Contests & Opportunities
Writing contests are a great way to get your writing career started. It doesn’t even matter if you win or place – part of the benefit of entering contests is the discipline involved in writing to a deadline and leading your talent in the right direction. Win, lose or place, once you are finished, you’ve got the makings of a great story to publish on your own site or in a literary magazine. Having the courage to submit is half the battle!
For a full list of contest and opportunity deadlines, visit the Events page on our sister site, CanAm Author Services. In the meantime, here are the top contests for the upcoming months:
January 2012:
|
Contest |
Deadline |
Category |
Prize |
Entry Fee |
| Carpe Articulum |
1/7 |
Novella |
$1,000 |
$25 |
| Crazyhorse Poetry and Fiction Prizes |
1/15 |
SS |
$2,000 |
$16 |
| Literal Latté K. Margaret Grossman Fiction Award |
1/15 |
SS |
$1,000 |
$10 |
| Glimmer Train Press Very Short Fiction Award |
1/31 |
FF |
$1,200 |
$15 |
| Iowa Review Awards |
1/31 |
SS |
$1,500 |
$20 |
| A Room of Her Own Foundation Orlando Prizes |
1/31 |
SS/FF by women |
$1,000 |
$15 |
| Stanford University William Saroyan International Prize |
1/31 |
Book |
$5,000 |
$50 |
February 2012:
|
Contest |
Deadline |
Category |
Prize |
Entry Fee |
| Malahat Review Novella prize (even years) |
2/1 |
Novella |
$1,500 |
$35/40/45 – CA/US/Intl |
| University of Rochester Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction |
2/1 |
Book – female writer |
$5,000 |
Free |
| Salem College International Literary Awards |
2/10 |
SS |
$1,200 |
$15 |
| Starcherone Books Prize for Innovative Fiction |
2/15 |
Novel |
$1,500 |
$35 |
| Accenti Writing Contest |
2/18 |
SS/essay |
$1,000 |
$20 |
| Balcones Center for Creative Writing Fiction Prize |
2/28 |
SS collection/novel |
$1,500 |
$30 |
| DIAGRAM Innovative Fiction Contest |
2/28 |
SS |
$1,000 |
$16 |
| Florida Review Editors’ Awards |
2/28 |
SS |
$1,000 |
$15 |
| Glimmertrain Short Story Award for New Writers |
2/28 |
SS |
$1,200 |
$15 |
March 2012:
|
Contest |
Deadline |
Category |
Prize |
Entry Fee |
| Binghamton University Book Awards |
3/1 |
Book |
$1,000 |
Free |
| Gulf Coast Writing Contests |
3/1 |
SS |
$1,500 |
$23 |
| James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship |
3/1 |
Fellowship |
$10,000 |
$25 |
| Colorado Review Nelligan Prize |
3/11 |
SS |
$1,500 |
$15 |
| University of Nebraska Press Prairie Schooner Book Prizes |
3/15 |
SS collection |
$3,000 |
$25 |
| Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest |
3/16 |
Essay |
$1,000 |
$20 |
| Center for Fiction Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize |
3/18 |
Published Novel |
$10,000 |
$50 |
| Writers’ Journal Horror/Ghost Story |
3/30 |
SS |
$250 |
$7 |
| Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest |
3/31 |
SS |
$1,000 |
$4 |
| Narrative Magazine Winter Story Contest |
3/31 |
SS, FF, essay, excerpt |
$3,250 |
$20 |
| ABQ Writers Co-op Bosque Fiction Prize |
3/31 |
SS |
$1,000 |
$20 |
| Winning Writers Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest |
3/31 |
SS |
$3,000 |
$15 |
| Glimmertrain Fiction Open |
3/31 |
SS/MS |
$2,000 |
$18 |