Here is a list of 39 themed submission calls and contests for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some of the themes are: letters I’ll never send; light; certainty; joyful imaginations; reinvented detectives; political fiction; Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s; future cats; into the forest (Baba Yaga); audacity; death in the deep; queer weird west; steampunk adventure; wild; curious; and underappreciated/ overlooked writers. Also see this list – some themed deadlines are coming up.
THEMED SUBMISSION CALLS
Letters I’ll Never Send Anthology
Submissions are open for the ‘Letters I’ll Never Send’ anthology. Their guidelines say, “This anthology will be a compilation of first-person accounts including letters, prosaic poems, diary entries, postcard letters, very short personal essays, and other genre-bending experimental pieces.
“letters i’ll never send” is meant to serve as a sentimental linkage between the writer and the reader. It should lure the reader in emotionally, so that they can resonate in some meaningful way. Simultaneously, all pieces inside the book should connect with the others in vulnerable, open, or spiritual ways – or all of those ways. Essentially, just write as if you’re writing to whoever, and run with whatever comes up – whether it’s an angry letter, a love letter, a breakup letter, a friendship letter, a self-reflection letter, a letter to yourself, a postcard letter to a friend/significant other, etc.”
Deadline: 31 December 2021
Open for: Writers who identify as women or nonbinary writers
Length: Up to 1,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here.
Eye to the Telescope: Light
Eye to the Telescope is a journal of speculative poetry, and they want submissions on the ‘Light’ theme. Their guidelines say, “Light is so much more than meets the eye. It emanates from a lover’s smile as they walk into the room. It bleaches the bones of your enemies. It can be the minimal weight of a feather, its absence the heftiness of a black hole, eating matter and energy, regardless of wave or particle. It is the horror of a headlamp burning out miles underground; it is the nightmare of endless day, nary a shadow in sight.
Celebrate stars, whether their ancient light has travelled from time’s beginning or your ship has taken you to the birthplace of a new light-maker. Write the promise at the end of the tunnel or a sunrise of another time. Any iteration of this theme will do: as abstract as you can get or an ode to literal photons”. They also accept translations.
Deadline: 15 December 2021
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.03/word, up to $25
Details here.
Brink: Certainty
This literary magazine wants submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid works on the ‘Certainty’ theme. “We are looking for contributions that engage both the particular theme of each issue as well as the idea of being on the brink.” On the Certainty theme, their guidelines say, “How do you know when something is undeniably, inevitably true? What does certainty feel like in your body? Is it a firm knot of conviction deep in your core? Does it manifest as clarity or courage? Can you grasp certainty? Are you sure? What happens when certainty crumbles? When the home, the relationship, your own body, break and you must reckon with the reality that what was once indisputable is now disrupted? … We are interested in work that focuses on the edge, the brink, of certainty.“ Deadline: 15 December 2021
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $25 for poetry, $50 for works under 1,500 words, $100 for works over 1,501 words
Details here and here.
Augur: Joyful Imaginations
This Canadian speculative fiction magazine wants fiction and poetry on the ‘Joyful Imaginations’ theme. “We’re looking to explore the full spectrum of joy—burgeoning, intense, uncertain, confident, playful, hopeful. Joy that exists without opposition, and in absence of confrontation, where familiar worlds thrum with life. Joy despite opposition, as resistance, and in revolution. Joy as empathy, and healing, and wonder.
We are also looking to explore what it means to write from a place of joyful imagination. … We are especially and emphatically looking for pieces from marginalized and under-represented creators”.
Deadline: 19 December 2021
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD0.11/word, CAD110 for flash (up to 1,000 words) for fiction; CAD60/poem
Details here.
Worlds Enough: Fantastic Detectives
This is a fiction anthology about fantasy detectives. Their guidelines say, “This new anthology is targeted at those stubborn individuals who just won’t let crimes go unsolved. They could be members of the City Guard, soldiers, magicians, or anything else…but they all have one thing in common. They’ll do whatever it takes to find the answers they need.” They want stories about crimes in fantasy settings, ranging from “second world” settings to urban fantasies. Stories can have other elements such as romance, humor, action…but should primarily be about dealing with a crime (a theft, kidnapping, murder, etc.). Since these are fantasy stories, magic should be featured in some fashion. It can be: used in committing the crime, used in solving the crime, the reason for the crime, an intrinsic capability of a character, or something else.
Deadline: 30 December 2021
Length: 5,000-15,000 words
Pay: $20
Details here and here.
Workers Write! Tales from the Key of C
They want fiction and poetry from the music industry – “about music teachers, singer/band members, band managers, roadies, conductors, DJs, studio musicians, anyone who makes money making music”, according to their guidelines.
Deadline: 31 December 2021 (or until filled)
Length: 500-5,000 words
Pay: $5-50
Details here.
Sliced Up Press: Monstroddities
This is their third horror fiction and poetry anthology, and the theme is ‘Monstroddities’. Their guidelines say, “Terrify us with your best story or poem about monsters or unexplained occurrences that are rarely used in horror.
Think cryptids, long-forgotten myths, melt monsters…phenomena like spontaneous combustion, dark matter, physical impossibilities – if you’ve ever wondered why there isn’t more horror about a particular thing, that’s what we’d like to see – the weirder the better. Set it in the present, the past, the future, on Earth or not – as long as it’s frightening.” Bizarro, splatterpunk, and extreme horror are welcome. See the guidelines for further details on the kind of stories they want, and do not want.
Deadline: 31 December 2021, or until filled
Length: 1,000-3,000 words
Pay: $25/poem, $50/story
Details here.
Manawaker Studios: Felis Futura – An Anthology of Future Cats
This anthology will have fiction (including graphic narrative), poetry, and art about the future which features cats. “Submitted works should be of any genre, as long as the work depicts a world that is noticeably in the future. Hard and Soft Sci-fi, (Post-)apocalyptic, Solarpunk, Slipstream, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Alternate (future) History, Supernatural, Retro-futurism etc. are all fine names for genres that often take place in the future, but your story doesn’t have to fit into one of those. … All works must also prominently feature at least one cat. It does not have to be a cat of the genus Felis. Other members of the cat family are also acceptable, as are non-biological cats, metaphorical cats, robots with the acronym K.A.A.T., and so on.” No gore horror or erotic romance. They also accept unthemed stories for their flash fiction podcast (no deadline).
Deadline: 31 December 2021
Length: Unspecified for fiction, up to five poems
Pay: $10/poem, $0.01/word for fiction, $15/page for graphic narrative
Details here.
(CatsCast fiction anthology is also open for submissions – speculative fiction stories about cats. Pay is $0.08/word for stories of up to 6,000 words. The deadline is 1 February 2022.)
Folkloric: Lovecraftian Inspired Tales of Folklore & Horror
This is a fiction anthology. They want a “dark fantasy and horror collection of stories inspired by history, folklore, cults, religion, myth, and legend—with just a touch of Cosmic Horror. We want to read about traditional beasties that lurk within the dark places of the world and the slithering tentacles that follow them! While Lovecraftian themes are encouraged, we would prefer it if these submissions were more ‘loosely inspired’ by his works than if they took place within the Cthulhu Mythos, Dream Cycle etc. … We’re looking for stories that blend traditional folklore with themes of cosmic horror. We are not looking for modern tales of horror. We’d prefer it if these submissions took place within an historical setting (preferably before the 20th century).”
Deadline: 1 January 2022
Length: Prefer stories of 5,000-9,000 words
Pay: $100-150
Details here.
(Cosmic Horror Monthly will open for submissions of Cosmic Horror, Lovecraftian, Weird, and dark science fiction stories, original and reprints, for stories up to 5,000 words; pay is $0.03/word, and submissions will be open from 1st to 14th January 2022. Also see other Lovecraft-inspired calls – Cthulhu FhCon and Soldiers of the Old Ones, which are open now and which have later deadlines.)
Black Spot Books: Into the Forest
This is a dark fiction and horror publisher – they want horror fiction from writers who identify as women for this Baba Yaga anthology. “Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that moves through the forest on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.
We are looking for stories inspired by and featuring the BABA YAGA.”
Deadline: 31 December 2021
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for speculative fiction, for the Grumpy Old Fairy Tales anthology by Stormdance Publications, “fun new twists on classic Grimm fairytales and well-known folklore”; pay is royalty split, the deadline is 31 December 2021.)
Soft Skull Press: Black Punk Now
Soft Skull Press is an imprint of Catapult and they want submissions for a Black Punk anthology. Their guidelines say, “Looking for Black punk artists and writers to submit nonfiction, fiction or comics to an anthology that’s defining Black punk today–submit to Black Punk Now! …. (the anthology) is our chance to create a new reference point for music-lovers, readers, and historians, capturing the present and looking to the future, canonizing the transgressive and raw literature being created by the current generation of Black punks. We want to go beyond Bad Brains, and show what has sprung up after Afro-Punk.
If you’re drawing a comic about the nuances of Black, queer sex in an anarchist collective house; if you’re working on an essay that digs into how the “twice as hard for half as much” ethos leads to success (and frustration) in a DIY scene; if you’ve created dystopian fiction about black crust punk scavengers; or you’ve thought of anything else that that is black, punk, exciting and personal–we want to hear from you.”
Deadline: 1 January 2022
Length: Up to 3,000 words for prose; up to 16 pages for comics
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
(Submissions are also open now for hyphen punk magazine – they accept all kinds of stories with a –punk aesthetic, as well as graphic stories; – Cyber-, steam-, solar-, diesel-, ray-, bio-, street-, splatter-, arcano-, nano-, or any other; pay is $25.)
The Best New True Crime Stories: Crimes of the Famous & Infamous
The editor is accepting pitches a true crime anthology: “Nonfiction, true crime accounts of the “famous and infamous.” Criminal subjects can be from the performing and literary arts (including actors, musicians and composers, radio and TV personalities, authors, journalists, artists, etc.), politicians, sports figures, members of royalty, business entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and so forth. Criminal subjects must already be in the public eye when committing their crimes, not made famous after the fact. Stories can take place anywhere in the world and can cover a wide range of criminal activity/historical time frames. First-person accounts are especially welcome from writers with a connection to their cases. Add something new to the story, a different viewpoint or angle, particularly if your chosen case has received extensive coverage.” The final submission deadline is 1 January 2022 (or until filled). It is best to pitch early, as these are accepted on a rolling basis, and submissions may close early if the anthology is filled.
Deadline: 1 January 2022 (or until filled – pitch first)
Length: 4,000-7,000 words
Pay: $130
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for (I Just) Died In Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders – payment is royalty split for stories of 3,000-5,000 words, and the deadline is 31 December 2021.)
Diet Milk: Gothic
This is a new magazine and they are open for their inaugural submission period, for the Spring/Summer issue. They want Gothic fiction, poetry, and art (drawings, paintings, comics, collages). “Neatly genred or genre-bending, classically styled or modern, we want your prettiest, most pungent dread.
Give us withering romance, creatures that lurk and lure, families to be feared and houses that haunt; give us isolation and creeping, oppressive unwellness. Quietly thrill, terrify, and leave us wanting more.”
Deadline: 8 January 2022 (see Tweet)
Length: Up to 7,000 words for fiction; up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.01/word for fiction (minimum $40); $15/poem; $50/art piece
Details here and here.
Adi Magazine: Political Fictions
Their website says this is “a new US-based literary journal rehumanizing policy.” They want short fiction for their winter 2022 issue. “We’re looking for short stories that examine lives impacted by policy and politics. This should be interpreted expansively and imaginatively. Please familiarize yourself with the range and spirit of our archives; Adi tends toward creative, experimental approaches to political writing, with a particular focus on those on the margins and in the global south. … We’re not interested in the drearily righteous; we want stories that unearth new worlds, that plumb interior lives alongside external conflicts, that satirize and fantasize, that disturb, beguile, challenge, surprise, ignite.” They also accept fiction translations/proposals (see guidelines).
Deadline: 15 January 2022
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $200 for flash (up to 1,000 words); $500 for stories of 2,500 words or more
Details here.
Arc Manor Books: The Reinvented Detective Anthology
CAEZIK is a new SF/fantasy imprint of Arc Manor Books, an indie publisher, and they are reading submissions for a fiction anthology. Their guidelines say, “As we move forward into the age of information, what happens to our ideas of detection and crime? How do you handle it when your smart car blackmails you or you need to murder the downloaded personality of your enemy? What acts to enforce society’s norms and catch those violating them in the future? Will our definitions of crime — or punishment — change, and what new forms of either might appear?” Among the stories they hope to see are updated tropes like but not limited to the hardboiled detective, the police procedural, or the locked room mystery; kidnapped AIs, stolen memories and identities, virtual crimes vs physical ones; stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain.
Deadline: 15 January 2022
Length: 1,500-5,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Room Magazine: Audacity
Room Magazine publishes writing by marginalized genders, including women, both cisgender and transgender, transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people; they are accepting submissions of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and art for their Audacity-themed issue. “We want you to show us what “Audacity” means to you. Maybe it stirs up some negative emotions, like the way a politician has the audacity to inflict harm, or a man has the audacity to explain kickboxing to the woman about to teach the class. But the writing we’re most interested in explores transformative audaciousness: the unapologetic embracing of the self, warts and all. … However you interpret our theme, the one aspect these submissions should have in common is bravery. This shouldn’t be easy, or comfortable; change never is.”
Deadline: 15 January 2022
Length: Up to 3,500 words
Pay: CAD50/page up to CAD200
Details here
Ploughshares: Look2 Essays
Ploughshares literary magazine publishes essays in the Look2 series. “This series seeks to publish essays about underappreciated or overlooked writers. The Look2 essay should take stock of a writer’s entire oeuvre with the goal of bringing critical attention to the neglected writer and his or her relevance to a contemporary audience.
The writer can be living or dead and from anywhere in the world (if there are good English translations available). Essays should make note of biographical details that are pertinent to the writer’s work.” Ploughshares also publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry – there is a submission fee to submit work online, but there is no fee for postal submissions. For Look2 essays, there is no fee to submit online; and they only accept queries for this series, not complete submissions.
Deadline: 15 January 2022
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $45/page, up to $450 for Ploughshares, including for Look2 essays
Details here and here.
Blood Rites Horror: Dead Sea Press – Three anthologies
They want “aquatic or nautical horror stories — supernatural, realistic or altogether otherworldly” — for three anthologies. The proceeds will go to The Shark Trust.
— Terror in the Trench: Stories “on the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. Feel free to interpret this theme as you wish; we’ll consider stories about the unknown, about strange, leviathan creatures… “ Deadline 28 January 2022.
— Death in the Deep: Stories “about the big open blue. Sharks, whales, dolphins – they all inhabit this vast expanse, but what else is out there? Think isolation, think exposed, think vulnerable… think shark.” Deadline 28 February 2022.
— Rampage on the Reefs: This anthology “will bring us to the surface. We’re looking for colourful, weird aquatic horror; monsters in the shallows, coral formations hiding eerie beasts… psychedelic, high-thrills horror that proves it’s not always safe closer to the shore.” Deadline 28 April 2022.
Deadlines: Various (see above)
Length: 1,000- 6,000 words
Pay: $10
Details here.
Queer Weird West anthology
They want fiction and narrative submissions for the Queer Weird West anthology. “This hybrid subgenre requires three elements: Queer: At least one main character belongs to the LGBTQ+ spectrum, defined in whatever way seems natural to them.
Weird: The story contains a speculative fiction element, drawing on fantasy, horror, or science fiction.
West: The setting is the Old West – or the time and place of any other frontier.”
Deadline: 28 February 2022
Length: 3,000-10,000 words
Pay: $30-50
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for Silver Shamrock Publishing’s Midnight in the Stagecoach, a splatterpunk horror anthology set in the Old West – pay is $0.06/word for stories of 2,500-6,000 words, in any horror trope including speculative, and the deadline is 30 April 2022.)
Air and Nothingness Press: Orpheus + Eurydice Unbound anthology
This is a fiction anthology. They want reinterpretations of the Orpheus/Eurydice myth in a variety of genres; the book will be divided into four parts, one for each section of the myth – The Wedding, The Snake, The Quest, and The Look Back (see guidelines).
Deadline: 15 February 2022
Length: 1,000-3,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Raven & Drake Books: Airship Adventures
They want steampunk fantasy stories for an anthology titled Airship Adventures – “looking for steampunk adventure featuring lots of cogs, steam and airships. Make it fun, make it steampunk and tell a story.” Stories have to be suitable for readers ages 12+.
Deadline: 31 March 2021
Length: 4,000-8,000 words
Pay: £10
Details here and here.
(They have some unpaid calls too for children’s fiction, and themes include Monsters series A-Z calls for children, starting with Aliens, for children ages 10+, deadline 31 December 2021; and Squirrels, Sleuths and Spies – animal sleuth fun stories for readers ages 6+, deadline 28 February 2022.)
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s
They have several themed anthologies they want true stories and poetry for, all with deadlines in 2022. One of these is ‘Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s’. Their guidelines say, “We want to hear about your holiday memories and traditions. The rituals of the holiday season give a rhythm to the years and create a foundation for our lives, as we gather with family, with our communities at church, at school, and even at the mall, to share the special spirit of the season, brightening those long winter days. Please share your special stories about the holiday season with us.” Stories have to be ‘Santa-safe’. Some suggested topics are: The True Meaning of the Holidays; Holiday Traditions; Family Reunions; Holiday Humor; Things that went wrong!; Holiday food and traditions; Funny anecdotes.
(Other themes with deadlines in 2022 are – Cats; Counting your blessings/attitude of gratitude; Crazy, eccentric, wacky, lovable, fun families; Dogs; Messages from heaven; Miracles;
Preteens; Teenagers; some deadlines have been extended.)
Deadline: 30 May 2022 for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah and New Year’s
Length: Up to 1,200 words
Pay: $200
Details here (book topics and guidelines), here (general guidelines), and here (submission portal).
(Submissions are also open for these nonpaying/token paying projects: poetry, prose, and opinion pieces on Yuletide Musings for Fahmidan Journal, deadline 10 December 2021; poetry, essays, fiction, illustration, photography on So this is Christmas? for The Broken City magazine, deadline 10 December 2021; poetry, fiction, and art on Christmas and Epiphany themes for Ancient Paths Online, a Christian journal – pay is $1.25/contribution, deadline 15 December 2021.)
Crow Toes Quarterly: Wild; Curious
This is a Canadian art and literature magazine “for children who don’t scare easily”. Their guidelines say, “We are looking for “playfully dark”, intelligent, humorous, descriptive literature written for children ages 8 – 13.” They accept poetry, fiction, and art, and they read work throughout the year. The Fall 2021 issue, on the Broken theme, was published in October. Their submission guidelines list all of the issue themes for the year. For the next issue, Spring 2022 (Issue 5, April-June), the theme is ‘Wild’; for Summer 2022 (Issue 6, July-September), it is ‘Curious’. (Please note, Issue 4, for January-March or Winter 2022, on the ‘Cold’ theme, seems to be filled and will be released on 1 January – see the Tweet here.) They read submissions throughout the year.
Deadline: Unspecified
Length: Up to 3,000 words for fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD25-50 for fiction, CAD20 for poetry
Details here.
(Escape Artists’ Cast of Wonders is also open for young adult fiction submissions now; pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words, and the deadline is 20 December 2021.)
THEMED CONTESTS FOR WRITERS
Greater & Gander Collective Folk Fiction Writing Competition
This is a short fiction contest – they have extensive guidelines. The theme is science education and the goal is to have the science lesson, the social-emotional lesson, and the character conflict all tie together. The story should focus on at least two people from different walks of life coming together to accomplish something, and on a science lesson. This is a contest which counteracts the superhero narrative, and rejects the cult of individualism. The science conveyed must be accurate, but may be presented in a funny, fantastical, or science-fiction method. This is not a poetry or non-fiction essay competition. They are open to several story formats, including prose, screenplay, stage-play, found-letters format, etc. They want stories of 6 to 4663 words (prefer 1500-3000 words).
Value: $250; runner-up prizes of $50 each
Deadline: 8 December 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards
Two awards are given for non-fiction works in progress which deal with a topic of American political or social concern, to aid their completion. Writers must already have a contract with a US-based publisher. There is no fee for the work-in-progress award. The prizes are run by Columbia Journalism School – they also have the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize, and these awards have an entry fee.
Value: $25,000
Deadline: 9 December 2021
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here
Quantum Shorts Short Story Contest
They want a short story, under 1,000 words, inspired in some way by quantum physics, which should also contain the phrase “it’s a lot to think about”. However, please read the rules carefully – they ask for sweeping rights from all entrants, including “ royalty-free, sublicensable, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive license” to reproduce, modify, or publish any entrants’ work by them or their partners, including derivative works. The contest is open to all writers ages 13 and above.
Value: $1,500; $1,000; $500
Deadline: 16 December 2021
Open for: All Writers
Details here.
St. Martin’s Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition
This is an international contest for crime novel manuscripts, for writers who have never been the author of any published novel in any genre. The writing should be no less than 220 pages, or approximately 60,000 words. Minotaur is an imprint of St Martin’s Press, which is part of Macmillan.
Value: $10,000 advance against royalties
Deadline: 17 December 2021
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here
Cove Park Residencies
These two- to six-week residencies are to provide artists with the time and support required to focus on their practice. These are for UK-based, and international artists in many disciplines, including writers, poets, and translators; and including those engaged in cross-disciplinary work, and those working collaboratively. “We are pleased to accept applications from those wishing to engage with Cove Park’s first enquiry connected to the environmental crisis.” See guidelines for work sample requirements that are part of the application.
Value: £450 per week, accommodation at Cove Park, overlooking Loch Long on Scotland’s west coast, and some travel fees, ranging from £50 to £750, depending on the applicant’s location
Deadline: 20 December 2021
Open for: All writers and translators, including UK-based ones
Details here and here
International Young Theatre Playwriting Contest
This prize is for bold and powerful plays for young audiences (no plays for children or adult audiences, or musicals), written in any official European language. Performance time for Category A is 60-120 minutes; for Category B, 30-60 minutes; and for Category C, 10-30 minutes. They accept plays co-authored by more than one writer. Writers can send up to three entries. The play must be a new and original piece of work. Writers of any age or nationality can enter the contest.
Value: €2,400 for Category A, €1,000 for Category B; €400 for Category C + other prizes
Deadline: 20 December 2021
Open for: All playwrights
Details here
Omega Sci-Fi Awards: The Roswell Award
The Roswell Award is an international short science fiction story competition for emerging writers age 16 and older; send a story of 500-1,500 words. (The “Women Hold Up Half the Sky Award” for feminist sci-fi is co-presented by Artemis literary journal. This is an additional special prize category for a feminist themed sci-fi story. The winner will be published by Artemis literary journal with more prizes to be announced.) Also see their award for Los Angeles County high school students.
Value: $500, $250, $100 for the Roswell Award
Deadline: 21 December 2021 for the Roswell Award
Open for: All writers
Details here
Green Stories Writing Competitions: Orna Ross Green Stories Novel Prize
This is for novels (completed or in progress) which showcases positive visions of a more sustainable society or incorporating green solutions into the context of an otherwise mainstream story. One of the entry requirements is an excerpt of 4,000-10,000 words (see guidelines). Also, “entrants must show they have read at least one chapter from successfully published pieces from the Green Stories project that provide an example of entertaining mainstream fiction that meets the criteria of showing green solutions (not just problems) that readers can engage with.” (They provide a free excerpt).
Value: £1000; £500; other non-cash prizes
Deadline: 30 December 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here
Poetry Society of America: The Four Quartets Prize
This is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book in 2021. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were published in 2019 and that brought together, they form a complete sequence. The minimum requirement is 14 pages of published poems unified by subject, form, and style. Entire books composed of a unified sequence, however long, are also welcome. Submissions will have to be mailed. Self-published work is not eligible. They have other upcoming awards also, though these have an entry fee.
Value: $20,000; $1,000 to finalists
Deadline: 31 December 2021 (postmarked)
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
Center Field of Gravity Award
They want previously unpublished science-fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories or long-form poems up to 17,000 words.
Value: $200; $25 for runners-up
Deadline: 31 December 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here
Lilith Magazine Fiction Contest
This magazine publishes work of interest to Jewish women. They like work with both feminist and Jewish content. Submit up to 3,000 words.
Value: $250
Deadline: 31 December 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here
The Leon Levy Centre for Biography: Biography Fellowships
These are four resident fellowships at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, to nonfiction writers working on biographies. preference in the award of fellowships is given to those who have not yet published a biography or received fellowships for the writing of a biography. We also welcome applications from published and accomplished writers who are undertaking their first biography. The Leon Levy Center for Biography does not award fellowships for memoirs, essays, plays, films, or fiction. One of the application requirements is a sample of the proposed biography, a maximum of 2,500 words. (Also see the Sloan Fellowship, given annually to a writer working on a biography of a figure in the field of science or technology.)
Value: $72,000, residency
Deadline: 4 January 2022
Open for: Writers working on biographies
Details here
A couple of contests with later deadlines are: Discoveries 2022, a prize for UK and Ireland based women writers for a novel – send the first 10,000 words and a synopsis; the prize is 5,000 pounds and literary representation; the deadline is 17 January 2022.
Submissions are also open for the Black Orchid Novella Award; submit a mystery novella in the tradition of Nero Wolfe, of 15,000-20,000 words – the prize is $1,000, publication in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and the deadline is 31 May 2022.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.
