We do our best to bring you a comprehensive list of contests. If we’ve missed yours, please email lisa.miller@walruspublishing.com.
International Writing Contests
Domestic Writing Contests
International Writing Contests
The Moth, Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize
Entry fee: €9 per poem, and you can enter as many poems as you like.
Prizes: Three cash prizes for a single, unpublished poem, and this year, they have increased to €10,000m (approx. $ 13,492 U.S. dollars). €2,000 and €1,000, making it one of the most lucrative prizes in the poetry world.
Deadline: December 31, 2013
The Moth is delighted to receive submission of previously unpublished work from anywhere in the world. It can take up to 4 months for a response. Work will be considered for any upcoming issue, not just for the one closest to date of submission. If you are submitting poetry, than please send no more than six poems, and please send them in one Word or PDF attachment. To file on-line: editor@themothmagazine.com. Postal submission should be sent to: Rebecca O’Connor, The Moth, 81 Church Street, Cavan, Co Cavan, Ireland.
Domestic Writing Contests
Boulevard – Short Fiction Contest
Entry fee: $15 for each individual story, with no limit per author, and includes a one-year subscription. (The Literary Magazine of St. Louis University). Make checks payable to Boulevard.
Prizes: $1,500 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a short story by a writer who has not published a nationally distributed book.
Deadline: postmarked by December 31, 2013.
Rules: Simultaneous submissions are allowed but previously accepted or published work is ineligible. We accept works of up to 8,000 words. Author’s name, address, and telephone number, in addition to the story’s title and “Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest” should appear on page one. Cover sheets are not necessary. Manuscripts should be typed and double-spaced. May be submitted electronically or by mail. Electronic submission: https://boulevard.submittable.com/submit. Or send manuscripts(s) and SAS post card for acknowledgement of receipt to Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest, PMB 325, 6614 Clayton Road, Richmond Heights, MO 63117. No manuscripts will be returned. The editors will judge.
Before Columbus Foundation – American Book Award
Entry fee: No fees are required.
Prizes: The Awards are given annually for books published in the United States during the previous year that make contributions to American multicultural literature.
Deadline: December 31, 2013
The Awards are given annually for books published in the United States during the previous year that make contributions to American multicultural literature. Submit two copies of a book published in 2013.
There are no application forms, fees, or other restrictions for submission, nominations or recommendations to the panel. The book is what matters, not the procedure. The only requirement is that two copies of the book must be mailed to the Before Columbus Foundation by December 31st for consideration for the following year’s awards. Anyone may make a submission (it does not have to be the publisher).
There is no limit on the number of titles that may be submitted. All genres are accepted (including anthologies, children’s books, and multimedia). You may include reviews, publicity, or other informational materials with your submission if you wish.
Pre-publication copies are accepted. Reprinting or new editions of lost classics are also welcome. The overriding principle is that there shall be no exclusions except time constraints (leeway is even available on deadline postmark dates, with prior approval. Submissions cannot be returned and acknowledgement is by SASE request only.
For more information call: American Book Awards, Before Columbus Foundation, the Raymond House, 655-13th Street, Suite 302, Oakland, CA 94612; Phone # 510-268-9775. For additional information, please go to: info@beforecolumbusfoundation.com
Chautauqua Prize – Fiction, creative nonfiction
Entry fee: $75
Prizes: $7,500 plus an all travel and expenses paid one-week summer residency at Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
Deadline: December 31, 2013.
Chautauqua Institute, the pre-eminent expression of lifelong learning in the United States, is pleased to invite 2014 submissions for The Chautauqua Prize, a distinguished national literary prize for a work of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction. Awarded annually since 2012, the Chautauqua Prize draws upon Chautauqua’s considerable literary legacy to celebrate a book that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honor the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts. Eligible books for the 2014 prize will have been published in English in the United States during 2013. Go to http://www.ciweb.org/prize for the official entry form and additional mailing instructions.
Entry Fee:$19 per story; Please, no more than three submissions per contest.
Prizes: 1st Place wins $2,500, publication in Glimmer Train Stories and 20 copies of that issue. 2nd place wins $1,000 (and 10 copies, if accepted for publication), 3rd place wins $600 (or, if accepted for publication, $700 and 10 copies).
Deadline: January 2, 2014 (There is always a one-week grace period).
Most entries run from 2,000 to 8,000 words, but stories from 2,000 to 20,000 words are fine also. Please make your submissions at Glimmer Train’s online submission site: www.glimmertrain.com/fictionopen.html.
Money for Women – Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction (Barbara Deming Memorial Award)
Entry Fee: $25. Individual Artist Grants for women.
Prizes: Grants of up to $1,000 are given twice yearly to feminist writers who are citizens of the United States or Canada. The current round of grants will be award to fiction writers. Grants will range from $500 to $1,500.
Deadline: December 31, 2013
Submit three copies of a poem, fiction or creative nonfiction piece via U.S. Postal Service to Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 309m Wilson, NH 03086. For additional guidelines and fees, go to Http://demingfund.org/apply-pd-11-php.
River Styx 2014 Schlafly Beer Micro-Fiction Contest 2013
Entry Fee: $20 includes a one-year subscription (three issues)
Prizes: $1,500 first prize plus one case of micro-brewed Schlafly Beer
Deadline: December 31, 2013
500 words maximum per story, up to three stories per entry. Include name and address on cover letter only. Include S.A.S.E. for notification on contest results (to be mailed out in March). The winner will be published in the Spring issue. All stories will be considered for publication. Previously published stories, including those that have appeared on web sites, blogs, and personal home pages, are not eligible. Though submissions are anonymous, judges will remove from consideration any entries they recognize as having been written by writers with whom they have worked or studied.
Mail entries to: River Styx’s Schlafly Beer Micro-Fiction Contest, 3547 Olive Street, Suite 107, St. Louis, MO 63103. For additional information, please go to www.riverstyx.org.contests.
