Spring and summer seem like writing and book contests abound, like CARVE’s 2022 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest (deadline today!), Sheila-Na-Gig Edition’s Chapbook Contest (closes to entries on May 31), and New Letter’s annual literary prizes (deadline is May 22). Don’t forget to check below for even more contest deadlines coming up in June, July, and August, i.e. Winning Writers North Street Book Prize, Philadelphia Stories Marguerite McGlinn Fiction Contest, and Rockvale Writers’ Colony fellowship contest for poets.
Summer is on the way, so don’t forget to grab these new and forthcoming books for a great time reading. In poetry, enjoy If I Go Missing by Carol Lynne Knight, Night Swim by Joan Kwon Glass, Refugee by Pamela Uschuk, Spirit Matters by Gordon Henry, The Convert’s Heart is Good to Eat, and Drowning in Light by Taylor Steele. If you’re interested in nonfiction, consider The Land and the Days: A Memoir of Family, Friendship, and Grief by Tracy Daughterty or Nein, Nein, Nein!: One Man’s Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust by Jerry Stahl. In fiction, enjoy Let No One Sleep by Juan José Millás.
Plus, don’t miss out on these new issues of literary magazines: Consequence Spring 2022, Coastal Shelf #6, New Letters Winter/Spring 2022, Concho River Review 36.1, Court Green Spring 2022, Lunch Ticket Issue 20, Heartwood Spring 2022, and About Place May 2022.
If you like what we’re doing at NewPages, please consider supporting our work. Don’t forget our May 2022 eLitPak newsletter will be coming your way on Wednesday afternoon!
NewPages Blog
Stay caught up at our blog. There you can take in short reviews, contest & book award winners, book & literary magazine news, new issues of literary magazines, new and forthcoming titles, and cultural & political news.
In reviews, Catherine Hayes talks of Daniel Lassell’s Spit’s ability to “harness the power of language to contemplate whether to embrace one’s own roots or to cast them off” while MG Noles talks about Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul in which the protagonist writes letters to “a long-dead post-impressionist painter.” Deborah Nedelman tackles Iris Graville’s latest book of essays, Writer in a Life Vest, while Kevin Brown gains new knowledge of oppression in Tajja Isen’s Some of My Best Friends.
If you’re interested in seeing your own review displayed on our blog, please check out our revised guidelines and consider submitting to NewPages today. It’s free.
Calls, Contests, & More
Check out the latest and featured calls for submissions, writing and book contests, and more in the NewPages classifieds. Please note the ads featured here are paid listings.
Calls for Submissions
Oyster River Pages Seeks Submissions for Annual Issue
Deadline: May 31, 2022
Oyster River Pages is a literary and artistic collective seeking submissions for our annual issue that stretch creative and social boundaries. In addition to submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts, we also seek to promote new voices in our Emerging Voices Poetry and Emerging Voices Fiction sections. We believe in the power of art to connect people to their own and others’ humanity, something we see as especially important during these tumultuous times. Because of this, we seek to feature artists whose voices have been historically de-centered or marginalized. Please see our website for submission details.
CHESTNUT REVIEW Invites Submissions Year Round
Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year-round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $120. Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new!
Able Muse (Poetry, Prose, & Art) - Submission Now Open
Deadline: July 15, 2022
Able Muse is now accepting submissions for our forthcoming issue, Winter 2022/2023. Submit poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, art, and photography. Submission opens yearly January 1 and closes July 15. Read our guidelines and submit at our website.
Fictional Café Opens Submissions for Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry
Deadline: Rolling
The Fictional Café, entering its tenth year, welcomes new boundary-breaking short stories, flash fiction, novel excerpts, poetry, creative nonfiction, and works in the visual and audio arts. A thousand Coffee Club members in 70 countries read our highly original ‘zine. We welcome all genres. Your work must be tasteful, original, and well written. We look for engaging characters and the thought-provoking, avant-garde, or unconventional approach. Bold, sophisticated poetry collections and artist exhibits are welcome. Please join our Coffee Club and review what we publish and our submission guidelines before you submit. We reply in 30 days. Visit our website.
Atmosphere Press Reading Book Manuscripts in All Genres
Deadline: Rolling
Atmosphere Press currently seeks book manuscripts from diverse voices. There's no submission fee, and if your manuscript is selected, we’ll be the publisher you’ve always wanted: attentive, organized, on schedule, and professional. We use a model in which the author funds the publication of the book, but retains 100% rights, royalties, and artistic autonomy. This year Atmosphere authors have received featured reviews with Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and have even appeared on a giant billboard in Times Square. Submit your book manuscript at our website.
Plus more calls for submissions at our website:
Book of Matches Seeks Submissions
Actual Left Seeks Fiction, Nonfiction Focusing on Social Justice
Writing & Book Contests
Flying South 2022: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction Contest: $2,000 Prizes
Deadline: May 31, 2022
$2,000 in prizes. From March 1 to May 31, Flying South 2022, a publication of Winston Salem Writers, will be accepting entries for prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Best in Category winners will be published and receive $500 each. One of the three winners will receive The WSW President's Favorite award and win an additional $500. All entries will be considered for publication. For full details, please visit our website.
Submit to the 2022 Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry
Deadline: June 15, 2022
Lynx House Press seeks submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts for the annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication. Entries must be at least 48 pages in length. The fee for submitting is $28. Previous judges include James Tate, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Dara Wier, Melissa Kwasny, and Robert Wrigley.
$2,500 Prize + Publication
Deadline: May 22, 2022
New Letters invites you to submit a short story, essay, or poems to the New Letters Literary Awards. Winners in each genre receive $2,500 and publication in New Letters. All entries are considered for publication and must be unpublished. Winners will be announced mid-September 2022. Essay and fiction entries may not exceed 8,000 words; poetry entries may contain one to six poems. Multiple entries are welcome. For complete guidelines, visit the New Letters website.
Swan Scythe Press Announces its 2022 Poetry Chapbook Contest!
Deadline: June 15, 2022
Swan Scythe Press announces its 2022 poetry chapbook contest. Entry fee: $18. We are accepting submissions from March 1 to June 15 (postmark deadline). Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. The 2021 winner is Rae Gouirand for Little Hour. For full submission guidelines, visit the Swan Scythe Press website.
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. Deadline: July 31, 2022. For complete guidelines, see our submissions manager.
North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books
Deadline: June 30, 2022
Now in its eighth year, the North Street Book Prize is sponsored by Winning Writers. Self-published books in seven categories can win up to $8,000 plus additional benefits. Submit online or by mail. Winning Writers is a partner member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, and this contest is recommended by Reedsy. Entry fee: $70 per book. Free gifts from our co-sponsors for everyone who enters. Deadline: June 30. View guidelines here.
2023 Press 53 Award for Poetry
Deadline: July 31, 2022
$1,000 and 50 copies awarded to an outstanding, unpublished collection of poems of approximately 50 to 120 pages. Open to poets 18 years of age and older who live in the US or one of its territories. Tom Lombardo, Press 53 Poetry Series Editor, will serve as judge. Press 53 will publish the winning manuscript as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection; all prizes will be awarded upon publication. Deadline: Midnight Eastern, July 31, 2022. Winner and finalists announced on or before November 1. Reading fee: $30. Complete information at our website.
2022 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest
Deadline: May 16, 2022
Carve Magazine’s Raymond Carver Short Story Contest is open April 1 – May 16. Accepting submissions from all over the world. Max 10,000 words. Prizes: $2,000, $500, $250, + 2 Editor’s Choice $125 each. All 5 winners published in Fall 2022 issue and reviewed by lit agencies. Entry fee $17 online. Guest judge Dariel Suarez. Guidelines and instructions at Carve Magazine's website.
Rockvale Writers' Colony Announces a Fellowship Contest for Poets
Deadline: August 31, 2022
We’ve created a new fellowship opportunity for poets to share their important landscapes and environmental heritage. We’re interested in the natural spaces that have made meaningful marks upon lives, those places from which we cannot be separated no matter how far away we are. We want to know how that land speaks, and most of all, why it matters. One poet will win a 1-week residency at Rockvale Writers' Colony in College Grove, TN, plus a small stipend for food and travel. Read the guidelines here: Language of the Land Fellowship. Application fee is $30.
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions Poetry Chapbook Contest: Accepts Submissions May 1-31
Deadline: May 31, 2022
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions announces our second annual Poetry Chapbook Contest. Submit 20-40 page poetry manuscript (not including front/back matter) via Submittable. $500 prize + publication awarded. Reading Fee: $20. Familiarize yourself with the works on Sheila-Na-Gig online to get a sense of our aesthetic. We publish well-crafted free verse poetry and especially seek poems with excellent imagery and a strong sense of voice. Chapbooks should also include a consistent theme. Simultaneous submissions/previously published poems accepted if rights have reverted. Manuscripts are judged on the merits of the work alone. No author names allowed! Please read/follow all of the guidelines carefully at our website.
Autumn House Prizes in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction
Deadline: May 31, 2022
The 2022 AHP Prizes in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction are open! Winners of each prize receive publication of their full-length manuscripts. Each winner also receives a $1,000 honorarium and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote the book. The submission period closes on May 31 (Eastern Time). Please submit online, through our online submission manager. The reading fee is $30 (we will waive the submission fee for those undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means). Submission should be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions permitted. The judges for the 2022 prizes are Carl Phillips (poetry), Venita Blackburn (fiction), and Lia Purpura (nonfiction).
Poet Hunt 27 awards $500 and Publication
Deadline: June 15, 2022
Lynne Thompson judges the MacGuffin’s Poet Hunt 27, running April 1 through June 15! $500 first prize plus publication; up to two Honorable Mentions will also be published. All entrants receive one copy of this issue. Send up to five poems per $15 entry fee. Include a cover page that lists your contact info and poem titles. On the following page(s), include your poem(s), beginning each poem on a new page devoid of personally identifiable information to preserve the blind review process. Enter via Submittable or to enter by email or post, see full rules at our website.
2022 Salamander Fiction Contest, Judged by Jamie Quatro
Deadline: June 1, 2022
Salamander 2022 Fiction Contest: Judged by Jamie Quatro. First Prize $1,000 and publication; Second Prize $500 and publication. All entries considered for publication. $15 entry fee, includes one-year subscription. Accepting entries from May 1-June 1. Stories must not exceed 30 double-spaced pages in 12-point font. Multiple entries are acceptable. Find more information and submit at the Salamander website.
2022 New American Fiction Prize
Deadline: June 15, 2022
Winner receives publication contract including $1,500, 25 copies, and promotional support. Final judge is WEIKE WANG, author of Joan Is Okay (Random House 2022) and Chemistry (Knopf 2017). All full-length fiction manuscripts are welcome, including novels, novellas, collections of stories, flash fiction, short-shorts, and linked collections. Full-length fiction manuscripts tend to be at least 30,000 words. There is no maximum length. To submit, please access our convenient online submission manager. Entry fee: $25.
First Book Prize—$1,500 and Publication
Deadline: July 7, 2022
Our fifth annual Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize is open and accepting manuscripts. If you have a manuscript, give us a shot. Awarded annually to a poet writing in English who has not yet published a full-length poetry book, the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize champions poets who dance to their own tune not to be different but to be true. Previously unpublished manuscripts of 48-90 pages should be submitted through our Submittable page or via the USPS. Please visit our website for details.
The Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers: $500 Prizes
Deadline: July 15, 2022
Submissions are open for Nimrod’s Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers. The Ringold Awards offer prizes of $500 and publication for fiction and poetry. They are open only to writers with no more than two previous publication credits in their genre. For poetry, submit up to five pages; for fiction, one short story, 5,000 words maximum. The contest is open internationally. All honorable mentions will also be published and paid at our normal rates. Manuscripts may be mailed or submitted online via Submittable. Each entry must be accompanied by a $12 entry fee. Email us or visit Nimrod's website for complete rules.
2022 Marguerite McGlinn Fiction Contest, First Place: $2,500!
Deadline: June 15, 2022
Our contest this year will be judged by author and critic, Camille Acker. We’re looking for previously unpublished fiction of up to 8,000 words. The deadline is June 15, 2022. First place is $2,500 with an invitation to an awards dinner. Second place $750. Third place $500. The winning stories will be published in the Fall print issue of Philadelphia Stories, with all entrants receiving a complimentary copy. All authors currently residing in the United States are eligible, a Philadelphia connection is not necessary. We especially encourage submissions by writers from underrepresented groups and backgrounds. There is a $15 reading fee for each story submitted. We can’t wait to read your stories! You may submit your work on our website.
Plus more writing contests at our website:
The Heartland Review Press Announces 2022 Chapbook Contest
Submit to the 2022 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction