Writing Contests & Book Contests
NewPages Classifieds

Deadline: October 18, 2021
New Letters invites you to submit work that experiments and that crosses the traditional boundaries of genre and form to our Editor's Choice Award. Enter your hybrid work—your lyric essays, prose poems, short-shorts, collages, micro-memoirs . . . whatever you’re doing that’s experimental, we want to see it. The winner will receive $1,000 plus publication in an issue of New Letters. www.newletters.org/editors-choice-award/

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 1, 2021
The 2022 James Hearst Poetry Prize is accepting submissions! Open to all poets, the prize is awarded for a single poem. For a fee of $23, submit one entry of up to five poems. Entry fee includes a copy of the contest issue. Simultaneous submission to other journals or competitions is not allowed. The prizewinner will receive an award of $1,000. Winner and finalists will be published in the Spring 2022 issue of the North American Review. This year’s final judge is Natalie Diaz. Full guidelines and submission link can be found at northamericanreview.org/hearst-poetry-prize. Questions? Contact .

Deadline: November 1, 2021
The 2022 Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize is accepting submissions! Open to all authors, the prize is awarded for a single piece. $23 submission fee per entry. Entry fee includes a copy of the contest issue. Simultaneous submission to other journals or competitions is not allowed. The prizewinner will receive an award of $1,000 and winner and finalists will be published in the Summer 2022 issue of the North American Review. This year’s final judge is Brenda Peynado. Full guidelines can be found at northamericanreview.org/kurt-vonnegut-speculative-fiction-prize. Questions? Contact .

Deadline: October 31, 2021
The Vern Rutsala Book Prize is an annual contest sponsored by Cloudbank Books. The winner receives a $1,000 cash award, plus publication. This year’s judge is Doug Ramspeck. Most recent prize winners were John Kooistra for Long Voyage Gathering Light and Jane Craven for My Bright Last Country. Submission due date is October 31, 2021. 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: 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: September 30, 2021
Got a great short-short story? Win $1,000 for a story of 1,000 words or less in the 13th annual Gemini Magazine Flash Fiction Contest. Second prize: $100. Four honorable mentions: $25 each. Entry fee: $7. Any subject or style. Except for the word limit, we have no rules and are open to your most creative work, whether literary, noir, historical, sci-fi, or any other category. All six finalists will be published online in the December 2021 issue of Gemini. Read previous winners/finalists online to see the wide variety of flash fiction we publish. gemini-magazine.com/contest-schedule/flash-fiction-contest/

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 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: 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: 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: 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. 

Deadline: September 30, 2021
19th year, sponsored by Winning Writers. Win $3,000 for a poem in any style and $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Total prizes: $8,000. The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Both published and unpublished work accepted. Winning entries published online. Submit two poems for one $15 entry fee. Length limit: 250 lines per poem. Judged by S. Mei Sheng Frazier. This contest is recommended by Reedsy. See past winners, advice from the judge, and submit online at winningwriters.com/tompoetrynp21.

Deadline: September 30, 2021
Texas Review Press invites submissions for the 2021 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize judged by Kazim Ali. Established in 1998, The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize highlights one full-length collection of poetry per year. The prize comes with a $10,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book. This contest is open to poets in any stage of their career. Submissions are open now through September 30th, $28 Fee, submissions accepted via Submittable.

Deadline: October 1, 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/.