information about creative writing contests, poetry contests, literary magazine theme issues, writing residencies, grants, fellowships etc. Now accepting creative writing contests news and announcements!
84 poets signed up for our 19th annual Great Poetry Exchange at TheSuperHighway.com
pledging to send a book to a randomly selected participant in exchange for receiving one from yet another randomly selected participant.
Notifications on who to send your book to, if you signed up to participate, were sent out on Sunday. (Let me know if you didn’t get it.)
The deadline to send your book (and notify me that it was sent) is Monday, March 16th, 2020.
Thanks for joining in!
The 2020 Killer Nashville Claymore Award is an open competition for unpublished works.
Each entry is evaluated by at least two judges.
Judges are authors, editors, and other professionals from the publishing industry.
Deadline: April 1, 2020
Finalists will be notified by June 1, 2020.
The winner and runners-up will be announced at the 2020 Killer Nashville Awards Dinner on August 22, 2020.
Claymore Entry Fee – $30;
Claymore Entry Fee with Critique – $50
Over $3,000 in prizes, plus possible book advance, agent, and movie deal.
The winner will receive an engraved replica of a Claymore Dagger, free admission to the current year’s Killer Nashville and more. The top ten finalists also receive prizes.
Any manuscript of exceptional merit deemed ready for submission will be recommended by Killer Nashville to agents, editors and publishers regardless of placement in the contest.
The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony during the guest of honor dinner & awards banquet on the Saturday evening of the conference.
Enter the first 50 pages of your unpublished crime literature manuscript in the contest.
Judges will consider any subgenre of mystery or thriller. Enter the first 50 pages of any unpublished literature in the following genres:
Action – Adventure – Children’s – Comedy – Cozy – Crime – CSI – Dark Fantasy – Detective – Drama – Dystopian – Erotica – Faith-Based – Fantasy – Gangster – Historical – Horror – Legal – Literary – Middle Grade – Mystery – Paranormal – Police procedural – Political thriller – Private eye – Romantic Suspense – Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) – Spy – Steampunk – Suspense – Thriller – Urban Fantasy – Western – Women’s Fiction – Young Adult (YA)
The story must have a mystery, thriller or suspense element: a crime must have been committed that needs detecting, a crime is about to be (or threatened to be) committed or foreboding danger must be in place.
Killer Nashville
P.O. Box 680759
Franklin, Tennessee 37068-0759
(p) 615-599-4032
Contact: contact@killernashville.com
Visit the website: http://www.claymoreaward.com
We’re looking for the best piece of NON-FICTION travel writing, written around the competition theme. You can write about any destination you want, in any style you want. You can even write about travel generally or give us an opinion piece. The possibilities are endless!
Prize: £1000
Entry Fee: £5 for Early Entry, £8 for General Entry
Deadline: 23:00 (GMT) 1st April 2020
Winner Announced: 22nd April 2020
Are you an aspiring travel blogger or writer?
Globe Soup is looking for the best piece of NON-FICTION travel writing (1,000 words or less) written as a blog post or article. Every Globe Soup writing competition has a secret theme, which is only revealed after you enter! The themes are always broad and fun. They don’t restrict you, so you can write about anywhere you want, in whatever style you want. Globe Soup competitions are for everyone. You don’t have to be a professional writer to enter. Since we only publish the winning piece, your work is yours. If you don’t win you can put it on your own blog. But why wouldn’t you win, right?
How to enter:
First, read the competition rules carefully.
Next, buy a ticket. We use Eventbrite to sell our tickets, so you can feel secure when making your purchase.
Now you receive an email with the competition theme and instructions on how to submit.
You can begin writing and you have until the closing time to submit. Good luck!
Visit the website: https://www.globesoup.net/spring-2020
Awarding publication of a book-length collection, a Four Way Books sponsored reading in NYC, and $1000.
Submission Dates: January 1 – March 31, 2020 (postmark) or online via our submission manager by April 1, 2020 at 3 AM EST to accommodate our west coast friends.
Eligibility: Open to any poet writing in English regardless of publication history.
Submissions accepted online (preferred) and by mail.
Please read the following instructions carefully.
• Submit a previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscript, in English.
• Material in your manuscript may have been published previously in a chapbook, magazines, journals or anthologies, but the work as a whole must be unpublished.
• Please use a legible 12 point font.
• Do not include artwork.
• Translations and previously self-published books are not eligible.
•You may include a list of acknowledgments if you wish.
• There are no length requirements save that book-length collection of poetry usually run between 48 and 80 pages of text.
• You may submit multiple manuscripts, but each must be treated as an individual submission, submitted separately, and each requires an entry fee of $30.00 per submission. Each must have complete contact info, etc.
• If you pay the entry fee but fail to submit your manuscript by the deadline, your fee will not be returned.
• Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
•Your work will be disqualified if your name or contact info appears on the manuscript. Follow our guidelines for placement of contact info.
• Click Here for our submission manager.
• Please include a completed Entry Form. Click here to download the Entry Form (PDF format). (You will need Adobe Reader to view and print the Entry Form.)
• Include one cover page with the title of your work and all of your contact information, including your email address if you have one. Your name and contact information should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript.
• You must include a second cover page with just the title of your work, no other contact info.
• Include an entry fee of $30 with your submission, by check, made payable to Four Way Books. A stamped self-addressed postcard may be included to confirm receipt of manuscript.
Mail submission and entry fee of $30.00 to:
Four Way Books
POB 535 Village Station
New York NY 10014
The winner will be notified by email or phone no later than Labor Day. Submitters will be notified by email only. The result will also be posted on our website by Labor Day.
We do not return manuscripts. We do not offer editorial feedback to submitters.
Each manuscript is delivered to our readers as a blind submission. That is, it is stripped of identifying material, whether it is submitted online or by paper. Only the manuscript, inclusive of any text notes, is sent to the readers and, if chosen as a finalist, to the judge. We do not give a list of submitters or titles to the judge.
Please do not submit to this contest if you are close enough to Diane Seuss that her integrity, your integrity, and the integrity of Four Way Books would be called into question should you be selected as the winner. You may query us if you have questions regarding this matter. Please query by email to editors@fourwaybooks.com.
Our preliminary readers for the contest are selected by the director of the press and are published poets, experienced editors, and/or poets who have received a graduate degree in creative writing or literature. Each manuscript is read by at least two readers. We rotate our readers seasonally so that those writers who wish to re-submit to Four Way Books can be assured that their manuscript(s) will receive fresh “reads.” We do not employ students to read manuscripts.
Our readers select approximately 50 manuscripts as finalist selections. They look for work that is beautifully crafted, manuscripts that feel whole and well-shaped. They do not try to second-guess a judge’s preference. Rather, they look to present a wide range of excellent work to the judge.
Finalists are notified in May or June that their work will be sent on to the judge. On occasion, a judge may ask to see more work but the judge is not allowed to ask for specific work by a specific writer but may ask to see a wider sampling of strong work. If that is the case, the press reviews the submissions again and more manuscripts are sent to the judge as finalists. Therefore, we do not inform the public of finalist selections since that list may grow after the first culling.
The judge is instructed to notify the press of any indiscretions. If a submitter contacts the judge regarding the contest, that person will be disqualified. If the judge does not select a winner, the press’s director, and senior editors will select a finalist’s manuscript to publish.
Visit the website: https://fourwaybooks.com/site/levis-prize/
an annual competition in honor of Vern Cowles, a man who loved literature
Reading Fee: $25 payable through our Submittable page.
Award, contest deadline of April 1, 2020: $2,000 and 30 copies for the author, publication and distribution of a full-length poetry manuscript with a full-color perfect-bound cover.
Manuscripts submitted to the contest will be read and judged anonymously.
Visit the website: http://www.semopress.com/events/cowles-prize/
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Hudson Prize for an unpublished collection of poems or short stories. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes awarded on publication.
Through our annual contests and open reading periods, we seek innovative, electrifying, and thoroughly intoxicating manuscripts that ensnare themselves in our hearts and minds and won’t let go.
During our June and November open reading periods, we accept submissions in the following categories: novel, novella, short story collection (full-length and chapbook), poetry (full-length and chapbook), biography & cultural studies, translation (from the German), and creative nonfiction. We also enthusiastically accept hybrid submissions.
We also hold several annual contests. Here is our reading schedule:
The Hudson Prize: February 1 – March 31, 2020
(Open competition, poetry and short story collections)
The Spring Black River Chapbook Competition: April 1 – May 31
(Open competition, poetry and fiction chaps)
Open Reading Period 1: June 1 – June 30
The St. Lawrence Book Award: July 1- August 31
(First book competition, poetry and short story collections)
The Fall Black River Chapbook Competition: September 1 – October 31
(Open competition, poetry and fiction chaps)
Open Reading Period 2: November 1 – November 30
(Please note that we occasionally offer early bird specials on our contests. These specials allow authors to submit their manuscripts ahead of time at a discounted rate.)
Please submit your work to the appropriate category below. If you are submitting a hybrid manuscript, please select the submission category that best fits your work.
Visit the website: https://blacklawrencepress.com/submissions-and-contests/the-hudson-prize/
Awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of the 2020 Alpine Fellowship Annual Symposium: Forgiveness and Retribution.
The winner receives a £10,000 cash prize and is presented with the award by the poet John Burnside. A £3,000 cash prize will go to the second place and £2,000 to the third-place runner up. The winner and two runners up are invited to attend the Fjällnäs symposium.
Rules: Open to all nationalities, aged 18 and above. All genres permitted. A maximum of 2500 words per entry. Limited to one entry per person. The text must not have been published, self-published or accepted for publication in print or online, or have won or been placed in another competition at any time (including the AF Academic Writing Prize). All entries are judged anonymously and no correspondence can be entered into.
Applications open: 1st January 2020
Applications close: 1st April 2020
Longlist (top 100 entries) announced: 15th May 2020*
Shortlist (top 30 entries) announced: 1st June 2020*
Winners announced: 15th June 2020*
Please follow us on Instagram to stay up to date with the latest news.
*Please note: we reserve the right to change the date of the longlist, shortlist and winners announcement if required.
Visit the website: https://alpinefellowship.com/writing-prize
Deadline: Postmarked by April 30, 2020
The Writers’ Workshop of Asheville, NC, is sponsoring the National Poetry Contest, open to any writer regardless of residence. The awards are:
1st Place: Your choice of a 2 night stay at our Mountain Muse B&B in Asheville; or 3 free workshops (in person or online); or 10 poems line-edited and revised by our editorial staff
2nd Place: Two free workshops; or 8 poems line-edited
3rd Place: One free workshop, or 5 pages line-edited
10 Honorable Mentions
Guidelines:
Each poem should not exceed two pages (double-spaced). Multiple entries are accepted. Your name, address, phone email and title of work should appear on the first page. The entry fee is $25 for every 3 poems. All entries receive comments from the judges.
Enclose self-sealing SASE for comments and winners’ list, and mail to: Poetry Contest, 387 Beaucatcher Road, Asheville, NC 28805.
Emailed submissions may be sent in Word Doc to writersw@gmail.com with “Poetry Contest” in the subject. Entry fee is payable online at www.twwoa.org
The Emerging Writer’s Contest is now open.
The 2020 Emerging Writer’s Contest will run from March 1, 2020 at noon EST to May 15, 2020 at noon EST.
Since 1971, Ploughshares has been committed to promoting the work of up-and-coming writers. Over the years, Ploughshares has helped launch the careers of great writers like Edward P. Jones, Sue Miller, Mona Simpson, Tim O’Brien, and many more.
In the spirit of the journal’s founding mission, the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each genre per year will receive $2,000 and publication in the literary journal. We consider authors “emerging” if they haven’t published or self-published a book.
To submit, see our guidelines. The 2020 contest judges are Kirstin Valdez Quade (Fiction), Ilya Kaminsky (Poetry) and Esmé Weijun Wang (Nonfiction). The winners will also receive a conversation with our partnering literary agency, Aevitas Creative Management, regarding their work and writing careers.
The Emerging Writer’s Contest is now open. Submit to the Emerging Writer’s Contest by logging in to your pshares.org account or creating an account and then visiting our submission manager here.
The 2020 Emerging Writer’s Contest will run from March 1, 2020 at noon EST to May 15, 2020 at noon EST.
The Emerging Writer’s Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. Read past winners of the contest here.
We award publication, $2,000, review from Aevitas Creative Management, and a 1-year subscription for one winner in each of the three genres. Submit to the Emerging Writer’s Contest through our submission manager. You must be logged in to access our submission manager.
The 2020 contest judges are Kirstin Valdez Quade (Fiction), Ilya Kaminsky (Poetry) and Esmé Weijun Wang (Nonfiction).
The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2020 contest will be published in the Winter 2020-21 issue of Ploughshares.
The contest opens March 1, 2020 at noon EST and closes on May 15, 2020 at noon EST. We will announce the winners in mid-September of 2020.
Fiction and Nonfiction: Under 6,000 words
Poetry: 3-5 pages
Submit one entry per year via our online submission manager.
Simultaneous vs. Multiple Submissions
We only consider one submission per author for the duration of the contest, regardless of genre. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are fine as long as we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere via email (pshares@pshares.org) or our online contact form.
If you are a current subscriber through our Winter 2020-2021 issue, your contest entry is free of charge. You will still be prompted to “checkout” but you will not be required to enter payment information and will not be charged. If you’re not sure when your subscription expires, feel free to email us at pshares@pshares.org.
If you are not a subscriber, or your subscription expires before our Winter 2020-2021 issue, the submission manager will prompt you to pay the $24 fee at checkout. The fee includes a 1-year subscription to Ploughshares (beginning with the Spring 2020 issue and ending with the Winter 2020-2021 issue) and free submissions to the 2020 regular reading period.
If you are an international submitter, please be in touch via email for more information about this process.
Submit to the Emerging Writer’s Contest through our submission manager.
Visit the website: https://www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest
Submit your spine-chilling stories to be in with the chance of winning $1000
Inkitt’s brand new horror writing contest is an opportunity to share your terrifying stories with our 2 million readers and writers around the world. Whether it’s psychological thriller, a ghoulish tale or terrifying gorey details – your captivatingly scary books will be most welcome here.
With a 1st place prize including $1,000 cash, one to one coaching with a professional writing coach worth $500, a social media feature on Inkitt’s social pages, and an exclusive book badge award, this contest gives you the chance broaden your readership, earn cash and improve your writing!
11:59pm PST on March 31st, 2020
One grand prize winner, and two runners up will be selected from this contest.
1st prize: $1,000, a one-on-one writing coaching class worth $500, a feature on Inkitt’s social media platforms and an exclusive book badge!
2nd prize: $250 and shout out on Inkitt’s social media pages!
3rd prize: $100!
Visit the website: https://www.inkitt.com/horror-writing-contest
Not a horror writer? Have no fear, check out our Novel Writing Contest, Fanfiction Contest and Short Story Contest
Creative Writing Contests 