These are themed calls and contests for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some of the themed calls are: paranoia; short (b)reads; seaside gothic; fairy tales; sleeping beauty; food; underappreciated or overlooked writers; Queer tales of untold adventure; witch craft; speculative mysteries; carnival of horror; and lost at sea.

Fraidy Cat Quarterly: Paranoia
Fraidy Cat Quarterly is a project of Fraidy Cat Press. They’re interested in horror fiction and its mashup and subgenres – they love “all things horror – from the eerie, creeping terror of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”’s systematic violence to the unhinged tilt of Laird Barron’s “The Imago Sequence” and everything in between.” For the Paranoia theme, they have a short general submission window for all writers (till 7^th January) and an extended window (till 14^th January 2025) for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and Palestinian authors. They will also have submission windows for other themes in April, July, and September.
Deadline: See above
Length: 400-8,000 words
Pay: $10-20
Details here.  

Only Poems
They have certain fee-free sections, and certain submissions have a submission fee. They have a Poem of the Month feature, where poets have to respond to a prompt on their website during the first 7 days of the month; payment for this is $33 (for 1^st to 7^th January, the theme is ABECEDARIAN). They have a Poet of the Week feature, for which you can submit up to 10 pages of poetry, and which pays $77. “We love prose poems, traditional forms (ghazals, villanelles, sestinas), love poems, sex poems, speculative poems, and all sorts of experimentations, but we are not married to a style or genre.” They charge for submissions for this feature but have two annual fee-free reading period for Poet of the Week, and the next one is 15^th to 31^st January 2025. They also accept book reviews of hybrid collections or poetry collections (up to 1,000 words for a review), and pay $22.
Deadline: Varies (see website)
Length: Varies
Pay: Varies
Details here and here. 

Hollow Oak Press: Short (b)Reads Anthology
This is a fiction anthology. “Ever read something that made you hungry? Ever had an author so skilled at sensory description make you crave the food in their story? We want to make an anthology out of that feeling. Send us your stories that feature food. The food doesn’t need to be central to the plot, however, the sensory description of the food needs to stand out for us. We want our readers hungry, both for the rest of your story and for the food it contains. Wow us with your culinary plot points.
All stories must feature a speculative element, whether it’s magic or monsters or anything in between. All subgenres of speculative fiction are welcome, although military/political/alien-based sci-fi will be a harder sell. … All food featured in your story must be appetizing and must be something that can be made in the real world. We want speculative fiction, but not speculative food.”
Deadline: 10 January 2025
Length: 2,500-7,000 words
Pay: $30
Details here.

Seaside Gothic
This UK-based magazine publishes art, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that meet the criteria of seaside gothic literature (it is led by emotion, not reason, exploring the human experience mentally and spiritually as well as physically; It addresses duality—land and sea, love and hate, the beautiful and the grotesque; It connects to the edge, living on the seaside either literally or figuratively, and has one foot in the water and the other on solid ground).
Reading period: 13^th-19^th January 2025
Length: Up to 1,000 words
Pay: £0.01/word
Details here.

The Orange & Bee
This is an Australian Substack-based magazine, and they accept work related to fairy tales. They want fiction, poetry, and hybrid works “that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales. We are interested in works that stretch, expand, test, subvert, and challenge the fairy-tale tradition.
We are interested in works that are entertaining, but also in works that matter: that is, in works that are both pleasurable to read and thought-provoking.
We are interested in works in which the relationship between your writing and the fairy-tale tradition is complex and thoughtful. Works that—ideally, though this is a Big Ask—open up our hearts and minds, offering us a new way to think or feel about the fairy-tale tradition as well as broader themes and issues.” They are especially interested in diverse perspectives.
Deadline: 14^th January 2025 (see guidelines)
Length: Up to 1,000 words for flash fiction, up to 4,000 words for short fiction/non-fiction, up to 50 lines for poetry
Pay: $80 for flash fiction, $0.08/word for short fiction, $50 for poetry
Details here and here.

The Fairy Tale Magazine: Sleeping Beauty
This magazine publishes fairy tales and poems. They will open a brief reading period on the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ theme in January. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Stories and poems must have the theme in them, though it needn’t be a huge part of the story. Keep in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation / reversal of fortune. Mashups are welcome. You can take a lot of license with the work, but there must be a clear connection to the theme. Keep in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation. The essence of classic fairy tales should be maintained in stories and poems submitted here. We tend to prefer happy endings, but that’s not absolutely essential. We are open to the stories and poems focusing on seasonal holidays, like solstice celebrations, Halloween, Hanukkah, etc.” They do not want “sci-fi, time-travel, futuristic, space travel, high fantasy, erotica, stage magic, dystopian, extreme horror/gore, western, lengthy grossout descriptions of bodily functions or injuries, descriptions of people’s bodies through the objectifying eyes of the protagonist, excessive world building (a.k.a., info dumps) war or battle as a major plot device, love triangles and any form of romance that is not between humans or human-like creatures like fairies.” Though this is not a children’s publication, all content must be PG.
Reading period: 15^th – 21^st January
Length: 900-2,000 words for fiction, up to 500 words for poetry
Pay: $25
Details here.

Syracuse Cultural Workers: 2026 Women Artists Datebook
This organization “strives to nourish communities that honor diversity and creative expression, and inspire movements for justice, equity and liberation while respecting our Earth and all its beings.” You can read about them here. This is a call for artwork and poetry for their 2026 Datebook; they want submissions by women and femmes (LGBTQIAA+) only. They want “Inspirational Work that Promotes Activism and/or Healing.” They’re asking for artwork for this, and other calls too – please see their website.
Deadline: 15 January 2025
Length: Up to 4 poems, up to 30 lines each
Pay: $70
Details here and here.

Rattle
Rattle publishes various kinds of poetry, including Tribute to Food poems (deadline 15^th January); Tributes to Late Bloomers poems (deadline 15^th April); Rattlecast Prompt Poems; Poets Respond, where poets respond to a news story or an event that happened the previous week; and general poems – send up to 4, and a monthly ekphrastic challenge, see the current challenge and submit your poem responding to the visual prompt here (deadline 31^st January for this month’s challenge).
Deadline: Varies (see website)
Length: Varies
Pay: $100 for poems published online, and $200 for poems published in print
Details here.

Ploughshares: Look2 essays
Apart from work for the literary magazine, Ploughshares is also accepting submissions for the Look2 essay 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.” They accept only pitches/queries of 1-2 pages, not completed work, for this series. There is no submission fees for Look2 essays.
Pitch deadline: 15 January 2025
Length: See above
Pay: $45/page, up to $450
Details here.

Neon Hemlock Press: Shatter the Sun – Queer Tales of Untold Adventure
This is a fiction anthology from Neon Hemlock Press, and is open for submissions from all writers. They want “Stories of queer heroes forged and tempered in the fire, fighting dark stars and bright suns, and overthrowing tyranny in all its forms. Sword and sorcery, sweat and sandals, souls and stars. … We are looking primarily for fantasy stories on the gritty, un-epic side of things. We expect there will be a seam of the occult and cosmic horror running through the book. We’ll also probably include a couple sword and planet stories, but that won’t be the focus. We’re using the most inclusive definition of queer. Queer, trans, ace, undefinable. Throughout, we’re looking for rich, varied and nuanced understandings of gender, family and ethnicity. … We’re probably not looking for stories set on Earth. We’re probably not looking for Indiana Jones-type stories either (though maybe a secondary-world decolonial approach would be cool?).” They also accept translations (see guidelines).
Deadline: 15 January 2025
Length: Up to 6,000 words (prefer 1,000-4,000 words)
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.

Flame Tree: Witch Craft
They want fiction for their Witch Craft themed anthology. This is part of their Beyond & Within series. “We’re looking for around four stories to join the selection … The call is open to all, though we expect to see a greater proportion of stories by authors identifying as women. We expect the stories to deal with what it means to be ‘witch’, and the rediscovery and reclaiming of that power, its links to nature – and the exploration of whether a witch is drawn to ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and why. Stories should be in the horror and folk horror veins, and we’d like to see as wide a range as possible – the history, stigma and varying interpretations from around the world that feed into this concept should yield some exciting results…”
Deadline: 19 January 2025
Length: 2,000-4,000 words (see guidelines)
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here
(Flame Tree announces submission calls for their anthologies on their blog.)

Hearth Stories: Springtime Fair
They have detailed guidelines for this anthology, and want “stories that center around a craft, recipe, or ritual …. In addition to the story, each author will provide a set of instructions to make/enact the craft, recipe, or ritual that was featured in their story. The idea is that this will let readers enjoy a great story while also learning something and engaging with the story in an interesting way. The story and the instructions should be firmly related (not just a random thing to make, paired with a random story).” They accept fantasy, literary fiction, romance, historical fiction or alternate history. All generes should take place in largely pre/non-industrial settings. They also say, “We are a vegan magazine. We will not generally publish mentions of leather/animal-products, meat/animal consumption, etc.”
Deadline: 20 January 2025
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.02/words
Details here.

Ecotone
This is “the literary magazine dedicated to reimagining place”, and they continue to seek work on the climate crisis. They have detailed guidelines, including, “We appreciate a wide range of essays, and are especially interestedin nonfiction that engages deeply, but not overly seriously, with the sciences—ecology, natural history, and other fields, in both Western and non-Western contexts.”  They usually charge for online submissions, but will open a brief window for fee-free submissions, for nonfiction only, during 26^th to 31^st  January 2025; they specially welcome work from writers historically underrepresented in literary publishing during this submission window. And February 1–6 is their general submission window for  nonfiction only ($3 fee via Submittable, no fee via post) for all writers. February is the submission window for their subscribers only (see guidelines).
Reading period: See above
Length: Up to 10,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: A minimum of $200 for prose
Details here.

Rough Cut Press: Reach
They publish work from the LGBTQIA community, and have monthly themed submission calls. Send short prose of up to 650 words on the ‘Reach’ theme.
Deadline: 27 January 2025
Length: Up to 650 words
Pay: $25
Details here.
(And, fourteen poems wants poetry submissions from LGBTQ+ poets for its anthology; send up to 5 poems. They pay £25 for each poem published, and the deadline is 10^th January 2025, details here.)

Frivolous Comma: Shadows and Signals – Speculative Mysteries
Frivolous Comma is a diverse speculative fiction publisher, and you can read about them here. They are accepting fiction for their Shadows and Signals: Speculative Mysteries anthology. They have detailed guidelines, including, “The mystery in these stories should be tied to that speculative world. In other words, the mystery could only work because of the unique setting / concept that makes this speculative…. Avoid classic mystery tropes, unless you’re working to upend or reframe them. We’re not looking for “gotcha” mysteries. Cosy and not-cosy mysteries are good.”
Deadline: 30 January 2025
Length: Up to 4,000 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here (click on ‘Submit for our 2025 Themed Anthology’), and here.
(Frivolous Comma also accepts nonfiction on speculative themes – click on Non-Fiction Essays or Columns here and submit here.)

Zoetic Press: Non-Binary Review – Mistaken Identity
They want speculative work – poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and art. They’re reading on the Mistaken Identity theme. They accept submissions until a cap is reached, or the deadline, whichever comes first. All submissions must have a clear relationship to the theme. Apart from the theme, they are also accepting submissions for Dear Horace Greely section. On the Mistaken Identitytheme, they say, “How often have you waved to a friend across a room, only to realize the person you waved to isn’t who you thought they were? These benign little episodes of mistaken identity can be laughed off, but there are so many times and so many ways mistaken identity can be humiliating, criminal, traumatic, life-altering, transforming. Whether you are the one who made the mistake or the one who is being mistaken for someone else, there are so many ways it can happen, and so many ways to respond. … We don’t want “I accidentally met the love of my life because I mistook them for my friend” stories. More like “I accidentally stopped the Earth from being blown to bits because I mistook the alien invaders for mosquitos and sprayed them with bug spray.” We want to be captivated by the unlikeliness of a story that probably could never really happen.”
Deadline: 31 January 2025, or until filled
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.
(Non-Binary Review is also accepting submissions for the Epiphany theme with a later deadline, and for other sections for which there is no deadline – see their Submittable for details.)

Dark Peninsula Press: Phantom Worlds – The Cellar Door Issue #6
The Cellar Door is a micro anthology of dark fiction. They want horror stories that take place when alternate realities invade our own for this issue. Regarding genre, they’re looking for parallel universe, alternate reality, time travel, survival horror, post-apocalyptic, and cosmic horror stories. This will be their final anthology in the Cellar Door series.
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Length: 2,000 – 8,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here. Heartlines Spec
This Canadian magazine of speculative fiction and poetry wants work on long-term relationships; their goal us to publish at least 50% work from Canadian writers for each issue. “We’re looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don’t want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years.
Give us deep space, dusty frontiers, or dreamy fantasy. We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. While we are primarily looking for stories with happy endings (yeah, yeah), we also want endings that are earned. If things get a little teary or gory, that’s ok.
We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules.”
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Length: 500-3,500 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD0.08/word for fiction; CAD60/poem
Details here (guidelines) and here (submission portal)

Brink: Renewal
Brink is a journal of cross-genre writing; they publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They want submissions on the Renewal theme. “On the surface, renewal suggests restoration. It is the act of returning an object to its original state of existence. We repair used furniture. Our health is restored. We remake that which has been used and revive that which has been spent. 
But below the surface, renewal is repetition. It is a pledge to an original object or person or idea. Renewal is a value declaration. It is a signifier of life and potential. We are interested in the moments leading up to renewal, the pause between brokenness and wholeness, the intricacies of repair, the patterns that emerge when we return, again and again, to the source. Show us the space around renewal. Take us to the brink of renewal.” 
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Length: 3-5 poems, up to 3,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: $25-100
Details here and here.  

Alpennia: Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast
This is a fiction podcast series on lesbian-relevant themes, and it is open for all writers. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Stories must be set in an actual historic culture–i.e., a specific time and place in history–and the plot and characters should be firmly rooted in that time and place. (No time-travel or past memories, please.) Stories may include fantastic elements that are appropriate to the historic setting. …Stories must be set before 1900. We’d love to see stories that reach beyond the popular settings of 19th century America and England unless you do something new and interesting in them. … Romance is optional, and romance stories should have some other significant plot element in addition to the romance.” They also say, “We will be publishing four stories. (If we get some really great flash fiction, there’s the possibility of doubling up if the total meets the word count limit.)”
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Mysterion: Christian speculative fiction
They want science fiction, fantasy and horror stories that engage meaningfully with Christian themes, characters or cosmology. The stories need not teach a moral, or be close to an approved theological position, or be pro-Christian. They are especially interested in stories that show Christians from cultures beyond those of the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. They also accept translations and reprints. They have two annual reading periods for fiction, January and July.
Deadline: 31^st January 2025
Length: Up to 9,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

meat4meat Anthology
The tagline for this fiction anthology is, ‘Body Horror From Those Who Know It Best’. “meat4meat is first and foremost intended to showcase the works of transgender creators, however the trans community is not the only marginalized community with a personal relationship to the genre of body horror. Creators who are disabled are also strongly encouraged to submit.” They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 January 2024
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $0.05/word for originals, with a minimum of $50
Details here.

Undertaker Books: Carnival of Horror Anthology
This is a horror fiction anthology. “Amid the lights, games, and shows, in the shadows the bright lights don’t reach, are horrors of all kinds… We’re looking for stories of abandoned amusement parks, traveling carnivals, haunted attractions, chilling circuses and more!”
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Length: 750-3,000 words
Pay: $25
Details here.

Parsec Ink: Triangulation Anthology Series – Dark Hearts
This is a fiction (prefer up to 3,000, will accept up to 5,000 words) and poetry (up to 100 lines) anthology. “Dark Hearts is a women-centered theme for which anyone can submit stories. The anthology will feature speculative stories and poems about women who are anti-heroes. Send us your stories about shady ladies: women and female-presenting characters breaking the rules, defying social norms, and getting up to no good!” The editor loves “supportive female friendships. Women with a mastery of weapons or powers. Women in STEM or in disguise. Cyborgs. Hackers. Heists. Underdogs. Romance!” Regarding genre, they accept science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and blends of the three.
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Length: See above
Pay: $0.03/word for fiction, and $0.25/line for poetry
Details here and here.

The Last Girls Club: Lost at Sea
This is a feminist horror magazine. “This season’s theme is Lost at Sea. Any time period, any location, any planet. Alone or with a crew. Does anyone survive? What lurks in the water? Remind us of that sinking feeling when we lose sight of land.” They accept fiction and poetry submissions, and nonfiction pitches.
Deadline: 1 February 2025, or until filled
Length: Up to 2,500 words for fiction, up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.015/word for fiction, $10 for poetry
Details here and here.

The First Line Journal
They want fiction (any genre) and poetry that begins with pre-set first lines, one for each quarterly issue. They also accept 4-part stories (or 5-part, if also ending with the last-line prompt from The Last Line Journal – ‘I called back a week later and told them we were good to go.’ – see guidelines) from writers who want to use all the 4 (or 5) prompts, but all of these must be submitted by the 1 February 2025 deadline. For nonfiction, they want critical articles about your favorite first line from a literary work. For fiction and poetry, the first lines are:
Spring: ‘Jayce recognized the man right away but couldn’t remember his name.’ Due date: February 1, 2025
Summer: ‘No one really knows why restoration stopped on the abandoned St. Julian hotel, where commoners and kings once came to relax in luxury.’ Due date: May 1, 2025
Fall: ‘Her truck took the sharp turns of the mountain road with ease.’ Due date: August 1, 2025
Winter: ‘When anyone in town needed help, they contacted Rocky Germain.’ Due date: November 1, 2025
Deadlines: 1 February 2025 for the Spring issue, and for 4-part (or 5-part) stories; later for other issues (see above)
Length: 300-5,000 words for fiction; 500-800 words for nonfiction
Pay: $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $10 for poetry (less postage fee for international contributors – see guidelines)
Details here.

Book XI: A Journal of Literary Philosophy – Things
Book XI is a journal dedicated to publishing personal essays, memoir, fiction, science fiction, humor, and poetry with philosophical themes. The journal is affiliated with Hamilton College’s Arthur Levitt Center for Public Affairs. They recently opened for submissions on the ‘Things’ theme. All submissions should be made through Submittable.
Deadline: 1 March 2024, or until filled (see guidelines)
Length: 1,000-5,000 words for prose
Pay: $200 for prose, and $50 per poem
Details here and here.


THEMED CONTESTS
(There are also some unthemed calls open this month, including:
— The 2025 Bruntwood Prizes for an hour-long play, is split across four categories, some open to UK and one for international playwrights, deadline 9^th January, prizes £10,000-£20,000, details here and here.
— National Endowment for the Arts: Translation Project Fellowship
These are for published US translators, for the translation of works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English, prizes $10,000-$25,000, see here, deadline: 16 January 2025, details here and they also have Creative Writing Fellowships; for this cycle they are accepting prose, award $50,000, deadline 12 March 2025, details here.

— Harbor Editions Prizes; they’re running two prizes – the Laureate Prize for Poetry, for which they accept fee-free submissions from BIPOC writers and previous finalists for poetry manuscripts, the prize is $500 and publication; they also have the Harbor Review Editor Prize, which is for a micro poetry chapbook manuscript, and for which, also, submissions for BIPOC writers and previous finalists are free, and prize is $200; entries for other poets have a submission fee, see their Submittable, deadline: 31 January 2025;
— Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing for US writers, a residency offered by Bucknell University provides writing time of up to four months for writers in any creative genre in the literary arts, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work, graphic novel, etc for writers working on a first or second book, award is $5,000 and residency, deadline 1 February 2025, details here.)

Teachers & Writers Magazine: The Bechtel Prize
Teachers & Writers Magazine provides lesson plans, interviews, and personal essays to support teaching creative writing. Their website says, “Each year the Teachers & Writers Magazine editorial board awards the Bechtel Prize and a $1,000 honorarium for an essay describing a creative writing teaching experience, project, or activity that demonstrates innovation in creative writing instruction.” They want essays up to 2,500 words, and have detailed guidelines about the kind of essays they want on their website.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 10 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
(Teachers & Writers is also open for article submissions for the magazine; please be sure to submit in the correct category.)

Patrick Henry Fellowship
This fellowship is from the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. It is for those working on American history and/or legacy. The residential fellowship supports work on the subject by both scholars and non-academics in many genres. Applicants should have a significant project currently in progress — a book, film, oral history archive, podcast series, museum exhibition, or similar work. The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the U.S. founding era and/or the nation’s founding ideas. The fellowship pays $45,000, health benefits, book allowance, faculty privileges, and residency. There is teaching duty attached.
Value: $45,000
Deadline: 15 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.

Fourteen Hills: Stacey Doris Memorial Poetry Award
This is a poetry contest – send one poem of 3 to 10 pages. Their guidelines say, “Stacy Doris was a poet, translator, and an Associate Professor in San Francisco State University’s Department of Creative Writing, where she taught for ten years. … Doris created new worlds with her unexpected poetics. Following upon her spirit of creative invention, engaging wit and ingenious playfulness, discovery in construction, and radical appropriations based on classical forms, pastiche, etc., and love, the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award is given to a poet with a truly inventive spirit.” Works that don’t win will be considered for publication in Fourteen Hills. 
Value: $500
Deadline: 15 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
(They also have another fee-based award, as well as a fee-free one for San Francisco State University students/graduates.)

Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History
This prize is for an essay on early American history (up to 1826), not previously published, with preference being given to New England subjects. Essays should be 40-60 pages, and can be emailed (as both PDF and Word attachments) or mailed.
Value: $2,500
Deadline: 15 January 2025 (postmarked)
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.

The John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest
This is for US high school students in grades 9 through 12. Essays must describe an act of political courage by a US elected official who served during or after 1917, the year John F Kennedy was born. The official may have addressed an issue at the local, state, or national level. Essays should be 700-1,000 words and must quote at least five sources.
Value: $10,000, $3,000, $1,000 each for finalists, $100 each for semi-finalists
Deadline: 17 January 2025
Open for: US high school students
Details here (also click on tabs on the page for various details)

Golden Haiku Poetry Contest: Bridges of Belonging
This is an international haiku contest. It is open to poets of all ages, as well as regional/DC prizes. The theme for 2025 is ‘Bridges of Belonging’.
Value: $500, $200, $100 for adults; $150 for high school winner; $75 for elementary/middle school winner
Deadline: 19 January 2025
Open for: All poets
Details here.

Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize
They want poetry from US poets whose poem best evokes a connection to place. “The prize interprets “place” in many ways: A place may possess historical, cultural, political, or personal importance, and may be literal, imaginary, or metaphorical.” Please read the conditions at the bottom of the page carefully.
Value: $1,000, $100 for honorable mentions
Deadline: 24 January 2025
Open for: US poets
Details here.

The Nine Dots Prize: Is Data Failing Us?
Their website says, “The Nine Dots Prize rewards original thinking in response to contemporary societal issues. Each Prize cycle lasts two years, with a new question being announced every other October.” The 2024/25 question is, Is Data Failing Us? There is a three-part application which has to be uploaded on their website by the deadline: a summary response to the set question of up to 3,000 words and should you win, you will be required to develop this summary into a short book of between 25,000 and 40,000 words in a set timeframe (see guidelines); an outline structure of this short book, including provisional chapter headings, of up to 1,000 words; and a justification statement of your ability to complete the book in the time given, of up to 1,000 words. This is the fifth cycle of the prize. The prize is sponsored by the Kadas Prize Foundation with support from CRASSH at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Press.Value: $100,000
Deadline: 27 January 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.

Speculative Literature Foundation: A. C. Bose Grant
This grant supports South Asian or South Asian diaspora writers developing speculative fiction. Work that is accessible to older children and teens will be given preference. “This grant, as with all SLF grants, is intended to help writers working with speculative literature. Speculative literature spans the breadth of fantastic writing, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, including ghost stories, horror, folk and fairy tales, slipstream, magical realism, and more. Any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element would fall under our aegis.” A writing sample of up to 5,000 words is part of the application. Applicants need not have prior publishing credits to apply.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Open for: South Asian or Desi/South Asian or Desi diaspora writers
Details here; the schedule for their other upcoming grants is here. 
 
Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
The magazine runs a short story contest thrice a year. Readers of this magazine are interested in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. While the writing should appeal to a reader with these interests, stories can be on any theme. Stories should be up to 3,000 words, but up to 4,000 words will be considered. 
Value: $150
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.

Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award
They want a short story, of up to 8,000 words, that shows the near future (no more than about 50-60 years out) of manned space exploration. They want to see Moon bases, Mars colonies, orbital habitats, space elevators, asteroid mining, artificial intelligence, nano-technology, realistic spacecraft, heroics, sacrifice, adventure. They do not want stories that show technology or space travel as evil or bad, galactic empires, paranormal elements, UFO abductions, zombie stories, thinly veiled copies of previous winners, non-standalone novel excerpts, or screenplays.
Value: 8c/word, and various non-cash awards
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here (click on ‘Contest rules’).
(They also have a fantasy short story contest, the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, which pays $0.08/word for stories of up to 8,000 words in all fantasy genres, and will open for submissions from 15^th January to 30^th April 2025. Stories sent outside these dates will be deleted unread.)

Biographers International Organization: The Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship
They offer two fellowships, open to all biographers anywhere in the world who are writing in English, who are working on a biography of an African American figure or figures whose story provides a significant contribution to our understanding of the Black experience, and who are at any stage in the writing of a book-length biography. A publishing contract is not required for eligibility. Memoirs are not eligible. The application includes an excerpt of up to 20 pages. The Biographers International Organization also has other awards, some of which are open for all writers, as well as other resources.  Value: Two fellowships of $5,000 each
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: See above
Details here.

St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition
This is a contest for young writers, they want a themed essay of 2,100 words, on ‘Global power is shifting. What’s your innovative idea to address a related risk or opportunity?’ – see guidelines for details. To be eligible, writers must be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate programme (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university, and be born in 1994 or later.
Value: CHF20,000, split between three winners; they’ll also cover travel, accommodation, and admission to the symposium in Switzerland.
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: Young writers (see above)
Details here.

(A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— The CAAPP Book Prize: This is “a publishing partnership between the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and Autumn House Press with the goal of publishing and promoting a writer of African descent. The prize is awarded annually to a first or second book by a writer of African descent and is open to the full range of writers embodying African American, African, or African diasporic experiences. The book can be of any genre that is, or intersects with, poetry, including poetry, hybrid work, speculative prose, and/or translation. The winning manuscript will be published by Autumn House Press and its author will be awarded $3,000.” The deadline is 15 February 2025. Send a manuscript of 48-168 pages.  Details here.

— Deep Wild Graduate Student Prose Contest is an international contest from Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry magazine – they want students currently enrolled in graduate studies to submit work for their Graduate Student Contest. “The contest theme is “Waking to the Wild.” We seek work in any genre that conveys the awe, the gratitude, the passion to protect, and/or any other feelings and thoughts that arise when you awaken to the wild world. … Submit up to four pages of poetry or up to 3,000 words of prose. Mixed-genre submissions are welcome.” This magazine publishes work “that conjures the experiences, observations, and insights of backcountry journeys. By “backcountry,” we mean away from roads, on journeys undertaken by foot, skis, snowshoes, kayak, canoe, horse, or any other non-motorized means of conveyance.” Prizes are $200, $100, and $50, and the deadline is 1 March 2025, details here and here.

— And, The Academy of American Poets has some prizes that are closing mid-February, see here.)

---

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