Stop by the NewPages Blog every Friday to find writing contests and calls for submissions from literary magazines, independent publishers, creative writing programs, and more, to help you figure out where to submit your work.
The Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop is accepting essays taking a “contemporary look at silences around class and caste systems that divide us.” The anthology will be co-edited by a collective of award-winning incarcerated writers.
Submissions for the anthology are open through April 3, 2020. There is no fee to submit. The anthology will be published by Coffee House Press. Learn more…
Independent publisher Tolsun Books is open to unsolicited manuscripts made from parts through May 31. These can be either full-length or chapbook-length. Poetry, short stories, essays, hybrids, translations, and more. $15 fee. Free submissions accepted on the 15th of every month. Learn more…
International literary magazine Palooka has been publishing featured, up-and-coming, established, and new writers, artists, and photographers for a decade. They are open to submissions for its journal and chapbook press year-round. They do charge a fee. Learn more…
Chicken Soup for the Soul is accepting nonfiction and poetry for its forthcoming anthology Listen to Your Dreams through February 28. There is no fee to submit. They are a paying market. Learn more…
Pittsburg State University and its literary magazine Emerald City are accepting submissions to the Cow Creek Poetry Chapbook Prize. Deadline to submit is May 15. Winner receives $1,000, publication, and 25 author copies. This year’s judge is Marcus Wicker. Learn more…
Gival Press is hosting three contests in 2020: the Gival Press Novel Award, the Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award, and the Gival Press Short Story Award. The Novel Award deadlines is May 30. The prize is $3k and book publication in 2021. The Oscar Wilde Award for the best LGBTQ poem deadline is June 27. The prize is $500 and online publication. The Short Story Award deadline is August 8. The Prize is $1,000 and online publication. For complete details on each contest, visit: www.Givalpress.Submittable.com.
Deadline: October 15, 2020
EVENT: A home for writers. A destination for readers. Now in its 49th year of publication, EVENT is an award-winning, internationally recognized literary magazine that inspires and nurtures writers, showcasing the best contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, notes on writing, and book reviews three times a year, with stunning cover art and illustration. We are now accepting submissions of 5,000 words or less to the annual EVENT Non-Fiction Contest. $3,000 in prizes, plus publication. Entries must be postmarked or submitted online by October 15, 2020. Visit www.eventmagazine.ca for exclusive online content, and to learn more about our unique Reading Service for Writers.
Submissions open for flash fiction of no more than 800 words and prose poems. Send unusual or lyrical pieces. Club Plum also seeks art: Please send one image only of pen-and-ink line art, pencil drawings, watercolor, experimental, impressionistic or abstract pieces, black-and-white or color. The editor will pass on photography. See clubplumliteraryjournal.com for details.
Rockvale Review is open to submissions of poetry for Issue 6. Deadline to submit is March 31. There is no fee. Learn more…
Haunted Waters Press is accepting submissions of fiction to the inaugural edition of Tin Can Literary Review. It is also accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, and flash to literary magazine From the Depths 18. They do charge a fee and are a paying market. Deadline is August 31. Learn more…
Fictional Café is a highly regarded online ‘zine, seven years old with 800 Coffee Club members in 47 countries. Fiction only, please, that titillates the readers’ senses and provokes their minds. Your short story or novel excerpt should be extremely well written with engaging characters and a unique, avant-garde, or unconventional plot. Visit our site and read some recent works on the pictorial slider. Join our Coffee Club, then review our submissions guidelines. If you’re exploring fiction’s boundaries, we’re interested in reading your work. www.fictionalcafe.com
Biannual online literary magazine The American Journal of Poetry is open to submissions! They seek bold, uncensored work for publication in their ninth volume due out in July. They do charge a $5 fee. Learn more…
New online literary magazine Red Tree Review is open to poetry for its first issue. There is no fee to submit. They accept submissions on a rolling basis. Learn more…
Fledgling online literary magazine Hole In The Head Review is open to submissions for its May 2020 issue. $4 fee. Poetry and visual art accepted. Learn more…
Liminal Press seeks poetry submissions from writers who are sexual-trauma survivors. There is no fee to submit. Works will be published in the anthology I Don’t Cry Anymore in Fall 2020. Artist, poet, and educator Flo Oy Wong will co-edit. Deadline to submit is March 31. Learn more…
Deadline: April 15, 2020
Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry: A poetry manuscript contest sponsored by The University of Utah Press and the University of Utah Department of English. $1000 cash prize plus publication for your poetry manuscript. Prize includes an additional $500 payment for travel and a reading in the University of Utah’s Guest Writers Series. See www.UofUpress.com/ali-poetry-prize for more details.
The NewPages Winter 2020 LitPak was mailed to colleges and universities with graduate and undergraduate writing programs and classes last week!
Featured in this LitPak are fliers from
You can view the majority of the fliers included in this LitPak on our website. Feel free to download, print, and share. If you are interested in getting the next LitPak delivered straight to your doorstep, you can purchase a subscription here: npofficespace.com/litpak/subscription/.
The Awakenings Review is a literary magazine devoted to publishing works from writers who have some connection with mental illness. The connection can be their own, friends, or family members. Work does not need to be related to mental illness. Submissions accepted year-round. There is no fee. Learn more…
Literary magazine Jenny, run by students from Youngstown State University, seeks pieces on the theme of “revitalizing the small town” for Issue 18. Deadline to submit is March 1. Learn more…
Speckled Trout Review seeks poetry for their Spring 2020 issue. They love good storytelling. Deadline to submit is April 15. There is no fee. Learn more…
Online literary magazine Light and Dark seeks short stories for publication in issue 14. They particularly want work dealing in some way with the dichotomous nature of man. Deadline: March 15, 2020. $3 fee. They are a paying market. Learn more…
The MacGuffin is featuring formal poetical works in Volume 36, No. 3! We’ll take a look at any poem in an established metrical form, but save any free or blank verse for a different issue. Send up to five poems, listing their titles and forms in an email cover letter, using “Form Issue” in the subject line. Submissions also considered via post and Submittable (themacguffin.submittable.com/submit). Please send all work by April 1, 2020. Prose is still being considered for general publication in this issue. For more information, please see our website at www.schoolcraft.edu/macguffin or send us an email at [email protected].
Online literary magazine High Desert Journal is open to submissions. They are a “forum for literary, visual and journalistic artists to contribute a deeper understanding of the landscape and people of the interior West.”
Deadline to submit to their Spring 2020 issue is March 15. Learn more…
The Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative at Arizona State University is hosting its 2020 Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest. There is no fee. Deadline to submit stories is April 15 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time. Learn more…
The Helix Literary and Art Magazine, an undergraduate publication based in Central Connecticut, seeks compelling poetry, prose, and art for its Spring 2020 issue (online and in print). Any and all subject matters considered, but bonus points for topics that might be of interest to a college audience. Submit at helixmagazine.org/submission-guidelines/. Deadline: May 1.
Jewish Fiction .net, (www.jewishfiction.net) a prestigious literary journal, invites submissions for its Fall 2020 issue. We are the only English-language journal devoted exclusively to publishing Jewish fiction, and we showcase the finest contemporary Jewish-themed writing (either written in, or translated into, English) from around the world. In 9 years we have published 400 stories or novel excerpts, originally written in fifteen languages and on five continents, and we have readers in 140 countries. We’ve published such eminent authors as Elie Wiesel, Savyon Liebrecht, and Aharon Appelfeld, alongside many fine lesser-known writers. For submission details, please visit our Submissions page at www.jewishfiction.net/index.php/contactus/submission/.
Green Linden Press is currently open to chapbook-length poetry manuscripts. Chapbooks will be published in Fall 2020. Deadline to submit is March 20. There is a $12 reading fee to support their green mission. Learn more…
For our 22nd annual prizes in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, we offer the winner in each category a $1,000 prize and publication in the next year’s Fall or Spring issue. All writers and poets writing in English are eligible to enter, excepting friends, relatives, or current and former students of the current-year judges. All fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction prize submissions will also be considered for publication at regular payment rates. The submission period for our annual prizes is February 1 – March 31. The entry fee is $20. Submit now! artsandletters.gcsu.edu
Literary magazine Chestnut Review is open to submissions of poetry, nonfiction, art, and photography for its Summer 2020 issue. Learn more…
Online literary magazine Court Green is open to submissions through June 1. They do charge a small fee and accept submissions only via Submittable. Learn more…
The Center for Women Writers of Salem College is accepting entries of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for its 2020 International Literary Awards. Deadline to enter is February 29 now March 15. $15 fee. Prize is $1,000/category. Learn more…
Online literary magazine Apple Valley Review is reading submissions for its Spring 2020 issue through March 15. There is no fee submit.
Plus, all work published will be considered for their annual editor’s prize. Learn more…
The Connecticut Literary Festival is joining forces with the Central Connecticut State University English Department to publish an anthology. This anthology is open to Connecticut residents only. There is no fee. Deadline is March 31. Learn more…
The online literary magazine from Anomalous Press, Anomaly is open to general submissions through March 1. They charge a $3 fee and offer a modest honorarium.
Plus, they have announced their new issue will launch on April 11. Featured folios include a CantoMundo tribute and Performance Poetry. They will also be doing an event at AWP 2020 with Waxwing and Newfound. Learn more…
Book publisher Orison Books is accepting entries to its 2020 Orison Prizes in Poetry and Fiction. Deadline to enter is April 1. $30 fee. Prize includes $1,500 and book publication. Learn more…
Driftwood Press is not only a biannual digital and print literary magazine, but also a book publisher.
Submissions are accepted year-round with expedited response options available. Besides general submissions for their journal, they are currently open to submissions of novellas, graphic novels, and comic collections.
Many of their authors are offered editorships and interviews.
StoryQuarterly is open to submissions for its 5th annual Nonfiction Prize through March 28, 2020. The winner receives $1,000 and publication in Issue 53. This year’s judge is T Kira Madden. Learn more…
Online literary magazine Fiction Southeast seeks flash stories for its annual Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize. Deadline to submit is March 31. $10 submission fee. Winner receives $200 prize plus publication. Learn more…
Besides hosting monthly weekend workshops and retreats, online literary magazine is open to submissions year-round. There is no fee to submit. Learn more…
The Tiger Moth Review is open to submissions on the themes of nature, culture, the environment, and ecology for Issue 4. Deadline to submit is May 2020. They do not charge a submission fee. Learn more…
Online literary magazine S/tick provides a place for women, women-identified, and feminists of all stripes to share their grief, anger, and joy. S/tick is open to submissions of feminist writing and art for its “Angry/Mad” issue. There is no fee. Deadline is March 31. Learn more…
Storm Cellar is currently accepting submissions of writing and art for its Summer 2020 issue. Women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, poor, neurodivergent, border-straddling, and other under-represented voices especially encouraged to submit.
They accept submissions on a rolling basis with free submissions starting at the beginning of the month. They also offer expedited and tip jar submission options.
Besides looking for submissions for their summer issue, they are also accepting all things flash for their FORCE MAJEURE Flash Contest. Pieces should be under 1,000 words and can contain fiction, nonfiction, marks, images, or any combination thereof.
Deadline to enter is April 30. $5 fee for 1 piece of flash or $12 for 3. Winner receives publication and $300.
StoryQuarterly is accepting submissions to its 8th annual Fiction Contest through March 28, 2020. $15 fee. Winner will be published in Issue 53. This year’s judge is Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You. Learn more…
Literary magazine Puerto del Sol is accepting submissions to its annual writing contests through April 1, 2020. This year’s judges are Rodney Gomez and Vi Khi Nao. Winners receive $500 and publication. $9 fee includes a one-year subscription. Learn more…
Killer Nashville is the premier forum for all literature incorporating mystery, thriller, suspense, or true crime. They are accepting submissions to their annual awards for both published and unpublished works. Winners will be announced at the 2020 writers’ conference on August 22. Learn more…
The Florida Loquat Festival is seeking a page of poetry and prose for its annual writing contests. Work must have loquats as the subject or central theme. There is no fee to submit. Deadline to enter is March 6, 2020. Winner receives $100 and publication. Learn more…
Literary and artistic collective Oyster River Pages is open to submissions for their next annual issue! They believe in the power of art to connect people to their own and others’ humanity. ORP likes to feature artists and writers whose voices have been historically de-centered and marginalized.
Submissions open through May 31, 2020. There is no fee to submit.
With writing being embraced or rejected based on first paragraphs, the First Pages Prize has been established to encourage emerging writers. Besides the annual prize, there is also an awards event in Paris, France and year-round inspiration available on their website.
The 2020 Prize is open through February 16 (extended deadline). If writers submit by the normal February 2 deadline, the entry fee is $25. After the 2, the fee goes up to $35.
The prize is open to un-agented writers who must submit the first five pages of a fiction or creative nonfiction manuscript. $2,250 in cash awards, partial developmental editing, plus travel and accommodation to be in Paris, France for presentation events June 9-10.
This year’s judge is the award-winning author Sebastian Faulks, whose latest work Paris Echo was released June 2019.
Literary magazine The Blue Mountain Review launched in 2015 with the mantra “we’re all south of somewhere.” They are open to submissions with “homespun and international appeal” year-round and seek to preserve and promote “lives told well.” They do charge a $5 submission fee. Learn more…
The Stockholm Writers Festival is an annual event that takes place each spring in Stockholm, Sweden. They host the Stockholm Writers Prize to give emerging writers the time, space, and inspiration to focus on social-justice themed writing.
This year’s prize is open through Saturday, February 15 11:59 PM Central European Time. The winner receives a seven-day residency in Stockholm, Sweden from May 21 to 27 and $1,000 to be used towards travel expenses. Also included is a 1-1 meeting with an agent and individual feedback from the guest judge.
Writers must submit a creative writing sample (up to 1500 words) and a 1000-word personal statement on how they foresee their writing creating change, why this social justice issue matters to them, and how they can benefit from the residency.
**Updated 2/12/20: Stockholm Writers Festival cancelled this year’s contest and fees have been refunded.**
