Literary Magazines and Contests with Deadlines in June

June offers a lot of opportunities for writers to submit their work, with many amazing publications and guest judges. We’ve done the research and compiled a list of our favorites and listed them below. Some of them have deadlines as soon as June 15th, so put the polish on and get your stories out into the world.

New Rivers Press – New Rivers Press is looking for approximately twenty stories to publish in their American Fiction Volume 15: The Best Unpublished Stories by Emerging Writers. The American Fiction Short Story Award will honor first, second and third place stories with $1000, $500, and $250 respectively. All authors selected will receive national publication and distribution, as well as two contributor copies. This year’s final judge is Steve Almond. Go ahead, submit. Entry fee: $16 Deadline: June 15

Philadelphia Stories – The Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction is an annual short fiction contest for authors residing in the United States. The winner receives a $2000 cash award, invitation to an awards dinner at Rosemont College and publication in the Fall 2015 print issue of Philadelphia Stories. Second and third place stories receive $500 and $250 respectively as well as publication in the Fall 2015 online issue. There is a $12 reading fee, though each entrant receives a one-year membership to Philadelphia Stories. The Final Judge for this contest is author Bonnie Jo Campbell. Check it. Entry Fee: $12 Deadline: June 15

december – december is looking for exceptional stories and essays for their 2015 Curt Johnson Prose Awards. All finalists will be listed in the Fall/Winter 2015 Awards issue while the winner and honorable mention will receive $1500 and $500 respectively in addition to publication. This year’s judges are the incredible Joyce Carol Oates (fiction) and Albert Goldbarth (nonfiction). Enter here. Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: June 15

American Short Fiction – American Short Fiction will award $1000 and publication to the best story entered in the ASF Short Story Contest, and one runner-up will receive $500. All entrants will be considered for publication. The guest judge for this contest is the latest winner of the Story Prize, Elizabeth McCracken. Guidelines here. Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: June 15

Tishman Review – The Tishman Review’s Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Prize is open to all writers around the world. First place will be rewarded with $500 and publication in the July 15^th issue of The Tishman Review. Second place and honorable mention will receive $100 and $50 respectively. Submit between three and five poems per entry. Barrett Warner will be judging. Details here. Entry Fee: $15 Deadline: June 15

One Throne Magazine Twenty-Four Hour Contest – At the end of the month One Throne Magazine is holding a literary “Joust” where submitters have twenty-four hours to produce a 1000 word short story connecting the first and last lines of a piece, which will be emailed to them at the start. The prompt will be written by Tendai Huchu. There is no fee to enter and the winner receives $400. Details here. No Entry Fee. Deadline: June 27

The Moth Magazine – The Moth International Short Story Prize is open and looking for original and unpublished fiction from around the world. The entry fee is €12 per story (about $13). The winner will receive €3000 (~$3280), second place will win a writing retreat at Circle of Misse and a €250 travel stipend (~$275) and third place will be awarded €1000 (~$1095). All three winning stories will be published in the Autumn 2015 issue of The Moth. The judge of this contest is Donal Ryan. Go for it. Entry Fee: €12 (~$13) Deadline: June 30

Hunger Mountain – The Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize will award one 1^st place winner with $1000 and publication. Two honorable mentions will win $100 each and are considered for publication. This year’s judge is Daniel Torday. This contest is for stories under 10,000 words and is open to any writer. Inquire within. Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: June 30

Barrow Street – The Barrow Street Press Book Contest is open to any previously unpublished manuscripts of poetry. The winner will receive $1000 in addition to book publication. The judge of the contest is Richard Blanco. Enter here. Entry Fee: $25 by mail, $28 by online submission Deadline: June 30

Red Hen Press – The 2015 Red Hen Press Short Story Award will be awarded to an original story of a maximum 25 pages in length. The winner will be announced in 2016 and will be awarded with $1000 and publication in The Los Angeles Review. The final judge of the contest is Sean Bernard. The $20 entry fee covers the cost of two stories, so you’ve got twice the opportunity to win in this one. More information here. Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: June 30

Glimmer Train – Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open submissions will end on June 30. It is open to all subjects, themes and writers. 1^st place wins $2500, publication in Glimmer Train Stories and 20 copies of the issue. 2^nd place wins $1000 as well as 10 copies, if the story is selected for publication, while 3^rd place wins $600, or $700 and 10 copies if selected for publication. Go ahead, submit. Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: June 30

Northern Colorado Writers – Creative nonfiction writers, this one’s for you. Guest judge BK Loren is looking for personal essays that are thought provoking and sincere, and if you make her laugh, well, that’s even better. $1000 first prize, and $250, $100, second and third prizes respectively will be awarded to the winning writers. Winners, Honorable Mentions, and Editor’s Picks will be published in the winners’ anthology, out in December. Details and submission guidelines, here. Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: June 30

University of Pittsburgh Press – The Drue Heinz Literature Prize is completely free to enter but is only open to writers who have published a novel, a book-length collection of fiction, or at least three short stories or novellas in magazines or literary journals with national distribution. The winner of this prize will be awarded with a mammoth $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas, or a combination of the two. However, submissions must be at least 150 pages and no longer than 300. This illustrious award was established in 1981 and over the years judges have included Rick Moody, Alice McDermott, Tobias Wolf, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates and Raymond Carver. Submit here. Entry Fee: $0 Deadline: June 30

by Cole Meyer