May Deadlines: 10 Publications and Contests With Deadlines This Month

May flowers will be arriving this month, and contest opportunities will be blooming as well. Make sure you’re prepared for these possibilities by using our list, and don’t forget to send in your stack of submissions!

Featured! The Masters Review Flash Fiction Contest

Our love of flash fiction runs deep. So here it is: a home for your very best short fiction! Send us big worlds in tiny packages, large ideas with a low word count. Dazzle us with your best fiction under 1000 words.  $2000, publication on the Masters Review site, and recognition in Poets & Writers Magazine. SUBMIT HERE.
Entry Fee: $20 for two submissions Deadline: May 31

The Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant

From the website: The Whiting Foundation is now accepting submissions for this year’s Creative Nonfiction Grant, which will offer allocations of $40,000. Encouraged by the range and quality of submissions in its inaugural year, the Whiting Foundation will award up to six grants in the fall of 2017. All creative nonfiction writers under contract with a publisher and at least two years into their contract are encouraged to apply by May 1, 2017. Note this is for writers under contract with a publisher. Submit here.
Entry Fee: FREE Deadline: May 1

Boston Review’s Global Dystopias Contest

Judged by Junot Diaz! The Boston Review is asking for fiction and nonfiction on the subject of Global Dystopias. Submit up to 5000 words exploring, investigating, or questioning global dystopia. Climate change, gendered violence, global democracy, afrofuturism, and post-humanism are all listed as possible topics, but submissions exploring any interpretation of the idea are welcome. Details here.
Entry Fee: $3 Deadline: May 1

The Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest

Ploughshares prides itself on their commitment to promoting the work of up-and-coming writers, and that means you! This contest is meant to celebrate emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, awarding $2000 and publication to the winners of each category. Garth Greenwell is judging fiction, Meghan Daum is judging nonfiction, and Natalie Diaz is judging poetry. Open to all writers who haven’t published or self-published a novel or a collection. Guidelines here.
Entry Fee: $24 Deadline: May 15

Janet B McCabe Poetry Prize

If you have a poem to share, Ruminate wants to read it! Judged by the fantastic Shane McCrae, the first-place prize is $1500 and publication. Each submission is only two poems, but there are no limits on the number of entries per person. Submit here.
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: May 15

Raymond Carver Short Story Contest

If your stories are compelling, captivating, and concise, then Carve Magazine has the contest for you! Judged by Pinckney Benedict, the winner receives $1500 and second-place receives $500, and all of the winning entries will be read by three literary agents. This is the seventeenth year of the contest, so don’t waste any more time! Submit here.
Entry Fee: $17 Deadline: May 15

Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize

This amazing prize is available through Duke University, and it’s based on the collaboration between photographer Dorothea Lange and writer Paul Taylor. They’re looking for extended projects that rely on combining words and images, up to eighteen images and fifteen pages! The winner will receive $10,000, a feature story, and their work will be placed in the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University. More details here.
Entry Fee: $65 Deadline: May 15

New Letters Prize

This is actually three contests, each one accepting submissions in poetry, nonfiction, or fiction! Submissions may be up to 8000 words, or up to six poems, and the winner of each contest receives $1500 and publication. Make sure to select the correct contest for your submission! Learn more here.
Entry Fee: $20 Deadline: May 18

Granta Nonfiction Submissions

Granta accepts submissions in different categories throughout the year, and right now they’re accepting nonfiction up to 6000 words. If you want to be published in an internationally-known and acclaimed magazine, this could be your shot! Submission guidelines here.
Entry Fee: FREE Deadline: May 24

New England Review Submissions

Here is a great opportunity for all writers, as your work could be published in New England Review! This is the only time of year that they accept new submissions, in categories ranging from nonfiction to drama, and they pay $20 per page! Interested? Check it out!
Entry Fee: $3 Deadline: May 31

by Kimberly Guerin