The Florida Loquat Festival is seeking a page of poetry and prose for its annual writing contests. Work must have loquats as the subject or central theme. There is no fee to submit. Deadline to enter is March 6, 2020. Winner receives $100 and publication. Learn more…
Call :: Oyster River Pages 2020 Reading Period
Literary and artistic collective Oyster River Pages is open to submissions for their next annual issue! They believe in the power of art to connect people to their own and others’ humanity. ORP likes to feature artists and writers whose voices have been historically de-centered and marginalized.
Submissions open through May 31, 2020. There is no fee to submit.
Contest :: First Pages Prize 2020
With writing being embraced or rejected based on first paragraphs, the First Pages Prize has been established to encourage emerging writers. Besides the annual prize, there is also an awards event in Paris, France and year-round inspiration available on their website.
The 2020 Prize is open through February 16 (extended deadline). If writers submit by the normal February 2 deadline, the entry fee is $25. After the 2, the fee goes up to $35.
The prize is open to un-agented writers who must submit the first five pages of a fiction or creative nonfiction manuscript. $2,250 in cash awards, partial developmental editing, plus travel and accommodation to be in Paris, France for presentation events June 9-10.
This year’s judge is the award-winning author Sebastian Faulks, whose latest work Paris Echo was released June 2019.
Call :: The Blue Mountain Review
Literary magazine The Blue Mountain Review launched in 2015 with the mantra “we’re all south of somewhere.” They are open to submissions with “homespun and international appeal” year-round and seek to preserve and promote “lives told well.” They do charge a $5 submission fee. Learn more…
CANCELLED :: Contest :: Stockholm Writers Prize 2020
The Stockholm Writers Festival is an annual event that takes place each spring in Stockholm, Sweden. They host the Stockholm Writers Prize to give emerging writers the time, space, and inspiration to focus on social-justice themed writing.
This year’s prize is open through Saturday, February 15 11:59 PM Central European Time. The winner receives a seven-day residency in Stockholm, Sweden from May 21 to 27 and $1,000 to be used towards travel expenses. Also included is a 1-1 meeting with an agent and individual feedback from the guest judge.
Writers must submit a creative writing sample (up to 1500 words) and a 1000-word personal statement on how they foresee their writing creating change, why this social justice issue matters to them, and how they can benefit from the residency.
**Updated 2/12/20: Stockholm Writers Festival cancelled this year’s contest and fees have been refunded.**
Call :: Wordrunner eChapbooks Spring 2020 Anthology
Wordrunner eChapbooks is celebrating 10 years of publishing with the release of their Spring 2020 anthology.
Writers can submit poetry, fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction for this anthology through February 29. They want emotionally complex and compelling writing on any theme or subject that has not been previously published. $3 submission fee.
They pay accepted authors $5 to $25.
Call :: Sky Island Journal Issue 12
Sky Island Journal is an online literary magazine which aims to give their readers an ad-free experience that transports them.
They are currently accepting submissions of poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction for their Spring 2020 issue. Send work that challenges readers intellectually and moves them emotionally. Deadline to submit is midnight on March 31 (CST). They do charge a $3.99 fee.
Iowa Review Announces 2020 Jeff Sharlet Award for Veterans
Literary magazine The Iowa Review hosts the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans. This writing contest is open to U.S. military veterans and active duty personnel. Writing can be in any genre and on any subject.
This year’s contest opens on May 1 and will be judged by Reginald McKnight, author of He Sleeps. The deadline to enter is May 31. First place receives $1,000 and publication in a forthcoming issue of Iowa Review. Second place receives $750 and three runners-up receive $500 each. Check out their site for full guidelines.
You can see the winners of the 2018 contest here: iowareview.org/blog/winners-fourth-veterans’-writing-contest. The 2018 winners were featured in the Spring 2019 issue.
This contest is made possible by a gift from the family of Jeff Sharlet (1942-69), a Vietnam veteran and antiwar writer and activist.
Weekly Roundup for Calls & Contests :: January 24, 2020
January officially ends next week. That just doesn’t seem possible, does it? Several states have been hit pretty hard weather-wise, so it’s a great time to grab a mug of coffee, cocoa, or tea and dive into your writing and submission goals.
Looking to find a literary journal or a press that’s currently accepting general submissions? Keep reading!
January Submission Deadlines
Annual literary magazine Girls Right the World closes to submissions from female-identifying writer between the ages of 14 and 21 on January 31. They seek poetry, prose, short stories, lyric essays, and visual art. There is no fee to to submit.
Haunted Waters Press is seeking stories of exactly 20 words for Penny Fiction, a regular feature of literary magazine From the Depths. There is no fee to submit. Deadline is January 31. [Read more…] about Weekly Roundup for Calls & Contests :: January 24, 2020
Nimrod Announces New Contest Deadline for Literary Awards
Literary magazine Nimrod has announced a new deadline for their annual Literary Awards. Instead of submissions being accepted through April 30, contest entries are now being accepted January 1 through April 1.
The Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction and the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry award $2,000 and publication to the first prize winners.
Nimrod accepts both snail mail and online entries. The $20 reading fee includes a one-year subscription. Check out their website for full submission information: artsandsciences.utulsa.edu/nimrod/nimrod-literary-awards/.
Don’t forget to update your calendars, writers!
Updated :: 15th Annual Mudfish Poetry Prize
Literary magazine Mudfish has announced it is now accepting submissions for its 15th Mudfish Poetry Prize. This year’s judge is Erica Jong, American novelist, satirist, and poet.
Mudfish is accepting both snail mail and email entries to the contest. You can submit up to 3 poems for $20. $3 fee for each additional poem.
Mail entries to Mudfish, 184 Franklin St, Ground Fl., New York, NY 10013 or email to mudfishmag@aol.com. Deadline to enter is March 15. On March 5, Mudfish announced they are extending the contest deadline to May 15, 2020.
Winners of last year’s contest, judged by John Yau, can be read in Issue 21 which is now available for pre-order.