By S. Kalekar
These are contests / grants / residencies for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scriptwriting, and journalism, with awards up to $70,000. They are, very loosely, arranged geographically. A couple of the deadlines are in May.
INTERNATIONAL CONTESTS
2026 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest
This is an international tanka contest run by the Tanka Society of America. Submission is via a form.
Value: $100, $50, $25
Deadline: 31 May 2026
Open for: All poets
Details here.
The Writers College: Short Story Competition
This is a short fiction contest for emerging writers (open to unpublished writers or those with fewer than four publications in any genre, fiction or non-fiction, from any country), and the theme is The End of the Line. Send a story of up to 2,000 words. Writers are free to interpret the theme as they like; the exact theme phrase must appear somewhere in the story; and writers must create their own title. There’s an early bird deadline at end-May, for which there is no entry fee; if submitting later, there is an entry fee attached.
Value: NZ1,000, NZ500, NZ250
Deadline: 30 May 2026 (for fee-free entries)
Open for: Unpublished / emerging writers
Details here.
Arole Agarawu Foundation: Alhaji Arole Agarawu African Poetry Prize
“We invite poets of African descent worldwide to submit original, unpublished work for the inaugural Alhaji Arole Agarawu African Poetry Prize.” About eligibility, “Open to poets of African descent — however that may be defined — regardless of nationality or residence. This includes, but is not limited to, poets from the African continent, the African diaspora, Black Americans, Black British, Caribbean, Afro-Latin, and all communities rooted in the African heritage.” Send a packet of 10 original, unpublished poems; the entire submission should total no more than 15 pages. The foundation will award two prizes this year; The Arole Agarawu African Poetry Prize, awarding $1,000 to any writer who identifies as African or a descendant of Africa poet living anywhere in the world; and The Arole Grayling Wraith Prize which awards $1,000 to a poet living on the African continent; a single poet may be eligible for both prizes. “Poets who have published chapbooks, pamphlets, or up to two full-length poetry collections are eligible. Poets who have published three or more full-length collections are not eligible.” Also see the Shortlist and Winner Obligations section of their website. Submission is via a form on the website.
Value: $1,000 each
Deadline: 31 May 2026 (11.59 pm EST)
Open for: African poets (see guidelines)
Details here.
Mouthful of Salt: Archive Alive Poetry Contest
“To celebrate our first anniversary, Mouthful of Salt is launching a special poetry contest rooted in conversation with our archive. We’re inviting poets to engage directly with work we’ve published in Granules and past issues by responding to, resisting, reimagining, or remixing a specific poem, piece of prose, or artwork. We’re especially interested in submissions that take risks, enter into dialogue with intention, and offer fresh perspectives on the original work.” Apart from the winner, “One runner-up will also be chosen and will receive publication and an honorable mention.”
Value: $200
Deadline: 1 June 2026
Open for: All poets
Details here and here.
The Heron’s Nest: Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards
This poetry contest is run by The Heron’s Nest, a quarterly online journal of haiku. Submit up to 2 haiku for this contest.
Value: $200, $100, $50
Deadline: 1 June 2026
Open for: All poets
Details here.
SETI Institute: Cosmic Consciousness Literary Residency
This is an international, remote residency, over 18 months. They invite “writers and poets working in all areas of literature, including, but not limited to, speculative fiction/sci-fi and experimental writing and poetry. The artworks resulting from this residency should reflect and expand on the SETI Institute’s “Intelligence and Consciousness” research division, whose central science questions are: “What is the nature of consciousness?” and “What is the nature and evolution of intelligence?” …. Areas of creative research may engage with the following topics:
- Experiments in language and consciousness
- Alien intelligence and cultural exchange
- Transhumanism and posthuman consciousness
- AI and consciousness
- Multisensory poetry and multiple intelligences”
They also say, artists are expected to develop a project (not necessarily a book) on the residency theme, and be willing and interested to consult with SETI Institute scientists and partners. Also, “The Residency begins on October 1 each cycle. During the first year, Residents will present their work directions, issues, and development status to the SETI Institute AIR program. The project will be completed by May of Year 2 and presented at a public SETI Institute event in Year 2.”
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 1 June 2026
Open for: All writers
Details here (BlueSky post) and here.
The Novel Prize
“This is a biennial award for a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published and unpublished writers around the world. It is managed collaboratively by Giramondo Publishing, Fitzcarraldo Editions and New Directions.
The Novel Prize offers US$10,000 to the winner and simultaneous publication of their novel in Australia and New Zealand by Giramondo, in the UK and Ireland by Fitzcarraldo Editions, and in North America by New Directions. The prize recognises works which explore and expand the possibilities of the form, and are innovative and imaginative in style.
The Novel Prize is managed by the three publishers working in collaboration … Writers based in Asia and Oceania which includes Australia, New Zealand, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia) should submit to Giramondo. Writers based in the Americas should submit via New Directions; and writers based in Africa and Europe should submit to Fitzcarraldo Editions.”
Value: $10,000, publication
Deadline: 1 June 2026
Open for: All writers
Details here (Giramondo), here (Fitzcarraldo), and here (New Directions)
(The Novel Prize runs alongside the Poetry in Translation Prize – closed now – a biennial award for an outstanding poetry collection translated into English; also see The Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize – closed now.)
The Dream Foundry Emerging Writers Contest
This is a contest for emerging writers of speculative fiction (it is for writers who are relatively new to paid or incoming-earning publication of speculative short fiction in English; please check detailed eligibility rules on their website). Send a speculative fiction story of up to 10,000 words. They want short speculative fiction only (science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, etc.); do not send stories that have no speculative element. Submission is via a form on their website.
Value: $1,500, $750, $400
Deadline: 8 June 2026
Open for: Emerging writers of speculative fiction
Details here.
Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
This is for junior and senior division (11-14 and 15-18) students worldwide. The theme for this ocean awareness contest is Your Story, Our Ocean (see guidelines) for this cycle. There are various categories: Visual Art (handcrafted and digital); Poetry & Spoken Word; Creative Writing; Film; Performing Arts: Music & Dance; and Interactive & Multimedia. Please also see their various special awards, including (but not limited to) the We All Rise Prize – five prizes of $500 each, in each category – for youth in the U.S. who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or Latine.
Value: Awards ranging from $1,000 to $100 in each category; various special prizes (see here)
Deadline: 8 June 2026
Open for: Students ages 11-18
Details here.
BOA Editions: Blessing the Boats Selections 2026
Blessing the Boats Selections spotlights poetry collections by women of color. Send a poetry manuscript, minimum 65 pages and maximum 120 pages. One poet receives Book publication by BOA Editions in Fall 2028, and an honorarium.
Value: $1,500
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Women of color
Details here.
(They also have a prize for short fiction manuscripts, deadline 31 May 2026, for US writers – see guidelines – there is an entry fee attached.)
PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History
These grants are for literary works of non-fiction that use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. They are to help maintain or complete ongoing projects. Oral history must be a significant portion of the work and its research. Writers have to send in writing samples and transcripts as part of the application.
Value: Two grants of $15,000 each
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants
This international grant is to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation. Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion. The works must be translated into English. Projects may have up to two translators. There are various submission requirements, including a translation sample of 8-10 pages.
Value: $2,000-4,000
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
The PEN/Bare Life Review Grants
These grants recognize literary works by immigrant and refugee writers. Foreign-born writers based in the U.S., and writers living abroad who hold refugee/asylum seeker status, are eligible to apply. The project must be a work of a literary nature: fiction, creative non-fiction, or poetry, and translated works (in case of translated works, the grant will be conferred to the original author). A writing sample is part of the submission requirements (see guidelines). The project must be an unpublished work-in-progress (see guidelines), as the grants are intended to support the completion of a manuscript. For the current cycle, they will confer two grants.
Value: $5,000 each
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Foreign-born writers based in the U.S., and to writers living abroad who hold refugee/asylum seeker status
Details here and here.
The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists
This is for an author of children’s or young-adult fiction. The fellowship is for helping writers whose work is of high literary caliber and is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length fiction work-in-progress. Applicants must have already published one work for children or young adults that was warmly received by literary critics, but whose work has not yet attracted a broad readership. Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated significant sales. The writer’s previously published book(s) must be published by a U.S. trade publisher; self-published works are ineligible. The submitted work must be a novel-in-progress (see guidelines).
Value: $5,000
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Published YA/children’s writers (by a US trade publisher)
Details here and here.
Atlanta Review: The Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets
“The Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets solicits unpublished poems from college-age students, aged 18-23, on any subject or style. Poems with an international focus are especially welcomed, but all poems must be written in English.” Send poetry up to 40 lines. A letter of recommendation is one of the submission requirements. Poets receive a cash prize and publication in Atlanta Review.
Value: $100
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Students ages 18-23
Details here (see the relevant category)
Preservation Foundation Contest: General non-fiction
This is an international contest for unpublished writers (see guidelines). Their upcoming deadline is for the general non-fictioncategory: “Any appropriate nonfiction topic is eligible. Stories must be true, not semi-fictional accounts. So-called “creative nonfiction” will not be considered.” Entries should be 1,000-5,000 words. Please note, they want all entries, regardless of whether or not they win, to be on their website for as long as the foundation exists (see guidelines). Also see contests in other genres, which have deadlines later in the year (Biographical non-fiction: 31st August; and Travel non-fiction: 31st October 2026.)
Value: $200, $100
Deadline: 30 June 2026 for general non-fiction
Open for: Unpublished writers
Details here (scroll down).
Singapore Unbound: SUSPECT Poetry Contest
This is an international poetry contest, formerly called the Singapore Unbound Poetry Contest. They want poems that use both the words “minor” and “deconstruction”, together or separately, in imaginative ways.
Value: $300, $200, $100
Deadline: 30 June 2026
Open for: All poets
Details here.
(See all of Singapore Unbound’s contests and submission calls, fee-free and fee-based, here.)
The BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest for Caribbean Writers
This is a short story contest for Caribbean-descended writers, by Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF). There are two categories, with different eligibility requirements. Submission is via a form on the website.
— The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize is open to unpublished writers of Caribbean heritage. Self-published writers may apply. This prize seeks to unearth hidden storytellers in the United States and Canada; and
— BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean is open exclusively to Caribbean writers of all levels who reside and work in the Caribbean or are on temporary assignment overseas.
Writers should send short stories of up to 3,000 words.
Prizes: $1,750 each, other non-cash prizes
Deadline: 1 July 2025
Open for: See above
Details here (click on the relevant categories)
Richard J. Margolis Award
The award is for non-fiction writers of social justice journalism. It is for a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humour, wisdom and concern with social justice. Applications should include 2-3 non-fiction writing samples, up to 30 pages. At least one sample should be non-memoir material. Apart from a cash prize, the winner also gets residency at Blue Mountain Centre artists’ colony. They also say, “Applications are accepted year round but must be received by July 1 for consideration for the current-year award. Applications received after this date will be considered for the award in the following year.”
Value: $10,000, residency; $1,000 for runners-up
Deadline: 1 July 2026
Open for: Non-fiction writers of social justice journalism
Details here and here.
The Forum Essay Prize: Science and the arts
This is an essay prize run by Forum of Modern Language Studies (Oxford Academic) and is open to all researchers, whether early-career or established. The theme this year is, Science and the arts. They have detailed guidelines, including, “The topic may be addressed from the perspective of any of the literatures and cultures (including literary linguistics, translation and comparative approaches) normally covered by the journal: Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Slavonic, and Spanish. Please note that material of a predominantly social science or sociological nature falls outside our scope.
We are seeking submissions that focus on literature, film, art, or other cultural outputs that relate to the subject of “Science and the arts”, be that through engaging with the theme more broadly, or with regard to specific aspects of the theme as it relates to the discipline(s) covered by Forum for Modern Language Studies.” The winning essay will also get published in an issue of Forum for Modern Language Studies. Submission is via a form.
Value: £500
Deadline: 1 July 2026
Open for: All researchers, whether early-career or established
Details here.
The International Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation: Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award
This is an opportunity for young non-American TV scriptwriters. “Each year, The Foundation administers the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award. The competition is designed to motivate non-American novice writers under the age of 30, and offer them the recognition and encouragement that might lead to a successful career in television scriptwriting. Entrants are asked to create a completed half-hour to one-hour English-language television drama script.” Please note, you have to create an account and log in to enter this contest. The applicant must be a non-U.S. citizen (non-U.S. citizens currently studying/residing in the U.S. are eligible.) Please note, entries from Russia are ineligible this year.
The winner will be flown to New York City to be presented with an award and a $2,500 prize at the International Emmy World Television Festival, and will be invited to take part in the red-carpet festivities at the International Emmy Awards Gala.
Value: $2,500, other non-cash prizes
Deadline: 1 July 2026
Open for: Non-American TV scriptwriters under the age of 30
Details here.
Hubert Butler Essay Prize
This is a themed essay contest, of up to 3,000 words, for writers who are UK or European Union citizens. “The Hubert Butler Essay Prize is intended to encourage the art of essay-writing with a European dimension and to expand interest in Butler’s work.” The subject for the 2026 essay prize is: ‘‘“Poetry makes nothing happen” (W.H.Auden). What impact can high culture make in the real world?
The quotation in the essay title is taken from Auden’s elegy for Yeats, written in 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. In times of global conflict, there can be an acute awareness of the impotence of art. What impact, if any, can high culture have in a world threatened by disaster?”Value: €2,500
Deadline: 3 July 2026
Open for: UK or EU citizens
Details here.
The Orchards Poetry Journal: Grantchester Award
In each issue, two poems will be eligible for The Grantchester Award. Regarding submissions they say, “While we encourage rhymed verse in traditional forms, we also accept finely wrought free verse.” Send up to 3 poems, preferably unpublished. They do not have a deadline listed, but they do say, “We are now OPEN for submissions for the Summer 2025 issue. The journal is released biannually (usually in July and December), in print and online.”
Value: $50, $30
Deadline: Open now
Open for: All poets
Details here.
(A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— The H G Wells Short Story Competition: This is an international short story contest; they want short fiction of 1,500-5,000 words on this year’s theme, The Cheat (see FAQ). There is no fee for The Margaret and Reg Turnill Competition for young writers, i.e. for those under 21 years, and the prize for that is £1,000. The deadline is 7 July 2026. Details here.
— Drue Heinz Literature Prize: This is for previously published writers (see guidelines). The prize is for a manuscript – they want a short story collection, or two or more novellas. “Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); or a combination of one or more novellas and short stories. Novellas are only accepted as part of a larger collection. Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 300 pages.” They also accept translated manuscripts. There have been changes to the prize in 2026, including expanded eligibility criteria, which you can review here. The (increased) award is $25,000, and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract. The submission period is 1st to 31st July 2026, and it is open for published writers worldwide (see guidelines). Details here and here; the relevant category will open in their Submittable during the submission period.)
FOR WRITERS IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
(Also see the Novel Prize in the international section above.)
The Australian Fiction Prize
Only residents of Australia are eligible to enter. “The Australian Fiction Prize is an annual prize for a book-length work of fiction, offered by Australia’s leading publisher, HarperCollins Australia. It is open to all Australian writers, regardless of age or publishing history, with the winner receiving a contract from HarperCollins to publish the work, along with an advance of $15,000.” Send a fiction manuscript of 75,000-100,000 words. “Science fiction, young adult, poetry, plays, works for children and any kind of non-fiction are not eligible.” Also see their T&C and FAQ.
Value: $15,000
Deadline: 1 June 2026 (5 pm AET)
Open for: Australian writers
Details here.
Sargeson Prize
This is New Zealand’s richest short story prize. Only New Zealand citizens or permanent residents can enter. There are two categories, Open (for those 18 and over, send a story up to 5,000 words), and High School (high school students ages 16-18, send a story up to 3,000 words); those in the latter category also win a one-week summer residency at the University of Waikato, and mentoring.
Value: $15,000, $1,000, $500 for the Open category; $2,000, $1,000, $500, and residency for the High School category (NZ dollars)
Deadline: 30 June 2026
Open for: New Zealand citizens or permanent residents
Details here (see the various tabs on this page)
FOR WRITERS IN US AND CANADA
(Also see the Novel Prize; the special awards in the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest including the We All Rise Prize foryoung underrepresented writers in the US; the PEN/Bare Life Review Grants;the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists; and the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize for writers of Caribbean heritage in the US and Canada, in the international section above.)
Abode Press: Book Award Fiction Prize for QTBIPOC Writers
“For our first-ever full-length fiction prize, Abode Press is looking to acquire fiction short story collections or novels written by people of color who are queer and/or trans. We want work that is voice-driven, sparks social change, reminds us of home, and defies genre. We are especially interested in works that are haunting, that have a strong sense of place, that are queer, radical, and genre-defiant.” Writers must be Queer / trans and live in the US. Send a sample of up to 50 pages from your manuscript.
Value: $1,000 and publication
Deadline: 31 May 2026Open for: Queer / trans writers in the US
Details here.
The Bard Fiction Prize
This is an annual fiction prize for young US-based writers. Their website says, “The Bard Fiction Prize is awarded to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application. In addition to a $30,000 cash award, the winner receives an appointment as writer in residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation that he or she teach traditional courses. The recipient gives at least one public lecture and meets informally with students.” Also, “To apply, candidates should write a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard and submit a CV, along with three copies of the published book they feel best represents their work. No manuscripts will be accepted.”
Value: $30,000, residency
Deadline: 1 June 2026
Open for: Young US writers
Details here.
ABA Journal / Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction
This is a fiction contest for US writers (see guidelines). The ABA Journal is the flagship magazine of the American Bar Association. Send a story of up to 5,000 words that illuminates the role of the law and/or lawyers in modern society.
Value: $5,000
Deadline: 1 June 2026
Open for: US writers
Details here.
Associates of the Boston Public Library: Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence
The fellowship aims to provide an emerging children’s/YA writer with the financial support and office space needed to complete one literary work for children or young adults. The year-long fellowship also entails working at the library. Eligible projects include fiction, non-fiction, a graphic novel, script, memoir, or poetry intended for children or young adults. About who can apply, they say, “There is NO residency restriction to apply, but you must be able to spend at least nineteen (19) hours per week at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square. Must be legally eligible to work in the US, as a U.S. citizen or green card holder.” Applicants cannot have prior professional book publications. Application includes a writing sample and a proposal.
Value: $70,000, can request an additional $2,500 for training or hiring a professional (see guidelines); use of a private office (see guidelines)
Deadline: 5 June 2025
Open for: Those eligible to work in the US, as a US citizen or green card holder
Details here and here.
(Also see their Alan Andres Picture Book Writer Fellowship for unpublished picture book writers who are U.S. citizens or green card holders living in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Vermont); the award is $25,000 and the deadline is 5th June 2026, details here.)
PEN America: US Writers Aid Initiative
This is intended for fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists in the US. To be eligible, applicants must be based in the United States, be professional writers, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping them to address an emergency situation. Applications for the Summer cycle open on 1st June, and close on the 15th. (For the Fall cycle, applications are scheduled to open on 15th September, for a fortnight.)
Value: Unspecified
Application period: 1-15 June 2026
Open for: Writers and journalists in the US
Details here.
The Norton Writer’s Prize
This is a non-fiction prize for undergraduates in the US, who are enrolled in an accredited 2- or 4-year college or university, and aged 18 and above (see guidelines). They will accept literacy narratives, literary and other textual analyses, reports, profiles, evaluations, arguments, memoirs, proposals, multimodal pieces, and other forms of original non-fiction pieces of 1,000-3,000 words. Entries require nomination by an instructor.
Value: Three prizes of $1,000 each
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Undergraduates in the US
Details here (you can download rules).
(Also see the Indigenous Creative Nonfiction Prize (Chapter House 2026 Summer Issue) for Indigenous writers; they want creative nonfiction on the theme, Celestial Bodies: Honoring the Stars, the Moon, and Sky. The deadline is 30th June 2026; see the relevant category in their Submittable for details.)
Academy of American Poets: James Laughlin Award
This is for a second full-length poetry manuscript by a US poet, contracted by a publisher. Manuscripts have to be 48-100 pages long. Translations and new editions of previously published books are not eligible. Apart from a cash prize, the poet also receives an all-expenses-paid weeklong residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.
Value: $5,000, residency
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: US poets (see guidelines)
Details here and here.
WRITERS IN UK AND IRELAND
(Also see the Novel Prize and the Hubert Butler Essay Prize in the international section above.)
Anne Brown Essay Prize
This is an essay prize for Scottish writers. Send an essay of up to 4,000 words, on any subject.
Value: £1,500
Deadline: 15 June 2026
Open for: Scottish writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
The Northern Writers’ Awards
They have various awards through the year for writers in the north of England. They especially welcome submissions from people of colour and those from LGBTQ+, disabled and lower socio-economic backgrounds, who are particularly under-represented in this area of the TV industry. They have three awards with upcoming deadlines. See guidelines for details on eligibility and other submission requirements. At the time of writing, they’d announced the application dates for their Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards – Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards: Warp Films as well as Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards: FilmNation TV UK. For both of these award, writers should submit a pitch of an idea for an original storyline (up to 400 words) and a sample script of up to 10 pages. The winner will be offered the chance to work closely with Warp Films and FilmNation TV UK respectively, receive a bursary of £3,000 and mentoring support.
Awards: £3,000, other opportunities
Deadline: 28 June 2026
Open for: Writers in the north of England
Details here (the page also has details of all their awards, including closed ones).
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.