Genre: Fiction

Jacobs/Jones African American Literary Prize

North Carolina Writers’ Network
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
January 2, 2025
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 considered for publication in Carolina Quarterly. Black writers who live in North Carolina are eligible. Submit a story or essay of up to 3,000 words (a self-contained excerpt from a longer work is also accepted) with a $20 entry fee ($10 for NCWN members) by January 2, 2025. Include two copies if submitting by mail. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

McKnight Fellowships for Writers

Loft Literary Center
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
November 19, 2024
Four prizes of $25,000 each will be given annually to Minnesota poets, prose writers, and spoken word artists. Fellows will also receive an all-expenses-paid, one- or two-week residency in partnership with Artist Communities Alliance and have the opportunity to attend one-on-one career consultations, workshops, and networking events run by the nonprofit organization Springboard for the Arts. The prize will be offered in poetry/spoken word and prose in alternating years; the 2025 fellowships will be awarded to fiction and creative nonfiction writers. Writers who have been residents of Minnesota for the year prior to the deadline and who will reside in Minnesota for the duration of the fellowship are eligible; writers must also have published at least one book, have had work appear in several journals, or have been booked to perform their work. Using only the online submission system, submit 20 to 25 pages of prose by November 19. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Firecracker Awards 

Community of Literary Magazines & Presses
Entry Fee: 
$65
Deadline: 
November 15, 2024
Three prizes of $2,000 each are given annually for a book of poetry, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction published by an independent press in the current year ($1,000 for each author and $1,000 for their respective publisher). Works in translation and graphic novels are accepted. Using only the online submission system, publishers may submit books of poetry or prose published in 2024 with a $65 entry fee ($55 for CLMP members) for the first book and a $30 fee ($25 for CLMP members) for each additional entry by November 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Award for Short Fiction

Press 53
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
December 31, 2024
A prize of $1,000, publication by Press 53, and 53 author copies is given annually for a story collection. Claire V. Foxx will judge. Submit a manuscript of 100 to 250 pages with a $30 entry fee by December 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Prose & Poetry Chapbook Contest

Action, Spectacle
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
December 31, 2024
A prize of $1,000, publication by Action, Spectacle, and 25 author copies will be given annually for a chapbook of poetry, prose, or hybrid-genre work. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 20 to 32 pages with a $23 entry fee by December 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Writing Fellowships

Fine Arts Work Center
Entry Fee: 
$40
Deadline: 
November 15, 2024
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 published a full-length book in any genre. Each fellowship includes a private apartment, a monthly stipend of $1,250, and an exit stipend of $1,000. To apply for fellowships beginning in October 2025, submit up to 15 pages of poetry or 35 pages of fiction (include a synopsis if submitting a novel) and a curriculum vitae with a $40 entry fee before noon (EST) on November 15; submissions are also accepted from noon on November 15 to before noon on December 1 with a $55 entry fee, and from noon on December 1 to midnight on December 15 with a $65 entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Editors’ Book Award

Pushcart Press
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
November 15, 2024
A prize of $1,000 is given occasionally for a fiction or nonfiction manuscript that has been rejected by a commercial publisher. The award recognizes “worthy manuscripts that have been overlooked by today’s high-pressure, bottom-line publishing conglomerates.” Manuscripts must be submitted with a formal letter of nomination from an editor at a U.S. or Canadian publishing company by November 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Writing Contest

Winter Anthology
Entry Fee: 
$11
Deadline: 
January 10, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Winter Anthology is given annually for a group of poems, a short story, a novel excerpt, or an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 100 pages of poetry or prose with an $11 entry fee by January 10, 2025. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Fish Short Story Prize

Fish Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$24
Deadline: 
November 30, 2024
A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,302) and publication in the annual Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short story. The winner will also be invited to attend a five-day short story workshop and read at the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2025. Sean Lusk will judge. Submit a story of up to 5,000 words with a €24 (approximately $26) entry fee for postal submissions or a €22 (approximately $24) entry fee for online submissions by November 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Pushcart Prizes

Pushcart Press
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
December 1, 2024
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 small presses during the current year. Editors may nominate up to six poems, short stories, novel chapters, or essays published, or scheduled to be published, in 2024; submit one copy of each work by December 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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