Writing Competition for Emerging African American Fiction Writers: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence honors Louisiana’s revered storyteller, Ernest J. Gaines, and serves to inspire and recognize rising African-American fiction writers of excellence at a national level. The book award, initiated by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, is now in its 15th year and has become nationally recognized in its role of enhancing visibility of emerging African-American fiction writers while also expanding the audience for this literature. The annual award of a $15,000 cash prize is to support and enable the writer to focus on writing. 

The 2022 panel of judges are renowned contributors to the literary world. They are Anthony Grooms, Edward P. Jones, Elizabeth Nunez, Francine Prose and Patricia Towers.

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation sponsors the winner’s travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to receive the prize at a ceremony, where the author reads an excerpt from the selected work of fiction. A reception follows. The evening is free, open to the public and attracts a diverse audience.

The literary award winner also participates in educational activities at selected area schools and after-school programs in keeping with the Gaines Award's interest in emphasizing the role of literature and arts in education. Through small creative writing workshops with the winning author, students are encouraged to pursue reading, delve into their own creativity, and to consider becoming an author.

• A work of fiction (novel or collection of short stories) that is published between October 1 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022. Galleys for a 2022 publication are also accepted.

• The nominee must be a rising author, not yet widely recognized for their work.

• Author must be an African-American U.S. citizen.

• Self-published books will not be accepted. Self-published is publishing one's work independently and at one's own expense.
  

• Emailed entries will not be accepted.

• The winning author must be willing to attend the award ceremony on January 19, 2023, and participate in educational outreach activities during that week.
  

DEADLINE: Entries must be RECEIVED at the Foundation offices by August 15, 2022

More information and submission link here.

 

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Music": Interim

Submit for Interim's Print Issue

Deadline: September 1, 2022

Interim is looking for poems, art, essays and short fiction devoted to music for the 2022 Print Issue. We’re interested in work that is not so much “about” music, but rather enacts or composes, it. Send 3-5 poems, an art work, essay, and/or short fiction to Claudia Keelan, Editor of Interim through our Submittable.

Writing Competition: Cleaver's Summer Flash Contest

 

Cleaver's Summer Flash Contest—Deadline Extended!

Deadline: August 15, 2022

Enter Cleaver's Summer '22 Flash Contest judged by Meg Pokrass. Open theme, any topic for flash fiction and nonfiction up to 500 words.

Deadline extended until August 15.

Entry Fee: $20.00

$500 first prize; $250 second prize, $100 first prize. Prizewinners will be published in Cleaver’s Winter Issue, December 2022. Finalists may also be offered publication.

Writing Competition: The George Garrett Fiction Prize

The George Garrett Fiction Prize

Prize: $1,000

2022 Judge: Vi Khi Nao

General Guidelines

· Submissions are open July 1 – September 30.

· A fee of $28 must be paid at the time of submission.

· Open to anyone writing in English. Translations are not eligible.

· Stories or excerpts may have been published individually in magazines or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.

· Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify TRP immediately by withdrawing the manuscript via Submittable if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

· Current and former students and faculty of Sam Houston State University are not eligible. Family or former students of the final judge are not eligible. Previous winners of this contest, and current or former TRP authors are not eligible.

· Submissions are accepted through Submittable only.

· Winner receives a $1,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book.

· Winner will be announced in November/December 2022.

Manuscript Guidelines

· Manuscripts may be novels or short story collections with a total word count of between 40,000 and 100,000 words.

· Please include a table of contents, title page, and page numbers.

· Please double-space and use a 12pt. font.

· Do not include an acknowledgments page.

· Submissions are anonymous. Please remove any identifying information from the manuscript.

· Submit as a .pdf, .docx, or .doc file format.

· No revisions will be accepted once the manuscript is uploaded.

This contest honors award-winning author George Garrett (1929-2008).

Submission link here.

Call for Submissions: Memoir Mondays' First Person Singular

Submitting *original* personal essays for the new “First Person Singular” section:

I’ve just launched “First Person Singular,” a sub-newsletter featuring original personal essays. Right now, given my workload and general need to make a living, I have the time and bandwidth to accept and edit *one* essay per month. If subscriptions grow to the point that they are more sustaining and I can focus more on this and less on other jobs, I will consider adding more pieces to the roster, adding an additional section for craft essays, and possibly hiring other editors.

What I’m looking for/pay rates/how to submit:

Completed personal essays of 1500 to 2500 words. I will not be assigning from pitches.

I’m interested in a diverse variety of authors subjects and voices and tones, and look generally for pieces that make meaning of deeply personal experiences. (Basically, what good first-person writing does.) Something I love but don’t see enough of: essays in which writers consider difficult experiences through the lens of absurdity.

The pay rate is $200. You retain all rights, but I ask that you wait 90 days before reprinting elsewhere, that you credit First Person Singular with original publication, and link to the original if you are reprinting online.

To submit, email the following to:

pitch2sari@gmail.com (*NOT* the Memoir Monday email)

Include: Your completed personal essay, with a well-written, brief synopsis of the piece (a paragraph or two) in the email. In the subject line, write “First Person Singular:” followed by the title of your piece.

More information here.

Call for Submissions: Colorado Review

• Fiction & poetry manuscripts are read from August 1 to April 30

• Nonfiction manuscripts are read year-round.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted; writers must notify us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere.

• If Colorado Review has published your work in the last two years, please refrain from submitting so that we may continue to feature new voices.

• With the exception of book reviews, Colorado Review does not publish the work of CSU faculty (current or emeritus), staff, or students; CSU alumni may submit three years after their graduation.

• We consider only previously unpublished work.

• We accept translations of previously published or unpublished work. Upon submitting a translation, writers must provide proof of permission to translate.

• Colorado Review purchases First North American Serial Rights; all rights revert to the author upon publication in CR. We pay $10 per page ($30 minimum) for poetry and $200 for short stories and essays. Authors also receive two copies of the issue in which they are published and a one-year subscription to CR.

• We strongly encourage writers to be familiar with our magazine before submitting to it. Examples of work published in Colorado Review are posted on our website; sample copies of issues before Spring 2020 are also available for $10 each, including postage; issues beginning with Spring 2020 are $12 each, including postage.

• Authors do NOT need to be residents of Colorado or the United States. If you are, however, a foreign national working in the United States, please check the conditions of your visa status with regard to receiving payment from entities other than your sponsor. Colorado State University cannot issue honoraria to foreign nationals with B1/WB, B2/WT, H-1B, or F-1 visas. A J-1 visa holder with a sponsor other than CSU must have written authorization from the Responsible Officer (RO) at their sponsoring institution prior to the activity.

• Cover letters should provide the author’s name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available). Please indicate whether the manuscript should be returned (if so, include appropriate postage on the SASE).
  

• Manuscripts should be double-spaced, printed on one or both sides of the paper. We appreciate one-inch margins, 12-point type, and standard typefaces (e.g., Times New Roman). Please don’t send your only copy; we are not responsible for loss of or damage to your manuscript.

• Every single submission received at Colorado Review is read at least once. We have a large and talented editorial staff, and generally we respond within four months (and sometimes quicker). Please do not assume that we did not read your work just because you receive a response within a few days of having submitted to us. At the beginning of our reading period, for example, we are very quick, as we have fewer submissions to read. If, however, you submit during winter break, much of the staff is on vacation and response time may be longer. Similarly, if you submit close to the end of our reading period, we may not get to your submission until the fall. If you have not received a response from us after three months, you are welcome to call or e-mail about your submission.

More information and submission link here.
 

Call for Submissions: Apple Valley Review

We prefer work that has both mainstream and literary appeal. In other words, please send us work that is both accessible and finely written.

Prose submissions may range from approximately 100 to 4,000 words. Shorter pieces stand a better chance of being published, but we are not strict about word counts and will read and consider slightly longer (or shorter) work.   

Please send only one submission at a time. Follow the guidelines for your particular genre, and unless you are sending hybrid work of some kind, please do not mix genres in the same submission.

This is not currently a paying market. However, all work published in the Apple Valley Review during a given calendar year will be considered for the annual Apple Valley Review Editor’s Prize. There is no separate application process for the prize. From 2006 to the 2021, the prize was $100 and a gift of a book of poetry, fiction, or essays.

Please note that we do not publish scripts, book reviews, author interviews, nonfiction articles, or research papers; true genre fiction (though literary pieces with genre elements are welcome); work that is scholarly or critical, inspirational, or intended for children; erotica or work containing explicit language; or anything that is particularly violent or disturbing.

These are purely editorial preferences. Work that is not a fit here may be perfect for another market.      

If your work is accepted for publication, especially if there are any questions about the formatting of your work, we may ask you to send it to us in a Word attachment (.doc or .docx). In the meantime, please do not send any unsolicited attachments.  

Submissions are read year-round. The deadline for any individual issue will be listed on our official Facebook and Twitter pages. Generally, the deadline for the spring issue is March 15, and the deadline for the fall issue is September 15.

Any piece of writing that is sent after the deadline for a particular issue will be considered for the next one. We do not keep a backlog. 

Please expect to wait up to two months for a reply. Whenever possible, though, submissions will receive a reply within two to three weeks. (Response times may be longer during holidays or when the volume of submissions is especially high.)

It is rare, but the responses are sometimes caught by spam or bulk mail filters. To make sure you that you receive our response, adding the e-mail address for submissions to your list of approved senders can be helpful. 

Full guidelines and submission link here. 

Writing Competition: Terrain.Org

More than $4,500 in prizes! $1,000 grand prize in each genre and $200 to finalists.

We accept contest submissions from May 1 to Labor Day. The deadline for our 13th Annual Contest is September 5, 2022 (Labor Day in the U.S.), for publication in February 2023.

Prizes

A prize of $1,000 plus publication for the first-place winner will be awarded in each genre. Finalists in each genre will also receive publication and a $200 prize.

Selection Process

All submissions are considered for publication. Terrain.org’s editors will read all entries, passing the top entries in each genre to the judges, who will choose the first-place winners. Decisions of the judges are final. Judges and editors do not know the identity of the contestants.
How to Submit

You are not eligible to enter this contest if you are a current student of the contest judges or if you have been a winner in the contest in the last five years. Finalists are welcome to submit again.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but previously published material in any format, including blogs, will not be considered. Submissions can be withdrawn through the submission system, though in that case contest entry fees will not be refunded. Individual components of submissions (i.e., a single poem in a poem set) may be withdrawn by sending a message through Submittable.

Cost

The cost to submit is $20 per story, essay or article, or set of 3-5 poems (or single long poem).

What to Submit

You may submit up to three entries (at $20/entry) in any or all genres:

Poetry

Submit 3-5 poems or one long poem (5+ pages) per entry. Combine all poems into a single document. For poetry, we are seeking not just the best poem, but the best set of 3-5 poems or the best long poem, with the hopes of awarding our prizes to poetry sets or long poems rather than individual, shorter poems, when possible. No maximum lines per poem. Poems must contain only the poem title(s) and poem(s) without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer).

Fiction

Submit one story, up to 5,000 words total, or up to three flash fictions (up to 1,000 words each) per entry. Stories must contain only the story title and story itself without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer).

Nonfiction

Submit one essay or article, up to 5,000 words total, or up to three flash essays (up to 1,000 words each) per entry. Essays must contain only the essay title and essay itself without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer). We will consider all nonfiction, but are most interested in creative nonfiction, including personal essays, lyric essays, memoir, literary journalism, and other literary forms.
The Submission Process

Submissions and payment for the 13th Annual Contest will be conducted on our Submittable site.

Call for Submissions: Exacting Clam

Description

Exacting Clam is an online and in print quarterly journal from Sagging Meniscus Press, publishing short fiction, poetry, book, art and music reviews, essays, interviews, and visual art/illustrations.

Guidelines

We accept simultaneous submissions, but do let us know promptly if a submission is accepted elsewhere. Please do not submit anything the whole of which has been previously published, in print or online, including on social media; we do however welcome excerpts of recent or forthcoming books.

Exacting Clam holds first publication rights. Upon publication, all rights revert back to the author(s). Please let us know if your piece becomes part of a collection. We would appreciate citation of first publication.

Work accepted for Exacting Clam will appear in a forthcoming print issue. Some pieces from each issue will also appear online, at the discretion of the editors.

Unfortunately, we cannot currently offer payment.

Bio Guidelines

Please restrict the biographical contributor's note to around 20 – 60 words.

Format Guidelines

For text submissions, please send .docx or .doc format (not PDF)

Book Review Guidelines 

We are open to reviews of both newly published and older, neglected works. The reviews that interest us most are stimulating and thought-provoking in themselves, showing where engagement with the book or books discussed may lead. We will consider both brief, one or two paragraph reviews, and longer, more essay-like articles. For forthcoming or recent books that may still be under promotion by authors or publishers, reviews (unless strongly negative) should be excerptible for such use.

Poetry Guidelines 

If sending us several poems, please restrict the number to half a dozen or so in a single document.

Visual Art Guidelines

Photographs, drawings and other illustrations may be used in conjunction with written works in the online magazine, appropriately credited. Especially since the interior of the print magazine is black and white, not all material used on the website will appear there. The front cover of each print issue will however feature a color illustration.

For the print edition only, we also seek small black-and-white line-drawn decorations.

Please send us a title for each work (save for the decorations). Multiple images can be sent embedded in PDFs or Word documents. 

Submission link.

Call for Submissions from People Who Have Worked in the Hospitality Industry: 86 Logic

At 86 Logic, we only have one real requirement for submissions—you must have worked in the hospitality industry at some point in your life.

We pride ourselves in having an easy submission process. Unlike most publications, printed or otherwise, we have no restrictions on file type, size of submission (though our ‘zine is only so big), or on the type of work submitted. We feel this keeps us open to all printable genres.

What we’ve published so far: poetry, prose, fiction, art, comics, photography, and non-fiction/journalism. Submissions for 86 Logic Issue #9 (print) are open through August. 10th. Submit your work via Submittable.

Call for Submissions: Consequence

 

Consequence’s Fall Reading Period Now Open

Deadline: October 15, 2022

The reading period for Consequence Volume 15.1 is now open. As always, we are after any and all literary work or visual art that deals with the human consequences and realities of war or geopolitical violence as experienced by combatants, victims, or witnesses. We are especially interested in works of translation and fiction this time around. We also strongly encourage BIPOC and people from other under-represented communities to submit. Please spread the word.

Have questions about what work we’re inclined to publish and/or how much we pay? Visit our FAQ.

To submit, go here.

Call for Submissions on Theme of Awakening: Verum Literary Press

Verum is currently open for submissions for its online magazine. The theme is awakening; bright discoveries and wretched journeys, however they may look.

The submission deadline is August 6, 2022.

Guidelines:

The work cannot be previously published, unless it was published on a personal blog or social media.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please let us know if it has been accepted elsewhere.

Any submissions that contain bigotry will immediately be declined.

Please include a brief (100 words or less) third person author bio about yourself with your pronouns.

For poetry-

Please start each poem on a new page

Send up to 4 poems for each submission opportunity.

For visual art/photography-

Explicit photos are not welcome and will not be accepted

For short stories-

Please do not exceed 5,000 words. 

Call for Submissions to Anthology: "We Dissent. We Resist. We Persist."

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, FlowerSong Press welcomes response poems to SCOTUS's attack on a person’s right to their own bodies. This court decision affects us all, and it would be in deep reverence to the women who came before us and all others who will come after us to engage in this crucial conversation & moment of action.

We invite your submission of unpublished poetry and prose for this forthcoming collection. We invite you to share your thoughts, your pain, your anger, your stories, your frustrations.

Submission Fee: FREE SUBMISSION

Deadline: September 30, 2022 / 11:59 PM CST

Guidelines

Please submit 3-5 pieces of poetry or prose for publication consideration. No more than 5 pages of unpublished work. Please add a content warning for readers if applicable.

Submit your work here.

Writing Competition: Julia Peterkin Literary Award

 

Summer Contest Open for Submissions of Poetry and Flash Fiction

Deadline: August 15, 2022

Entry Fee: $12.00

Julia Peterkin Literary Award  

Contest open July 1 to August 15; South 85 Journal seeks submissions of unpublished flash fiction of 850 words or fewer and previously unpublished poems of 50 lines or fewer. We are especially interested in stories and poems that demonstrate a strong voice and/or a sense of place, but consider all quality writing.

The winning selection in each category will be awarded $500 and publication in the December issue of South 85 Journal. Contest finalists will also be selected and published alongside the winning selections.

Submissions are read blind by an outside judge.

Call for Submissions: The Offing

Thanks so much for your interest, and we look forward to reading your work. Please be familiar with the magazine and our mission before you submit.

For 2022, there will be no submission fees thanks to our generous donors.

• In your cover letter, we encourage you to include information that you would like us to know, such as whether, if we choose to publish it, this submission will be your first publication.Upon publication, contributors will be paid a $25–$100 fee, depending on department and number/length of works published.

• All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

• We acquire first serial rights worldwide in English and non-exclusive anthology rights.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please be sure to withdraw your piece promptly if it’s accepted elsewhere.

• Please don't send more than one submission per department; wait until your work is accepted or declined before submitting again.

• Please direct all inquiries and comments to:

info@theoffingmag.com.

• Our Fiction department is happy to consider excerpts from novels and short story collections, especially from small presses. If you have something you would like considered, email excerpts as a Word .doc to:

mary@theoffingmag.com 

• Please note that we currently don't have a budget to pay for excerpts, but we do want to help bring readers to books that might otherwise get overlooked.

• We'll do our utmost to respond within six months, but due to the volume of submissions we receive, and the careful & collaborative nature of our review process, that may not always be possible. Thank you for your patience.

Full submission guidelines and link here.

Writing Grant: Leeway Art and Change Grant

The Art and Change Grant (ACG) provides grants of up to $2,500 to fund art for social change projects by women, trans*, and/or gender nonconforming artists and cultural producers living in Greater Philadelphia. 

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2022

The grant is project-based and open to artists and cultural producers working in any medium, including traditional and nontraditional as well as multimedia and experimental forms.

We encourage you to apply if you are a woman, trans*, and/or or gender nonconforming artist who: 

• Has an art for social change project or opportunity that impacts a larger group, audience, or community.
  

• Has a project supported by or in collaboration with a Change Partner (a person, organization, or business that is a part of the project in some way).

• Lives in Greater Philadelphia: Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia County

More information and submission link here.

Writing Competition: New Visions Award

TU BOOKS, the middle grade and young adult imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, is pleased to announce the tenth annual New Visions Award. This award is given to a middle grade or young adult novel by a writer of color or Indigenous/Native writer.

Established in 2012, the New Visions Award encourages writers of color and Indigenous/Native writers to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. Winners are chosen by a committee of Lee & Low employees across several departments (Marketing, Editorial, Sales, Literacy). Each New Visions Award winner will receive a cash prize and a standard publishing contract for their winning manuscript. 

The Award winner receives a cash prize of $2,000 and our standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first-time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000.

Winners also receive close publishing mentorship as they work to develop their book for publication. The process for nurturing manuscripts is incredibly time-consuming and Tu Books/Lee & Low's commitment to this contest represents 10+ years of dedication. We are in this for the long haul! We ask for the same commitment and courtesy from authors who enter this contest. Therefore, before entering, please make sure you are able to commit to the contest rules below.

Past winners include Ink and Ashes by Valynne Maetani, an Asian/Pacific American Honor for Literature; Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh, which received three starred reviews and is a Junior Library Guild selection; Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar, which received two starred reviews and is listed as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People; The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez; and Julieta and the Diamond Enigma by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz.

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2022

For full guidelines and submission link, go here. 

Call for Submissions: io Literary Journal

 

iō Lit Submissions Open (Now a Paying Journal!)

Deadline: August 16, 2022

iō Literary Journal is proud to be a paying journal for the first time! We strive to showcase the spectrum of experience of all people, especially those in underrepresented groups whose voices are silenced in mainstream culture. As a publication that welcomes all forms of creative writing and artistic expression, we value work that expands the genre beyond conventional interpretations. Share your creative writing and art to be featured in our fourth annual print volume.

Still drafting your writing? With our creative editing services, we’ll take your prose to the next level.

For submission guidelines and more, go here.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Renew & Revamp": Sasee Magazine

Sasee welcomes editorial submissions from freelance writers. We are looking for new, unpublished, first-person, non-fiction material that is for or about women. Essays, humor, satire, personal experience, and features on topics relating to women are our primary editorial focus. Diversity of subjects that reflect all age groups and variety of writing styles are invited.

Articles should be no more than 500 to 1000 words in length. Sasee reserves the right to edit articles for length and content. Payment for articles varies. Please submit only previously unpublished, non-fiction articles.

Sasee does not publish fiction or poetry and will not be able to respond to such submissions.

Complete guidelines and submission info here. 

Deadline: Aug. 15, 2022

Writing Competition: Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards

The eleventh annual Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards is now accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for the 2023 competitions.

Deadline: October 31, 2022. Click Here to Enter!

First-place winners in each category will receive $1,000. Second-place winners receive $500, and third-place winners $250. All winners will be awarded scholarships to the Tucson Festival of Books Masters Workshop, March 2023, following the Tucson Festival of Books (tucsonfestivalofbooks.org).

The top 50 entrants will be invited to attend the Masters Workshop ($350).

For information on the literary awards and the workshop, contact Meg Files at 

masters@tucsonfestivalofbooks.org.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 

• Submit five poems of any length, a short story or novel chapter(s), or a nonfiction piece or book chapter(s) per submission.

• Maximum length for prose is 5,000 words per submission.

• Label each submission’s genre with the title: fiction, nonfiction, poetry.

• $20 entry fee per submission.

• No limit to number of entries ($20 fee per entry)

• Categories NOT accepted: stories for children or young adults, academic or how-to nonfiction.

• Double space prose submissions.

• Submit poems in a single document with appropriate page breaks (up to five poems per submission).

• Submissions must be in English and unpublished (self-published allowed).

• Writers must be age 18 or older.

• The author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript or the subject heading. Include name and contact information in the “Cover Letter” box. Manuscripts with the author's name anywhere on them will be disqualified.

• Authors retain all rights to submitted work.

• Deadline: October 31, 2022
  

• Winners and the top 50 will be notified by December 22, 2022.

• First-, second-, and third-place winners in each category receive scholarships to the Masters Workshop, March 2023. The top 50 finalists will be invited to attend the Masters Workshop ($350 fee).

Writing Competition: The Coniston Prize from Radar Poetry

The Coniston Prize from Radar Poetry

Deadline: August 1, 2022

The Coniston Prize is an annual award that recognizes an exceptional group of poems by a woman writing in English. 

The winner will receive $1,000 and publication; up to 10 finalists will receive $175 and publication.

The entry fee is $20, and the deadline is August 1.

Dorianne Laux will judge this year's prize. Visit our website for eligibility guidelines and a submission link.

Call for Submissions: L'Esprit

L'Esprit Seeks Consciousness-Forward Fiction and Thought for Issue One

Deadline: September 1, 2022

L’Esprit Literary Review seeks submissions for Issue One, to appear online in October 2022. L’Esprit publishes consciousness-forward fiction and thought in the fearless, revolutionary tradition of High Modernism. We accept stories, personal essays, reviews, and criticism. In the spirit of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, L’Esprit seeks to champion writing that investigates the turbulent underworld of the mind. We pride language-driven work that is fueled at the sentence level. Issue One will be our first full-length publication open to general submissions, after Issue Zero in April and a commemorative Bloomsday / Dalloway Day issue in June.

Writing Competition: Puerto del Sol

Puerto del Sol's 2022 Poetry and Prose Annual Contests $1,000

Deadline: September 1, 2022

Puerto del Sol is accepting entries to annual contests in poetry and prose between March 1 and September 1.

Judges are Kali Fajardo-Anstine in prose and Anthony Cody in poetry. One prize in each genre for $1,000 will be awarded along with publication. Current students, faculty, or alum of New Mexico State University are not eligible. Close friends or former students of the judges are ineligible. Submitters must remove identifying information from submissions. Winners are announced in October 2022.

$15 entry fee.

All entries will receive the issue featuring the winner. All submissions are considered for publication. Submit here.

Call for Submissions: Kitchen Table Quarterly

Kitchen Table Quarterly Seeks Poetry and Nonfiction Submissions

Deadline: August 7, 2022

Kitchen Table Quarterly is seeking previously unpublished poetry, nonfiction, and artwork. We are a journal preoccupied with history—cultural, political, geographical, personal. We are looking for work that spills secrets and wipes the dust off of old memories. We want honesty. We want an education. Give us your best or admit your worst, so long as it's true. Submit up to five poems, five artworks, or a standalone nonfiction piece of up to 3000 words.

For full guidelines, please visit our website.

Writing Competition: 2022 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize

 

2022 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize now Open for Submissions

Deadline: July 31, 2022

RED WHEELBARROW POETRY PRIZE 2022: Judged by Juan Felipe Herrera! $1,000 for first place and a letterpress broadside printed by Felicia Rice of Moving Parts Press, $500 for second, $250 for third. Top five published in Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine. Submit up to 3 original, unpublished poems.

$15 entry fee.

For complete guidelines, go here.

Call for Submissions: Sunspot Lit

Open Call for Prose, Poetry, Graphic Novel

Deadline: August 1, 2022

Sunspot Lit is one of the few journals publishing longform works.

Open call for novelette-length fiction, nonfiction, poems, and graphic novels closing July 15.

Submission fee: $12.50

Prose limits: 17,501 to 29,000 words. Graphic novel: 25 to 50 pages.

Open call for Supernova, our very long form fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels section, closing August 1.  

Submission fee: $8.50

Prose limits: 7,501 to 17,500 words. Graphic novels: 18 to 24 pages. Single poems that run to epic lengths are included in these calls.

See our Submittable page for specific guidelines on these and other open calls for shorter works as well as art.

Call for Submissions: Reckoning

We’re currently reading for Reckoning 7; the theme is oceans, and the deadline is September 22, 2022. Read the submission calls from editors Tim Fab-Eme (poetry), Priya Chand (nonfiction) and Octavia Cade (fiction).

We also just announced a limited-window call for a special issue about environmental justice and bodily autonomy, edited by Catherine Rockwood.

To see what we’re looking for, try Reckoning 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, the interviews, twitter, or even LCRW 33.

The short version: creative writing and art about environmental justice. The fiction we publish is mostly, but not exclusively, speculative; the nonfiction is more creative than journalistic, the poetry tends towards the narrative, preferably with some thematic heft, the visual art leans away from the pulpy towards the surreal, subversive, political. The heart of what we want is your personal, visceral, idiosyncratic understanding of the world and the people in it as it has been, as it is, as it will be, as it could be, as a consequence of humanity’s relationship with the earth.

We are always seeking work from Indigenous writers and artists, writers and artists of color, queer and trans writers and artists, and anyone who has suffered the consequences, intended or otherwise, of dominant society’s systemic disconnect with and mistreatment of the natural world. And we’re seeking new ways to reach all of the above. Seriously, if you know of a way we can do that, please share.

We’d love to publish more work in translation! We’re currently open to considering writing in Spanish, French or Swedish for potential translation. For work already translated into English, we pay the same rate to both author and translator.

We don’t publish ecofascism or work we perceive to be prejudiced in any form, including sexism, racism, ableism, ageism. We reserve the right to point it out—respectfully—when we see it, though we’re as prone to mistakes and misunderstanding as anyone else. Here’s a start on a list of what else doesn’t work for us.

We’re no longer accepting submissions by email; queries are ok, though not necessary. Simultaneous submissions are ok. Multiple submissions are discouraged, except for poetry, where we prefer 3-5 poems or 10 pages, whichever is shorter, combined in a single document. Feel free to submit again after you hear back. Query for reprints. Length: 0 – 20,000 words (query for longer). Response time has ranged from one to four months and is slowest October – January as we’re putting together the new issue.

There are no fees to submit. Payment is 8 cents per word (US) for prose, $30 per page for poetry, art negotiable, minimum $25 per piece. Sample contract is here.

Submit your work via Moksha!

All of the above shall be subject hopefully not to too much change but certainly to clarification, evolution and adaptation.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Service": Blood and Bourbon

We are now open for submissions for the fall 2022 issue.

The theme of this issue is going to be Service. Has your main character joined the army or devoted their life to a strange god everyone else knows nothing about? Have you tried calling your long-lost lover only to find out their number is not in service? Do you have shocking or titillating stories from your service industry days? We want to hear them all!

Please submit your poem, short story or essay by August 12, 2022.

Visit our submissions page for more info on how to submit.

Call for Submissions: Always Crashing

Always Crashing is looking for submissions of fiction, poetry, collage text, visual collage, video, labyrinths, manifestos, the generically transgressive, and nonfiction (though we prefer not to be told if it’s nonfiction).

We are interested in surfaces and form. We are interested in discontinuity and want to watch you break things. We want to read works that seek something via untruth, fantasy, artificiality, the plastic, deep superficiality, and attention to their own construction. We are interested in work that strikes curious poses; in the “experimental,” not as an avant-garde, but as a furthering of a subterranean literary tradition. We are interested, ultimately, in the aesthetic: the beautiful and the sublime, sure, but also the boring, the dumb, the merely interesting, the zany, the disgusting, the cute—particularly when pushed into strange and unfamiliar territories.

We publish new work online every two weeks, and one print issue per year. You may familiarize yourself with our online edition here, or check out our print issues—including digital versions of our back issues—here.

Submissions may be sent to:

submissions@alwayscrashing.com

Please include your name and the word “SUBMISSION” in the subject line, and some sort of cover letter or friendly note in the email body so we don't think you're a robot.

Please wait to hear back about your submission before submitting additional work. If resubmitting, please send as a new email thread, rather than a reply to your previous submission.

Note that we do not accept submissions sent as links to Google Docs, WeSendIt, or other filesharing platforms. If your submission is too large to send as an email attachment, please query us with a description of the submission beforehand.

Call for Submissions: Little Somethings Press

Little Somethings Press

Seeking Flash Writings, Poetry, and Art Based on Ephemera

Deadline: August 1, 2022

How do you or your loved ones hold onto memories? Which objects transport you to another place or time? We are seeking work based on “ephemera.” These are collectible short-term use items, like playbills, stamps, event posters, ticket stubs, political leaflets, bumper stickers, and more.

Submit your related flash fiction and memoir (up to 300 words) and poetry (up to 12 lines) in a single .doc or .docx file. Submit your visual art in a .jpg format.

Send all submissions via email by August 1st. Preference will be given to Tempe-based, Tempe-connected, or Arizona-based artists for this issue; however, all are encouraged to submit. 

Call for Submissions on Theme of Music: Interim

 

Submit for Interim's Print Issue

Deadline: September 1, 2022

Interim is looking for poems, art, essays and short fiction devoted to music for the 2022 Print Issue. We’re interested in work that is not so much “about” music, but rather enacts or composes, it. Send 3-5 poems, an art work, essay, and/or short fiction to Claudia Keelan, Editor of Interim through our Submittable.

Writing Competition: Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest

Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest

Deadline: September 30, 2022

20th year, sponsored by Winning Writers.

Win $3,000 for a poem in any style and $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Total prizes: $8,000. The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value).

Both published and unpublished work accepted. Winning entries published online.

Submit 1-3 poems for a $20 entry fee.

Length limit: 250 lines per poem. Judged by S. Mei Sheng Frazier. This contest is recommended by Reedsy. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2022).

See past winners, advice from the judge, and submit online here.

Writing Competition: The 2022 Best Spiritual Literature Awards

The 2022 Best Spiritual Literature Awards

Deadline: August 1, 2022

The 2022 Best Spiritual Literature Awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, & Poetry offer $500 and publication by Orison Books in the Best Spiritual Literature anthology for a single work in each genre.

The editors will judge.

Entry fee: $12

Submission period: May 1–August 1

Find complete details here.

Writing Competition: MAYDAY Magazine Poetry Micro Chapbook Contest

$1,000 Poetry Micro Chapbook Contest

Deadline: July 31, 2022

MAYDAY Magazine invites you to send 8-12 pages of poems to be considered for the Editors' Choice Award, including $1000, publication at MAYDAY, and an author interview. 

Early bird entry fee: $10 (May 1-June 15)

Regular fee: $15 (June 16-July 31)

Submit a unified manuscript filled with poems that have achieved a balance of both craft and story so seamlessly that we cannot look away. We welcome a diverse range of content and authors, including LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and international voices. For more details, go here.