These are calls and contests for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some of the call themes are: the hollow court; trolls (fairy tales); Mmeory (memory manipulation); unseen agreements; common bonds; on the money; of swords & roses; Odysseus; erased from history; and travel by plane.

THEMED CALLS

Vellum Mortis: The Hollow Court
Vellum Mortis is a monthly ezine from Crystal Lake Publishing. They publish dark flash fiction on monthly themes. For August, the theme is The Hollow Court. “Fae horror, winter courts, changelings, and courtly decay.”
Deadline: 10 August 2025
Length: Up to 1,000 words
Pay: $5
Details here (scroll down) and here. 

The Fairy Tale Magazine: Trolls
They’ll soon open for a brief submission period. They want fairy tales inspired by the Trolls theme. “Tell us what compels trolls to guard bridges. Are bridge trolls keepers of wisdom, curses, or safe passage? Or perhaps you have a troll song to share, the story of a fiddling troll, or maybe a new tune for escaping the Hall of the Mountain King.
Or tell us the tale of the troll who tends the hearth, the garden, brews a soup that keeps the forests in balance. How do trolls live among us today? (Not internet trolls, but beings of stone, moss, and magic trying to survive in the world today.) Give us the story of someone who has troll ancestry; tell us about their sense of self, their magic, their place in the world.” They have detailed guidelines, including, “Keep in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation. Mashups welcomed. The essence of classic fairy tales should be maintained in stories and poems submitted here. You can take a lot of license with the work, but there must be a clear connection to the theme.” They do not want children’s stories. They want PG content. Submissions will be via a form. Payment is unspecified.
Reading period: 15 to 21 August 2025
Length: 900-2,000 words for fiction, up to 500 words for poetry
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.

Air and Nothingness Press: Mmeory Anthology
This is a speculative fiction anthology. They want stories of memory manipulation; “Examples include magic spells, cyborg memory edits, very unreliable narrators, time travel gone horribly wrong.
We are open to all genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Alternate History, Steampunk, Hopepunk, Solarpunk, and beyond….”
Deadline: 15 August 2025
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Beaches and Trails Publishing: Unseen Agreements Anthology
This is a fiction anthology. “We are seeking speculative short stories … that explore hidden bargains, mysterious contracts, and eerie agreements. Think cursed pacts, veiled deals, ancestral oaths, and otherworldly negotiations. Stories may be fantasy, horror, supernatural, sci-fi, folkloric, or genre-bending, but must center on the idea of an agreement with consequences.” Stories have to be PG-13. Submission is via a form. Please note, while the anthology is open to international writers, priority will be given to Canadians.
Deadline: 15 August 2025
Length: 3,000–5,000 words
Pay: CAD50
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for Crimson Quill Quarterly. “We’ll be
accepting tales in the usual trio of fantasy subgenres, Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, and Grimdark”. They have detailed guidelines, including the kind of stories they do not want. They pay $35 for stories up to 10,000 words / $25 per issue for serialized stories up to 30,000 words. The deadline is 15^th August 2025. Details here.)

Common Bonds 2 Anthology
They want speculative fiction and poetry. “At the heart of this collection are the bonds that impact our lives from beginning to end: platonic relationships. Whether with family, mentors, friends, colleagues, or found family, these links pepper our lives and their importance is often overlooked. We seek to explore the powerful impact of these bonds on aromantic people through the lens of science-fiction and fantasy.
We dream of sisters on a roadtrip through space, of queerplatonic partners hunting dragons, of an alchemy teacher changing the course of their student’s life, of neighbours supporting each other through the apocalypse.” All stories should be in the fantasy or science fiction genre, have a clear aromantic MC (including of all the aromantic spectrum), and center a non-romantic relationship. The Kickstarter for this project has been funded.
Deadline: 15 August 2025
Length: up to 7,500 words for fiction, up to 100 lines for poetry
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $60 for poems
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for speculative fiction, Other: the 2025 fantasy short story anthology (Book 2 of the Other Anthology series) from Bannister Press. “We are seeking short stories that are visually evocative (or character/narrative focused) and that leave the reader thinking about the story long after closing the book. We don’t want a lesson, we want an experience that makes us come alive. To get a better idea of what we’re looking for, read Other: the 2024 speculative fiction anthology” Pay is CAD0.08/word for stories of 2,500 – 3,500 words, and the deadline is 31 August 2025. Details here.)

The Deadlands
This speculative fiction magazine. They are accepting poetry submissions only, during the first three weeks of August. “The Deadlands is a prism refracting innumerable paths and practices, and we are seeking speculative poetry in all its diverse permutations. We are as interested in the dead as we are in grief, hauntings, and history. The sublime is as much a part of The Deadlands as the uncanny. We welcome both formal and experimental poetry.
We are particularly interested in works by poets from historically marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds, particularly BIPOC poets, and poets from the global south. Bilingual or multilingual work is welcome.” All other genres are closed.
Deadline: See above
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $50/poem
Details here and here.  

Griffith Review: On the Money
Griffith Review is an Australian literary magazine and they want fiction and nonfiction submissions for their 91^st issue; the theme is On the Money. “Money talks – but it doesn’t always speak the truth. It’s also far more than a medium of exchange and a store of value: money is a status symbol, a friendship destroyer, an opportunity creator, a psychological blocker, an obsession, a dream, a curse, an albatross and an elephant in the room.
And if money makes the world go round, it’s spinning us faster than ever these days. Do we stand any chance of bridging the wealth gap? How does money influence our behaviour? What part does it play in the erosion of democracy and institutional trust? Should financial literacy be taught in schools? And does anyone actually understand crypto?
This edition of Griffith Review follows the money to tally the past, present and future of our filthy lucre.” Do not send poetry (there will be a separate call-out for poetry in September). They mostly accept work from writers in Australia, and some work from overseas writers.
Deadline: 24 August 2025 (see guidelines)
Length: Up to 4,000 words for prose (for print)
Pay: AUD0.75/word
Details here and here.

Flame Tree Anthologies
They are reading fiction for some themed anthologies with deadlines in August: two romantic fantasy anthologies, and for two anthologies that are part of their Myths, Gods, and Monsters series. They also accept reprints for all of these anthologies.
 
— Romantic Fantasy Series: Dreams Divine: Enigmatic escapes from reality and gateways into unknown worlds, dreams arrive in different forms, a distant whispering, prophesying a message. They are unbound. An illogical succession of events, freed from the constricts of time, understanding and place. Our fantasies may be revealed in our dreams, they find us, suspended in the twilight zone of reality and a dream-like state, blurring what is real and what isn’t, balancing on the known and unknown. Lost loves or new loves materialise from the mists in this amorphous world – will they solidify into reality or vanish from whence they came? Still, we yearn to dream, craving to see a face again from a distant place, but where there is light, the cracks can be filled with darkness, where dreams can look like nightmares, a veil that is pulled across our eyelids.” Stories of 2,000-4,000 words, deadline 24^th August 2025.

— Romantic Fantasy Series: Of Swords & Roses: They want “tales of chivalry and court intrigue; quests of passion and honour; wars waged for the sake of a beloved’s hand; and great sacrifices made in the name of love. Such endeavours may play out as open clashes on the battlefield, or as guileful strategy woven into court rivalries. With a flavour of the fantastical, tales are twined with magic or abound with whimsical creatures, spanning kingdoms or bridging worlds. A chivalric hero may clash with their enemy to win another’s affections; or perhaps that enemy proves to have been The One all along?”Stories of 2,000-4,000 words, deadline 24^th August 2025.

— Myths, Gods, and Monsters Series: The Valkyries: “The Valkyries – fierce daughters of battle, riders of storm and shadow. They choose the slain and carry souls to glory, moving between mortal and divine. For this call, we seek stories that tell their own back stories, and echo their power: tales of fate, war, sacrifice and the mythic eternal. Awe-inspiring and magical, when we think of the Valkyries, we conjure a vision of fierce but angelic warrior goddesses racing across the sky. They come to select half of those who have died in battle and escort them to Odin’s hall of heroes: Valhalla. There they receive the heroes with horns of mead. But there is so much more to these heavily symbolic beings. … This submission theme offers an exciting opportunity to explore and expand on existing stories associated with Valkyries (not simply retell classic tales) or imagine completely new names and narratives for those who have never seen the limelight.” (Stories of 3,000-4,000 words, deadline 24^th August 2025.)

— Myths, Gods, and Monsters Series: Odysseus: “Odysseus – the cunning wanderer from the fall of Troy, breaker of oaths and teller of tales. … For this call, we seek stories that echo his trials: voyages of wit, endurance, longing, and the winding path home. Perhaps not as strong as Heracles, nor as skilled as Achilles, Odysseus is the craftiest and quick-witted of the Greek heroes of myth, famed for his fateful devising of the Trojan Horse and his eventful and epic journey home to Ithaca. … But do we see him as the ancients did? Is he truly a hero when we know that – like many male heroes of myth – he was a killer, an adulterer, a liar and an all-round deceiver? This submissions theme offers the chance to reassess the reassessments; to present the fully formed, rounded and complex figure that is Odysseus, from his point of view and as others see him, as he faces the challenges of living up to the expectations put upon him. Rather than retelling the classic tales, we’re looking for stories with original angles, interesting perspectives, new visions.” (Stories of 3,000-4,000 words, deadline 24^th August 2025.)
Deadline: 24 August 2025 for all the above anthologies
Length: See above
Pay: $0.08/word for original fiction
Details here (links to all the submission calls).(Flame Tree is also open for an Africanfuturism anthology from Black African, African-diaspora, African–descent writers only (2,000-4,000 words, deadline 2^nd November 2025)

WolfSinger Publications: Search for the Any Key
This is a fiction anthology; the theme is, Search for the Any Key. “This will be mostly action/adventure, but can be placed in any time period, on other planets or any type of setting. All genres accepted and may contain humor, drama, romance, etc. Diverse characters welcome, human or otherwise. The catch – no traditional keys accepted. If the characters don’t find the key, that’s okay.
Example – on a certain TV show, characters were searching for forgiveness and the key to enter was tears of regret. Another film had a key as part of a puzzle box which opened several artifacts.
Please think outside the box when writing these stories. The Why of the search is the most important point.”
Deadline: 29 August 2025
Length: 1,000 – 7,000 words
Pay: $15 + royalty share
Details here.

Thalia Press: Time After Time Anthology
This is “is a short story anthology targeted toward lovers of mysteries set in specific historical eras. We are seeking short stories of no more than 7,500 words that have a strong crime or mystery element and that take place in a time period other than the present. Both cozy and dark stories are welcome. … If you choose to submit a story set in the future, please be aware that, again, it must be primarily mystery- or crime-related and not just science fiction. Bonus points for creating an authentic historical setting that engrosses readers.” Please read their terms carefully.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: $25
Details here.
(Thalia Press is also reading fiction for a mystery/crime fiction anthology featuring one or more cats as an integral part of the plot; pays $25, deadline 30 September, details here – scroll down.)

White City Press: Sex and Synthesizers –  An Erotic Crime Anthology
This is a fiction anthology, the second in a series. “In this second volume, synthesizers can be used as an instrumental enhancement, as a weapon, or as a concept. Synthesizers are made to trick the audience into believing something is there – but it’s not. Example: it can make you believe there’s a piano playing when there is no piano on stage. This can give a nice twist to a story. The key is to have something appear to be one thing when it’s actually another.” And, “We do expect stories to be anywhere from Rated R to Rated XXX. The anthology is sold age-restricted to 18 and older.” All stories must be set in the 1980s. LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC characters (and authors) are welcome and encouraged.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: 3,500 – 5,000 words
Pay: $25 or two paperback copies
Details here.

Zoetic Press: Non-Binary Review – Erased from History
They want speculative work – poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and art. They’re reading on the Erased from History theme. All submissions must have a clear relationship to the theme. “History, as the old saying goes, is written by the winners. This means that in most histories, the stories are about discovery and conquest rather than plunder and genocide. It also means that some of those losers of history have been forgotten – erased by the cultures that overran them. Historical erasure isn’t limited to countries or cultures. Underrepresented societal groups – those denigrated by the dominant culture – are often left out of histories, their contributions to society, including their arts, inventions, and scientific discoveries, are either attributed to others, or left out entirely.
We are looking for stories of people or things that have been erased from history, the mechanism by which that erasure is effected, or the consequence of erasure. We want the story of the lizard people that originally colonized earth, leading to the widespread theory that many world leaders are lizard people. The reason why Atlantis was erased from history and relegated to myth. The fact that gravity was invented by an illiterate Burmese restaurant owner in 1146CE.
We are NOT looking for dry factual histories (no term papers, please), personal screeds or jeremiads, or the life and personal stories of individuals from an erased group”.
Please note, they have changed their reading periods; they will now read submissions in February, May, August, and November. They are in the process of changing their submission system to Duosuma.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: Up to 3,000 words for prose; up to 3 pages for poetry
Pay: $0.01/word for prose, $10 for poetry
Details here and here.
(They’ve also given the reading periods for other themes on their website.)

Cast of Wonders: Young Author Showcase
Cast of Wonders is Escape Artists’ speculative young adult (YA) online and audio magazine. “All stories should contain a clear speculative element and be appropriate for a YA audience. We particularly encourage submissions from authors whose backgrounds are under-represented in publishing, and also love #ownvoices submissions.” They have detailed guidelines on what counts as young adult, please read them carefully. For this submission window, they want submissions by young authors only, under 20 years of age. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for originals
Details here (guidelines), here (schedule), and here (submission portal + details of Young Author Showcase 2025).
(And, Cast of Wonders will open for YA fiction submissions by all authors from 1^st to 14^th September – see their schedule.)

Thinking Ink Press
They open during August and February for literary postcards, Instant Books, and other publications in non-traditional formats.  “For postcards: (a 4 x 6″ flat card that can be sent through the mail) poems or flash stories you wish someone would send you in the mail. Story length is about 100 to 300 words. Poetry length is 30 lines or fewer.
For Instant Books: (a mini book folded from a single sheet of paper) standalone stories around 500-1,300 words in length with strong narrative arcs.
For a 4-page flexagon: (A flexagon is a flat paper object that you can fold and twist to reveal hidden surfaces.) Stories or poems that can be divided into four pages and read as a loop, with no enforced beginning or end. Word limit is about 130 words per page, or about 16 lines of poetry per page.” Please read the guidelines for the editor’s preferences.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: One story or up to 5 poems (see guidelines)
Pay: $20
Details here.

Fourteen Poems
They publish LGBTQ+ poets only, for their thrice-yearly anthologies. They are reading submissions for their 18^th issue.
Deadline: 1 September 2025 (see guidelines)
Length: Up to 5 poems
Pay: £30/poem
Details here.
(Submissions will also open briefly for Trans Survivors Zine and the theme will be IPV/DV/Interpersonal harm: They pay $25, and will accept submissions from August 18^th to September 8^th 2025. Details here. Trans Survivor Zine is a project of FORGE, an organization for trans / nonbinary individuals.)

Phi Kappa Phi Forum: Travel by Plane
They want “submissions of original, previously unpublished poetry that fits the theme … Poems will be selected to appear in the print version of the magazine, though others may appear online. Submissions must be under 40 lines, and poets can submit 1-3 poems as a single submission.” They’re reading submissions for their Winter 2025 issue and the theme is, Travel by Plane.
Deadline: 2 September 2025
Length: See above
Pay: $4/line of poetry
Details here and here.  

Tyche Books: Fascination Anthology
This is a fiction and poetry anthology from Tyche Books. “Imagine a tall figure in black robes wearing a mask that looks like a deer skull, antlers backlit by moonlight. Or perhaps it is not a mask and the shape beneath the robes something much more than human.
Imagine a thatch-roofed fairy tale cottage deep in a forest, with a lake of black water for a front lawn. Imagine what creatures the cottage’s occupant keeps trapped beneath the water, waiting to be called forth to do their bidding.
Imagine a table set with a faded red and white gingham tablecloth, an overflowing fruit bowl and a milk bottle filled with daisies. Imagine, also, an ancient human skull perched atop the fruit and a lazy viper crawling out from one of its empty eye sockets.
Imagine fluffy white bunnies hopping through walls of brambles with ease, moonlit clearings where women in flower crowns summon ancient evils into their world. Trees whose green leaves part to reveal hundreds of twisted faces within their bark, or rose bushes whose perfume brings the plague. Circles of salt, twisted krisses, bat-winged raccoons, moss-laden trees and half-melted candles.
These are the sorts of images I want to fill the pages of this anthology with. I want nature-fueled magic, witches and dark fae. Creepy cottages, haunted homesteads and bespelled woods.
Submit them to me that I might find myself enchanted and unsettled by them in equal measure”.
Deadline: 3 September 2025 (see guidelines)
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: CAD50 for stories, CAD20 for poetry; more if Kickstarter funding permits (see guidelines)
Details here and here.

Reckoning X: Communication
They publish work on environmental justice, and for their 10^th issue, they’re reading submissions broadly around the Communication theme. “What brought us to this? How do those of us who grasp the direness of our situation—as a species, as a global community—convey or fail to convey that to others? These are dauntingly complex questions, and it’s clear the familiar solutions fall catastrophically short. Show us new answers, new framings. Reach for the weird tools, the neglected ones. Show us how journalism should work. Tell us stories about stories. Illuminate the economic structures behind our educational institutions and the walls against understanding that dog our international borders. Interpret the data for us, then interpret the interpreters. Let’s crack open the ways knowledge is produced and spread amid late-stage capitalism.
We’re seeking art, poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction … in particular from Indigenous, Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent and/or otherwise marginalized writers and artists from everywhere.” 
Deadline: 22 September 2025
Length: Up to 15,000 words for prose, up to 10 pages for poetry
Pay: $0.10/word for prose, $50/poem
Details here and here.

THEMED CONTESTS
(There are also some unthemed contests open now, including:

— Yale Drama Series: David Charles Horn Prize, for a full-length play  by emerging playwrights; prize $10,000, manuscript publication, staged reading; deadline 15 August 2025, details here.

— Lunch Ticket: Diana Woods Award in Creative Nonfiction and Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts: For short creative non-fiction ($250) and translation ($200) respectively; deadline 31 August 2025; details here and here.

— Amazon: Kindle Storyteller Award: For those publishing through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. For books available in both digital and print versions through KDP between 1^st May 2025 and 31^st August 2025; readers play a significant role in winner selection; prize £20,000, deadline: 31 August 2025; details here.

— Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Scholarship: For professionals, including literature and art. Awards €1,500/month (less rental and operational cost), residency at Schöppingen, Germany; up to €3,000 for collectives; deadline 31 August 2025; details here and here.

— The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award: For two short story collections; both winning manuscripts get publication. For writers who have not published a volume of prose fiction; deadline: 31 August 2025; details here.

— Surel’s Place: An Artist in Residence Program: For various professional artists, including writers. Please read their terms carefully, including commission on all sales emanating from your residency. Award is month-long residency at Boise, $100/week + $300 travel stipend; deadline: 1 September 2025; details here.

— Royal Society of Literature: Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction: For UK/Ireland-based writers of non-fiction, to buy them time for completing their first commissioned work; only works to be published in the UK or Republic of Ireland, or by UK/Ireland-based publishers, are eligible. Award is £10,000, £5,000, £2,500; deadline: 1 September 2025; details here and here.)

OnlyPoems: Poem of the Month – Rain
OnlyPoems publishes poetry in many formats, some of which are free to submit (or they have fee-free submission periods). They have one new theme or form each month for Poem of the Month, and poets are invited to respond to it in the first week. “Every month, we feature a Poem of the Month. This month, we want to read poems around this theme/keyword: Rain 
Interpret it however you wish.
The “Poem of the Month” is accompanied by both a contributor’s and an editor’s note and a custom piece of artwork”. There will be one winner.
Value: $33
Deadline: 7 August 2025
Open for: All poets
Details here and here (see the relevant category on Submittable).

Royal Society of Literature: Literature Matters Awards
These awards, by the Royal Society of Literature, are for UK residents. “An RSL Literature Matters Award must result in new, original writing or other literary activity of an excellent artistic standard, which will reach a substantial readership or audience. It may be a piece or pieces of writing, a publication, an event or a production on any subject and in any form, including (but not limited to) prose fiction, short stories, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, graphic fiction, biography or travel-writing. “ Priority is given to proposals which will help connect with audiences or topics outside the usual reach of literature, and/or will help generate public discussion about why literature matters. The person applying should be a writer or other literary creator with a successful track record to indicate the proposal is likely to succeed. They also accept applications from small groups or collaborations/collectives of writers.
Value: £20,000 corpus, split between various projects
Deadline: 8 August 2025
Open for: UK residents
Details here and here.

The Forum Essay Prize: Anniversaries
This is an essay prize from Oxford Academic / Oxford University Press and is open to all researchers, whether early-career or established, on the theme of Anniversaries. They have detailed guidelines, including, “To mark the 60th anniversary of Forum for Modern Language Studies, we are looking for … essays that use academic research to pursue innovative questions. … 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, Russian 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 anniversaries, be that through engaging with the theme more broadly, or with regard to specific anniversaries as they relate 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.
Value: £500
Deadline: 15 August 2025
Open for: All researchers, whether early-career or established
Details here.

Pen & Quill: Afterlight / Afterglow
Pen & Quill is a magazine for and by young writers. They are open for a summer contest, and only writers between ages 12 and 21 years can enter. The theme is Afterlight / Afterglow. ““There’s a moment after the sun has dipped beneath the horizon, but before the sky goes dark. Gold softens the edges of the world. Everything seems to glow. This period is referred to as “afterlight” or “afterglow.”
This year, our theme is one of transition, memory, and becoming: the cusp of adolescence, the end of childhood, the beginning of something new. We’re looking for writing that captures the glow before darkness. The beauty of what flickers—briefly, beautifully—before it’s gone.” The categories are poetry, prose (fiction), and other (which do not fit poetry or fiction, like playwriting, screenwriting, autobiography/memoir, etc). Submit works of up to 1,500 words. Submission is via a form on their website.
Value: $200, $100, $50; $20 for a middle school standout
Deadline: 21 August 2025
Open for: Writers ages 12-21
Details here.

Fondation Jan Michalski Residencies for Writers
These are residencies at the foot of the Jura mountains in Montricher, Switzerland, and they are open to all types of writers engaged in literary creation. While they give priority to writers and translators, they are also open to any other discipline as long as writing is at the heart of the project. “A percentage of the residencies are dedicated to nature writing, a form of fiction or creative non-fiction that raises awareness of nature, prepares for a sustainable future, and helps to better understand socio-environmental interconnections and the impact of human actions on nature.” There are no age or nationality restrictions. Writers working on a project with a collaborator can apply in pairs. Applications can be in English or French. Excerpts from your writing, both current and previous, can be in any language, not necessarily English or French.
Value: Round-trip travel, CHF400 per week
Deadline: 27 August 2025 (17:00 CET time)
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.

Poetry Archive Now! Wordview 2025
This is a contest for video poems. “Each recording should be a video of yourself reading your single poem with a maximum length of 2 minutes viewing and reading time. We welcome video entries in British Sign Language. We would like you to tell us your name, the name of the poem and followed by the poem recital. … We appreciate that some entrants may not want to be seen on screen reading their poem. We are happy to accept voice only submissions. Simply supply a static image as a background to your video or get creative and think of other ways. The online entry process also asks you to include a copy of the text of the poem which will be displayed with your video. Poems must be written during, and in response to, 2025. They can be on any theme, subject and in any style”. Shortlisted and other poems will be featured on their website; there will be no monetary payment for these.
Value: £1,000
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Open for: All poets
Details here, here and here.

The Val Wood Prize for Creative Writing: Secrets
This year, they want stories on the ‘Secrets’ theme; they “want to uncover the hidden truths, untold histories, private thoughts, and concealed moments that shape lives. Whether it’s a shocking revelation, a personal confession, a historical cover-up, or a truth no one dares to speak — we’re looking for stories that show the emotional weight and human impact of secrets. Writers are free to interpret the theme in any way they choose, in any genre, as long as the idea of a secret is central to the story.” Regarding genre, they say, “Any (except poetry or brutality/graphic/violent content)”. Please see their detailed guidelines. They want works of up to 1,500 words. The competition is open to anyone over 16 years of age.
Value: £100
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.

Preservation Foundation Contest: Biographical non-fiction
This is an international contest for unpublished writers (those who have never published extensively in any form and have never earned over $250.00 by their writing skills in any single year – see guidelines). Their upcoming deadline is for the biographical non-fictioncategory: “A biographical entry must be a true story of an individual(s) known to the author personally–not a fictional or historical character.  Autobiography, of course, must be a true story about the author’s life, the whole or an episode. Biographical stories, especially those from older people, or about them by children and grandchildren, are especially appropriate for our mission–to “preserve the extraordinary stories of  ‘ordinary’ people.” ”
Entries should be 1,000-5,000 words. They want all entries, regardless of whether or not they win, to be on their website as long as the Foundation exists (see guidelines).
Value: $200, $100
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
(They’re also open for the Travel Nonfiction contest for unpublished writers, deadline end-October.)

The Hinternet Essay Prize
This is their inaugural essay prize. The question is: “How might new and emerging technologies best be mobilized to secure perpetual peace?” And, “The contest invites bold, independent, and engaging ideas from specialists and non-specialists alike. While acknowledging the historical connection between technological progress and warfare, the contest seeks proposals that explore how such advancements might instead contribute to lasting peace without excessive compromises to human freedom.” Essays must be of 2,000-10,000 words, and can be written in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Polish, or Turkish. They have detailed guidelines/editorial preferences, please read them carefully.
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 1 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
(Also see The Hinterland’s general prose submission guidelines here – scroll down. Please read their published works first to see if yours will be a good fit.)

The SETI Institute: Cosmic Chronicles Literary Prize
The SETI Institute is a non-profit research organization; their mission is “to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world.” You can read about them here. Their contest is for those who have not published a full-length book (chapbooks are fine). “The Cosmic Chronicles Literary Prize is a new initiative from the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence (AIR) program. Cosmic Chronicles is a contest for emerging writers of all ages whose work explores questions of life, intelligence and consciousness in the universe.
Cosmic Chronicles invites writers and poets working in literature, speculative fiction/sci-fi, experimental poetry, and philosophy to submit original, unpublished creative work that reflects and expands on the SETI Institute’s “Intelligence and Consciousness” research area, exploring the questions:
— What is the nature of consciousness?
— What is the nature and evolution of intelligence?
We suggest that writers and poets familiarize themselves with the SETI Institute’s research. The jury will pay attention to a strong connection to the SETI Institute’s scientific work as well as innovation in creative expression.” Poetry submissions can be up to 80 lines; prose, up to 2,000 words; and visual poetry, up to 8 pages.
Value: $1,000; three prizes of $100 each
Deadline: 1 September 2025
Open for: Emerging writers (see guidelines)
Details here.

(A few contests with later deadlines are:

— Princeton Arts Fellowship: This international fellowship is for artists in many disciplines, including literary, whose achievements have been recognized as demonstrating extraordinary promise in any area of artistic practice and teaching. This is a two-year program and there is a teaching duty attached. Writers do not have to be US citizens to apply. You can apply for this fellowship twice in a lifetime. The award is $93,000 per year ($186,000 for the two-year fellowship), additional $7,000 per year for research and classroom expenses, residency at Princeton; deadline 9 September 2025; details here.

— Princeton: Hodder Fellowship: Potential Hodder Fellows are composers, choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers, translators or other kinds of artists or humanists who have “much more than ordinary intellectual and literary gifts”; they are selected more “for promise than for performance.”  Most writers have had their first book published. The Hodder is designed to provide Fellows with the “studious leisure” to undertake significant new work. There are no formal teaching duties attached. Fellows have access to shared spaces on campus at Princeton, for the duration of their fellowship. One does not have to be a US citizen to apply for this fellowship. A Hodder Fellow must be based in the U.S. during the Fellowship, and  Fellows have access to shared spaces on campus for the duration of their fellowship (see FAQ, scroll down to Hodder Fellowship). The award is $93,000, additional $5,000 for research expenses, deadline 9 September 2025; details here.

— Harvard University: Radcliffe Institute Fellowships: These are for published writers and journalists. They are open for various disciplines, including creative arts – which include, but are not limited to, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, as well as journalism, and playwriting. Their guidelines also say, “Applicants may apply as individuals or in a group of two to three people working on the same project. We seek diversity along many dimensions, including discipline, career stage, race and ethnicity, country of origin, gender and sexual orientation, and ideological perspective. Although our fellows come from many different backgrounds, they are united by their demonstrated excellence, collegiality, and creativity.” The fellowship pays $78,000, and an additional $5,000 for project expenses; fellows also get an office at Harvard University, additional funds for moving expenses, childcare and housing, etc. The deadline for some disciplines, including creative arts, is in September. The award is $78,000; additional funds for project expenses, and other things; deadline: 11 September 2025; details here, here, here, and  here.
— Gulf Coast: The Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing:
This prize is for critical art writing, of up to 1,500 words. Their guidelines say, “The Prize invites submissions of expository writing, scholarly essays, and exhibition reviews that have been written–or published–within the last year.” The prize is $3,000, and there are two prizes of $1,000 each; the deadline is 14 September 2025. Details here and here (see the relevant category in Submittable).

— American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Awards:
The American-Scandinavian Foundation annually awards translation prizes for outstanding translations of poetry, fiction, drama, or literary prose written by a twentieth or twenty-first-century Nordic author. The Leif and Inger Sjöberg Award is for those whose translations from a Nordic language have not been previously published. There is also the Nadia Christensen Prize, the Wigeland Prize (this is for the best translation by a Norwegian), and the Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize, which recognizes the best Danish translation. The application includes 25-50 pages of prose or 15-25 pages of poetry. The awards are $2,500 (Nadia Christensen Prize); $2,000 (Leif and Inger Sjöberg Award); $2,000 (Wigeland Prize), $2,000 (The Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize). The deadline is 15 September 2025. Details here and here.

— Academy of American Poets: Ambroggio Prize: This is an opportunity for US poets. They want a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. Poets may translate their own work or collaborate with a translator who may or may not be a poet; the poet and translator must share the prize. The original manuscript in Spanish must be between 48 and 100 pages. Their website also says, established in 2017, the Ambroggio Prize is the only annual award of its kind in the United States that honors American poets whose first language is Spanish. The prize is $1,000 and publication; the deadline is 15 September 2025. Details here and here. The Academy of American Poets has other awards as well, both fee-free and fee-based – see their Submittable for all open calls.)

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Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.