. Apply to win a full-tuition scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy. All students in grades 8-11 during this academic year are eligible to apply. Applicants must submit writing samples in two of the following genres: Literary Fiction; Poetry; Personal Essay or Memoir; Screenwriting; Playwriting; Experimental/Unclassifiable Writing. For submission guidelines and more information, visit interlochen.org/write. 

Extended Deadline: October 18, 2021
The Missouri Review is pleased to announce that the 31st annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize is now open. Winners in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction receive $5000 and publication, promotion, and an event to be determined later. All entries are considered for publication in TMR, or in our web-exclusive features, BLAST and/or Poem of the Week. Visit our website to learn more: www.missourireview.com/contests/jeffrey-e-smith-editors-prize/.