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49 Writing Contests You Can Submit to Now (December - January 2023)

by Writing Workshops Staff

A year ago


49 Writing Contests You Can Submit to Now (December - January 2023)

by Writing Workshops Staff

A year ago


Watch Publishing in Literary Journals to Launch Your Career On-Demand Video Seminar Here

Find 49 excellent writing contests below with deadlines between December 2022 and January 2023. Polish your manuscript and submit it to one of these great writing contests (and, if you're looking for a class in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or screenwriting, we've got you covered).

Waywiser Press

Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $3,000

Entry Fee: $29

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $3,000 and publication by the Waywiser Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published no more than one previous collection. The winner...

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Five Points

James Dickey Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Five Points is given annually for a group of poems. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...

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Langum Foundation

David J. Langum Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of historical fiction published during the current year. Publishers or authors may submit two copies of a book (or galleys)...

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Poetry International

C.P. Cavafy Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International is given annually for a single poem. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up...

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Regal House Publishing

W.S. Porter Prize for Short Story Collections

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing is given annually for a story collection. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 100 to 350 pages with a $25...

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African Poetry Book Fund

Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press in conjunction with Amalion Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection by an African poet. Writers...

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Masters Review

Novel Excerpt Contest

Cash Prize: $3,000

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $3,000, publication in Masters Review, and an agent consultation will be given annually for an excerpt of an unpublished novel or novel-in-progress showing “a...

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Pushcart Press

Pushcart Prizes

Cash Prize:  

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

Publication in The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses is awarded annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published by literary magazines or...

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Slipstream Press

Poetry Chapbook Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Slipstream Press, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of up to 40 pages...

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Meadowlark Press

Birdy Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/1/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Meadowlark Press, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript...

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Story

Story Foundation Prize

Cash Prize: $1,500

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/15/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,500 and publication in Story is given annually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a short story of no more than 10,000...

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Essay Press/University of Washington Bothell

Book Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 12/15/22

Genre:  PoetryCreative Nonfiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Essay Press will be given annually for lyric essays, prose poems, and works of experimental biography and autobiography that “challenge the...

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Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown

Writing Fellowships

Cash Prize: $8,000

Entry Fee: $50

Application Deadline: 12/15/22

Genre:  PoetryFiction

Fellowships for a seven-month residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are given annually to four poets and four fiction writers who have not...

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Longleaf Press

Book Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $27

Application Deadline: 12/15/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Longleaf Press, and 25 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection. The winner will also be invited to give a virtual reading...

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Center for Book Arts

Poetry Chapbook Contest

Cash Prize: $500

Entry Fee: $30

Application Deadline: 12/15/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $500 and letterpress publication by the Center for Book Arts is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner will also receive 10 copies of their chapbook and an...

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Virginia Commonwealth University

Cabell First Novelist Award

Cash Prize: $3,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/30/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of at least $3,000 is given annually for a debut novel published during the current year. The winner and two additional guest panelists (usually the winner’s agent and...

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Codhill Press

Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $30

Application Deadline: 12/30/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Codhill Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. James Sherwood will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 70...

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Poetry Society of America

Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Poetry Society of America website is given annually for a group of poems from a manuscript-in-progress. Wayne Miller will judge. Using...

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Cleveland Foundation

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

Cash Prize: $10,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

Three to four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published during...

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Omnidawn Publishing

Fabulist Fiction Chapbook/Novelette Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $18

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 20 author copies is given annually for a work of fabulist fiction. Michelle Ruiz Keil will judge. Using only the...

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Lascaux Review

Prize in Short Fiction

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Lascaux Review is given annually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of up to 10,000 words...

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Kallisto Gaia Press

Acacia Fiction Prize

Cash Prize: $1,500

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,500 and publication by Kallisto Gaia Press is given annually for a collection of short works of fiction. Lesley Bannatyne will judge. Using only the online...

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American Library Association

W.Y. Boyd Literary Award

Cash Prize: $5,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a novel published in the current year that is set in a period when the United States was at war. Publishers or authors may submit seven...

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Crosswinds

Poetry Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Crosswinds is given annually for a single poem. Alexandria Peary will judge. Submit up to three poems of no more than 60 lines each...

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Michigan Quarterly Review 

Jesmyn Ward Prize in Fiction

Cash Prize: $2,000

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $2,000 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review will be given annually for a short story. Desiree Cooper will judge. Using only the online submission...

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Kallisto Gaia Press

Saguaro Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $1,500

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,500 and publication by Kallisto Gaia Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Austin Smith will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit 28 to...

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Boulevard

Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers

Cash Prize: $1,500

Entry Fee: $16

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,500 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a short story by a writer who has not published a nationally distributed book. The editors will...

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Burnside Review Press

Book Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Burnside Review Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Jaswinder Bolina will judge. Using only the online...

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Press 53

Award for Short Fiction

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $30

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $1,000, publication by Press 53, and 50 author copies is given annually for a story collection. Claire V. Foxx will judge. Submit a manuscript of 100 to 250 pages...

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The Moth 

Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $6,128

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of €6,000 (approximately $6,128) and publication in the Moth is given annually for a single poem. Three runner-up prizes of €1,000 (approximately $1,021) each...

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Black Caucus of the American Library Association

Literary Awards

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

Four prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a first novel, a book of fiction, and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) by African...

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Poetry Society of America

Robert H. Winner Memorial Award

Cash Prize: $2,500

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $2,500 and publication on the Poetry Society of America website is given annually to a poet over 40 who has published no more than one book. Nuar Alsadir will judge...

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Ohio University Press

Hollis Summers Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $30

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Ohio University Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Jennifer Kwon Dobbs will judge. Using only the online submission system,...

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LitMag

Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction

Cash Prize: $2,500

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Fiction

A prize of $2,500 and publication in LitMag is given annually for a short story. The winner will have their work reviewed by agents from Bankoff Collaborative, the Bent...

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Florida Review

Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  FictionCreative Nonfiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Florida Review is given annually for a chapbook of short fiction, short nonfiction, or graphic narrative. Submit a manuscript of up...

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Tupelo Press

Dorset Prize

Cash Prize: $9,000

Entry Fee: $30

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $9,000, publication by Tupelo Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner also receives the option of either a weeklong...

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Before Columbus Foundation

American Book Awards

Cash Prize:  

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

Awards are given annually for books published in the United States during the current year to recognize “outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s...

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Poetry Society of America

Four Quartets Prize

Cash Prize: $20,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 12/31/22

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in the United States in a print or online journal, a chapbook, or a book during the...

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Mississippi Review

Mississippi Review Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 1/1/23

Genre:  PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Mississippi Review are given annually for a single poem, a short story, and an essay. Current or former University of...

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North Carolina Writers’ Network

Jacobs/Jones African American Literary Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 1/2/23

Genre:  FictionCreative Nonfiction

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story or an essay that “seeks to convey the rich and varied existence of Black North Carolinians.” The winning entry is...

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Gemini Magazine

Poetry Open

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $9

Application Deadline: 1/3/23

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a single poem. The editors will judge. Submit up to three poems of any length with a $9 entry...

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San José State University

Steinbeck Fellowships in Creative Writing

Cash Prize: $15,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 1/3/23

Genre:  FictionCreative Nonfiction

Six yearlong residencies at San José State University in San José, California, which include a stipend of $15,000 each, are given annually to fiction writers and creative...

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Leon Levy Center for Biography

Leon Levy Biography Fellowships

Cash Prize: $72,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 1/4/23

Genre:  FictionCreative Nonfiction

Four fellowships of $72,000, writing space at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, access to research facilities, and research assistance from a graduate student are...

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New Literary Project

Jack Hazard Fellowships

Cash Prize: $5,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 1/9/23

Genre:  FictionCreative Nonfiction

Nine fellowships of $5,000 each will be given annually to high school teachers working on an ongoing fiction, creative nonfiction, or memoir project. Full-time instructors at...

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Winter Anthology

Writing Contest

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $11

Application Deadline: 1/10/23

Genre:  PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Winter Anthology is given annually for a group of poems, a story, a novel excerpt, or an essay. Ann Lauterbach will judge. Using...

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National Endowment for the Arts

Translation Projects Fellowship

Cash Prize: $25,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 1/12/23

Genre:  Poetry

Around 20 grants of up to $25,000 each are given annually to translators of poetry and prose from any language into English. Applicants must have published, alone or in...

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92NY Unterberg Poetry Center

Discovery Poetry Contest

Cash Prize: $500

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 1/13/23

Genre:  Poetry

Four prizes of $500 each and publication in Paris Review Daily are given annually for a group of poems. Winners also receive lodging and travel expenses to give a reading at...

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French-American Foundation

Translation Prize

Cash Prize: $10,000

Entry Fee: $0

Application Deadline: 1/13/23

Genre:  FictionCreative Nonfiction

Two prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for translations from French into English of a book of fiction and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published...

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Colorado Review

Colorado Prize for Poetry

Cash Prize: $2,500

Entry Fee: $25

Application Deadline: 1/14/23

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $2,500 and publication by the Center for Literary Publishing is given annually for a poetry collection. Felicia Zamora will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 100...

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Poetry Society of Virginia

North American Book Award

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $36

Application Deadline: 1/15/23

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the previous year. The winner is also invited to read at the organization’s annual Spring Poetry...

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Asheville Poetry Review

William Matthews Poetry Prize

Cash Prize: $1,000

Entry Fee: $20

Application Deadline: 1/15/23

Genre:  Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore in...

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Ellen Meloy Fund

Desert Writers Award

Cash Prize: $5,000

Entry Fee: $15

Application Deadline: 1/15/23

Genre:  Creative Nonfiction

A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy’s writing” to...

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