We may still be in the depths of winter, but there are always opportunities to find good cheer! Take a look at one of these contests, and you just might find that they are the perfect way to start off 2025!
FEATURED! Winter Short Story Award for New Writers
The Masters Review has just opened this contest, and we’re looking for emerging writers who can take chances and be bold! Entries may be fiction or creative nonfiction, and they must be under 6,000 words. The winner receives $3,000, publication, and agency review, and the runners-up also receive cash prizes, publication, and agency review. Judged by Bret Anthony Johnston. Details here.
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: February 2
The 2025 MR Prize
Awarded through Mississippi Review, this prize is available to writers and poets alike! Winners receive $1,000 and publication for the categories of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Prose entries should be 1,000-8,000 words, and poetry should be under ten pages, but there is no limit on the number of entries! Submit here.
Entry Fee: $16 Deadline: January 1
Gemini Magazine Poetry Open
Here is a great chance for writers of all stripes, as Gemini Magazine’s contest is open to any subject, style, or length! All poems must be unpublished, and entries may include up to three poems. The winner receives $1,000, and all six finalists will be published online. Learn more here.
Entry Fee: $10 Deadline: January 2
Steinbeck Fellowships in Creative Writing
The Steinbeck Fellows Program of San Jose State University, endowed by Marthe Heasley Cox, is looking for emerging writers of any age and background! Their creative writing fellowship accepts work in fiction, drama, creative fiction, and biography (but not in poetry). Accepted fellows will receive a $15,000 stipend, interaction with other writers and faculty, and a public reading. Each application needs to include a prospectus, resume, three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample. See more here!
Entry Fee: FREE Deadline: January 5
The Georgia Review Prose Prize
This is going to be a fierce competition, where the final judging will be a direct head-to-head battle! The Georgia Review is asking for entries of either one short story, or one essay, and each writer may only enter once. They ask that you make sure to clearly state the genre of your work in the cover letter. The best short story and the best essay will both be published, but only the overall winner between the two will be awarded $1,500. Don’t worry, though, the runner-up still gets $600! Check it out here.
Entry Fee: $25 Deadline: January 15
Desert Writers Award
Established to honor the memory of Ellen Meloy, the Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers is devoted to literary and creative nonfiction work about the desert. The fund provides support to writers whose work brings deeper meaning to the body of desert literature, awarding $5,000 every spring. To be considered, entrants must include the completed application form, a biographical statement, a project proposal, and a ten page writing sample. More details here!
Entry Fee: $15 Deadline: January 15
Cai Emmons Fiction Award
This contest is for fresh and original stories, to honor the life and legacy of beloved Red Hen Press author Cai Emmons! Acceptable submissions must be fiction, with a minimum of 150 pages. The winner, selected by judge E. P. Tuazon, receives $5,000 and publication by Red Hen Press. Learn more here!
Entry Fee: $25 Deadline: January 15
Chautauqua Janus Prize
For the eighth time, the Chautauqua Janus Prize will be awarded this summer, and the time to apply is running out! It is meant to be a celebration of an emerging writer’s daring innovation of literary form and function that reorders and upsets readers’ imagination in a single work of short fiction or nonfiction. Not only does the winner receive $5,000 and a travel expense for their manuscript, they will also give a lecture in the summer and receive publication in Chautauqua. This is specifically a prize meant for emerging writers, who have yet to publish any prose books. Judged by Marita Golden. Apply here.
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: January 15
The Big Moose Prize
If you’ve recently finished writing a novel, here is an opportunity to get published! Black Lawrence Press is awarding this prize, and it’s open to new, emerging, or established authors. They allow traditional novels as well as novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms. The winner receives $1,000, book publication, and ten copies of their book. Details here.
Entry Fee: $28 Deadline: January 31
The Iowa Review Awards
In this threefold contest offered by The Iowa Review, contestants can submit entries for fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Multiple entries are allowed, and different genres constitute different entries. The fiction judge is Sequoia Nagamatsu, the nonfiction judge is Sarah Viren, and the poetry judge is Terrance Hayes. Prose submissions may be up to fifteen pages, and poetry submissions may be up to ten pages. The winners in each category receive $1,500 and publication. Choose the correct category when you submit, and good luck! More details here.
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: January 31
New Millennium Writing Awards
There’s a little something for everyone in this contest, presented by literary journal New Millennium Writings! Writers can send in submissions for poetry, fiction, flash fiction, or nonfiction, with no restrictions on style or subject matter. Fiction and nonfiction must be less than 7,500 words, flash fiction must be less than 1,000 words, and poetry may include three poems less than five pages long. First place in each category receives $1,000, a certificate, publication online and in print, and two copies of their work. Don’t wait!
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: January 31
The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition
The Ghost Story is looking for the finest work they can find that incorporates the uncanny, as long as it’s below 1,000 words! Stories don’t need to include ghosts specifically, but they do need fresh perspectives and superb writing. The winner receives $1,000 and both online and print publication. Submit here!
Entry Fee: $15 Deadline: January 31
swamp pink writing prizes
These are actually three contests offered by swamp pink, formerly known as Crazyhorse, looking for exceptional writing and outstanding poetry! The judges are Paul Tran for poetry, Grace Talusan for nonfiction, and Afabwaje Kurian for fiction. Submissions may be up to twenty-five pages, or a set of one to three poems, and the winner of each contest receives $2,000 and publication. Submission details here.
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: January 31
by Kimberly Guerin