April Deadlines: 10 Contests and Lit Mags With Deadlines This Month

Spring is in the air and so are looming literary deadlines! Start submitting today.

april deadlines

Annual Gulf Coast Prizes

Gulf Coast’s three annual prizes in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction are coming up! Winners receive $1,500, those who receive honorable mention will take home $250. This year, the nonfiction contest is judged by David Shields and the fiction contest by Ayana Mathis. Click here to read about the three Annual Gulf Coast Prizes.
Submission fee: $23 Deadline: April 9, 2016

Kore Press Awards

Kore Press is currently accepting submissions for their annual fiction and memoir contests. Both contests are only open to female writers. The fiction prize is $1,250 and judged by Edwidge Danticat; the memoir prize is $1,000 and judged by Lidia Yuknavitch.

Submission fee: $20–25 Deadline: April 10, 2016

Writer’s Digest Flash Fiction

Can you write a 700-word flash story that starts with this bit of juicy dialogue? “I’m going to disappoint you. But you already know that.” If you’re up for this fun challenge, check out the submission guidelines here.

Submission fee: Free! Deadline: April 11, 2016

Astrophil Press

Working on a longer work? South Dakota’s Astrophil Press is reading both book-length manuscripts and chapbook-length works of prose and poetry.
Submission fee: Free! Deadline: April 10, 2016

A Public Space

Open submissions for this literary journal close this month. They run poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and accept novel and novella excerpts. Read more on A Public Space’s submissions here.
Submission fee: Free! Deadline: April 15, 2016

The Normal School

Another publication whose open reading period is about to close is this biannual print magazine. They are interested in nonfiction that doesn’t fit in easy categories and fiction with contemporary themes and style. They accept submissions through snail mail and online, but check out the rest of their guidelines here.
Submission fee: $3 Deadline: April 15, 2016

New South

The deadline for the New South contest for emerging writers is coming up soon. The judge for prose pieces is Matthew Salesses and the judge for poetry is Anya Silver. Winners receive $1,000 and second-place winners receive $250.
Submission fee: $15 Deadline: April 15, 2016

Narrative Free Submissions

Narrative has a variety of contests throughout the year, but for the next two weeks, submissions are free! Now’s your chance to save some dough and get your hat in the ring. Make sure you read their submission guidelines fully and choose which of their categories best matches your work.
Submission fee: Free! Deadline: April 15, 2016

Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Contest

Feeling brusque? Glimmer Train is looking for unpublished works of 300–3,000 words. Your short fiction could land you a very large prize: first place receives $2,000 and second and third place clean up pretty well too. Read the full guidelines here.

Submission fee: $16 Deadline: April 30, 2016

Prairie Schooner

Prairie Schooner closes its open submissions on the very first day of May. They publish fiction, poetry, essays, and book reviews! One important note: they do not accept simultaneous submissions. Check it out.
Submission fee: Free! Deadline: May 1

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