These are calls and contests for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some of the call themes are: folk horror; holiday; the unmaking; thresholds; arms & armor; alchemy; who gets to be American?; communication; long-term relationships; cats; the language of flowers; eerie Christmas; and soilpunk.
Phi Kappa Phi Forum: Travel by Plane
They’re reading poetry submissions for their Winter 2025 issue and the theme is, Travel by Plane. Do not send other genres. They want “submissions of original, previously unpublished poetry that fits the theme … Poems will be selected to appear in the print version of the magazine, though others may appear online.”
Deadline: 2 September 2025
Length: 1-3 poems (see guidelines)
Pay: $4/line of poetry
Details here and here.
Tyche Books: Fascination Anthology
This is a fiction and poetry anthology from Tyche Books. They have detailed guidelines, including, “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.
Book Worms: Halloween Issue – Folk Horror
They want mailed horror submissions only; they publish “fun” horror. For the Halloween issue, they want submissions on the Folk Horror theme. “For our next issue, Book Worms is venturing deep into the twisted roots of folk horror—that uncanny space where ancient legends, rural isolation, and old-world rituals fester just beneath the surface of pastoral charm. … Folk horror thrives on the uneasy tension between tradition and terror. Classic examples include Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon, Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley, and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. … That said, folk horror is fluid—so stretch the boundaries. Invent your own cursed villages, pagan rites, or ghost-haunted fields. Just keep it eerie, keep it folkloric, and above all, make it scary.”
Deadline: 10th September 2025 (must be received by this date)
Length: Up to 1,500 words for fiction, up to 20 lines for poetry
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $25 flat fee for poetry
Details here.
Vellum Mortis: The Unmaking
Vellum Mortis is a monthly ezine from Crystal Lake Publishing. They publish dark flash fiction on monthly themes. For September, the theme is The Unmaking. “Stories of unraveling—worlds, minds, bodies, or timelines.”
Deadline: 10 September 2025
Length: Up to 1,000 words
Pay: $5
Details here (scroll down) and here.
Novellum Magazine: Holiday
“Novellum Magazine was founded to fill a void in the literary world by combining quality literature with pop-culture elements appealing to a broader and more modern audience. Our publication serves as a platform for unique writers and illustrators to showcase their work free from the constraints of academic elitism.” You can read about them here. Apart from fiction (including for children and graphic novels) and poetry they accept articles (writing and editing tips, feature articles, op-eds, and pop-culture articles) – see the submission form on this page. They’re reading submissions for their fourth issue, and the theme is Holiday. Payment will be discussed on acceptance.
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Length: Varies (see this page)
Pay: Unspecified
Details here and here.
Sans. Press: No Gods No Masters Anthology
They are open now for a fiction anthology, and want submissions that respond to the theme is No Gods No Masters and/or their cover art (see guidelines). “In great magical battles, or in a conflict between the smallest of creatures, reality is built by the echo of voices refusing to be silenced. While those in power might try to conduct the world under the rhythm of their wishes, again and again voices will rise in dissonance, claiming to be heard as they are. … we want to celebrate stories that live and die by the motto of fresh & weird; characters that refuse to be anything but themselves, and that will remake the worlds around them rather than be broken down. We are looking for revolutions that take any shape or form – individual, symbolic, magical, political, subjective – as long as they are motivated by the authentic pursuit of change.
No Gods No Masters is an anthology for the stories that are ready to get their hands dirty in the making of a newer, fairer world; it is for the characters that are driven not for the love of power but for solidarity, for genuine belief, and for a refusal to surrender to cynicism and despair.” And, “All genres of writing are welcome; more than any specific story or style, we want the emotional response the title and artwork evokes in you.” They will remain open for submissions until the (extended) deadline, or until their submission cap is met, whichever is earlier. Submission is via a form on their website.
(Please note, you can also opt to have your story considered for The Archive. Stories for The Archive are published online and on short-run zines; payment is a €75 flat rate.)
Deadline: 15 September 2025, or until filled
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: €200
Details here.
Quest: Thresholds
They are reading for their first issue. “Quest is a new online magazine publishing literary, visual, and critical work that uses sci-fi and fantasy to reflect the world around us.” They want fiction, including serialized fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, art, and music on the Thresholds theme. “In this issue, we want stories, essays, comics, poems, art, and criticism that explore our take on “Thresholds”: moments of inflection, tipping points, etc.”
Deadline: 15th September 2025
Length: Varies
Pay: $12-100 for written work and $25-100 per installation of story
Details here.
Plott Hound
This is a magazine of speculative fiction and poetry starring animals. They publish nonfiction also. They have detailed guidelines about the kind of work they want and what they do not want, please read them carefully. They also welcome translations.
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Length: 1,000-5,000 words (prefer 3,000-4,000 words) for fiction, up to 5 poems, 1,000-2,500 words for essay
Pay: $0.08/word for stories, $50 for poetry, $100 for essay
Details here and here.
Eye to the Telescope: Cyberpunk
This is the journal of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. They have themed issues; their next poetry theme is Cyberpunk. Apart from original poems in English, they also accept translated poems.
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.04/word up to $25
Details here.
Lonely Cryptid Media: Trans/Port – Trans Speculative Fiction for a Queer Future
This is a fiction anthology. “Give us your cyber, your cyborgs, your cyberpunk, cybering, cybersex, cybergender, cyberqueer! Your future-state anti-gender, pro-gender, mixed-gender, beyond-gender, without-gender, playful-gender, WTF-gender. Bodies changing and being changed, bodies that are permeable, bodies that resist, bodies resisted, bodies transcended, bodies that become and are becoming.” And, “The title of this anthology is intentionally open to interpretation. Give us trans like transporting, transforming, translating, transmitting, transcendental, transistor (radio? Sure!), and of course transgender!”
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Length: 3,000-7,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Tales & Feathers
Tales & Feathers is a Canadian magazine that publishes cozy, slice-of-life fantasy stories. While their general submission window has passed, they are still open for submissions from submissions from trans, disabled, and/or BIPOC authors throughout the world.
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Length: Up to 2,500 words for short fiction, up to 800 words for flash
Pay: CAD0.14/word for short stories, CAD112 for flash fiction
Details here and here.
(And, their sibling magazine, Augur, is also open for submissions for speculative fiction and poetry from trans, disabled, and/or BIPOC creators and creators residing in Canada/Turtle Island only until 15th September; they pay; submissions are via their Moksha portal; details here.
Submissions are also open for Hearth Stories – theypublish speculative fiction, as well as literary fiction set before 1825. They want “slice-of-life stories with a focus on nature, forests, connection, family, romance/relationships, and comfort/kindness. We are primarily focusing on stories set in a pre-industrial-revolution time period (or a fantasy world resembling such), preferably not in city settings. We accept works from 1,000 words up to 10,000. However, the ideal length may be something in the 1,500-3,500 word range. … We will potentially accept literary fiction (i.e. non-speculative work) if it takes place before ~1825 or so”. Please note, this is a vegan magazine. Pay is $0.01/word and the deadline is 30 September 2025.)
Metphrastics: Arms & Armor
This is a poetry magazine. “We welcome submissions year-round responding to works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection and select past special exhibits – all areas, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, costume, musical instruments, and the Met building itself. All styles are welcome from poets around the world.” They’re reading submissions on the Arms & Armor theme till mid-September: “This issue will focus on the Met’s extensive Arms & Armor collection. Send us your poems about battle, armor, shields, masks, war (or fear of war), and anything else inspired by these extraordinary pieces. The poems should be based on works on display only, that a visitor could go and encounter in person.”
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $10/poem
Details here.
Reckoning X: Communication
They publish work on environmental justice, and for their 10th 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.
The Kenyon Review
They are open for unthemed as well as themed submissions of fiction (including flash), nonfiction, and poetry. “In 2026, our magazine will feature folios on the following themes:
Alchemy
Invisible Cities
Precarity
Who Gets to Be American?
We invite work that broadly interprets these themes. When you submit, you will have the option to identify your work for general submission or the themes.” They also accept excerpts from larger works, as well as translations.
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: Up to 7,500 words for prose, up to 6 poems, up to 30 pages for excerpts
Pay: $0.08/word for prose up to $450, $0.16/word for poetry up to $200
Details here.
Heartlines Spec
This is a Canadian magazine of speculative fiction and poetry, focused on long-term relationships. Please note, they will 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: 30 September 2025
Length: 1,000-3,500 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD0.08/word for fiction; CAD60/poem
Details here (guidelines) and here (submission portal)
The Big Book of Quantum Fiction
They want fiction, poetry, and art. “What is quantum fiction? What makes it tick? Envision a world where the past, present and future co-exist. Where anything we perceive can be argued to have existence, as a part of ourselves. Plot, dialogue, character development and story line become twisted in unexplained ways, hinting of parallel realities. Dreams and imagination become real.
We are looking for work which may be within one or more standard genres, but containing one or more “quantum” elements. These quantum elements should not be literal — people don’t run about with “quantum rayguns” blasting each other, or fall into a particle accelerator, or shrink into a tiny universe like Ant-man. Rather, consider a regular story with a few strange, unexplained “differences.” Perhaps with cause and effect subtly twisted in ways which profoundly affect things.”
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: 100-10,000 words for fiction, 100-2,000 words for poetry
Pay: $24
Details here.
Thalia Press: Cats anthology
This is a fiction anthology. “There are no requirements for the plot other than that it be mystery/crime fiction featuring one or more cats as an integral part of the plot. Bonus points for creating a dark or neo noir story that contradicts the stereotype of cat stories being primarily in the cozy sub-genre.”
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $25
Details here.
Inked in Gray: In the Words of a Flower Anthology
They want upper YA and adult fantasy (both high and low fantasy) for this anthology. “All stories should incorporate an aspect of floriography, the language of flowers.” And, “Please give us diversity! Mental health rep! Fat rep! Visible and invisible disabilities!”
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: 2,000-7,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here.
Manawaker Studios: Home Constellations Anthology
They want fiction, poetry, and art for this anthology. They want stories about the future which feature non-traditional families. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Submitted works should be of any genre, as long as the work depicts a world that is noticeably in the future. Hard and Soft Sci-fi, (Post-)apocalyptic, Solarpunk, Slipstream, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Alternate (future) History, Supernatural, Retro-futurism etc. are all fine names for genres that often take place in the future, but your story doesn’t have to fit into one of those. In fact, if it manages to miss all of those labels, we may be even more interested to see it”. They also accept graphic narrative fiction, as well as reprints.
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: Up to 3 poems; no length restrictions for fiction
Pay: 5$ + 1c/word over 500 (up to 5k) words + .2c/word over 5k words (see guidelines)
Details here.
Black Hare Press: Eerie Christmas Anthology
This is an anthology of dark, eerie fiction. “Tis the season… for something sinister. We’re looking for holiday tales wrapped in dread—haunted snowfalls, sinister Santas, cursed gifts, and festive cheer turned feral. Whether it’s ghost stories by the fire or blood on the tinsel, we want your most chilling Christmas horrors.” Stories “should be rooted in the Christmas or broader holiday season. Horror is a must—psychological, supernatural, quiet, gruesome, or somewhere in between.”
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: 500-3,000 words
Pay: $5-10
Details here and here.
Inkd Publishing: Hidden Villains – Duos
“A speculative fiction anthology with a bass beat of a hidden villain and a tale involving a Duo. There is no restriction as to how you incorporate the theme into your story as long as the genre falls within Speculative Fiction, including Sci-Fi or Fantasy. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion. Suspense and thrillers are encouraged over horror for this anthology, but a great horror story will rise to the top.”
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Length: 2,000-7,000 words
Pay: Minimum $10 (see guidelines)
Details here (scroll down).
(Inkd Publishing is open for other themed calls too – Rebels, deadline 31st October, and Phantom Dusk, deadline 30th November – details here.)
The Last Line Journal
They want stories ending with a specific last line: ‘I called back a week later and told them we were good to go.’ The line cannot be altered in any way. This is a project of Blue Cubicle Press, which also runs The First Line Journal, and others.
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Length: 300-5,000 words
Pay: $20-40
Details here.
IHRAM Press Publishes: Hear the Voices – Voices of 21st-century Activism
This magazine is a project of International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM) and they publish on a quarterly schedule, with different social justice themes. They want fiction, essays, and poetry. “This anthology will explore interventions that have sparked widespread change, highlighting protests and acts of resistance expressed through art, storytelling, and personal activism. We seek to amplify diverse perspectives and celebrate the courage of those who have stood up to demand change. … We seek firsthand accounts from authors who have participated in activist movements, as well as reflections on the power of creative resistance to inspire transformation.”
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Length: Up to 2,500 words for prose, unspecified for poetry
Pay: $50
Details here.
Tractor Beam
They publish soilpunk fiction and graphic fiction, and they’re reading submissions for their fourth issue. “For our upcoming issues, we’re specifically seeking stories exploring a positive future on Earth with an emphasis on soil and agriculture in the winter, the productive role of ice and snow in the seasons, frost and permafrost, future fashion and style, entertainment and culture, the ocean and soil under water, soil as tech, soil as the origin of life and anti-apocalyptic futures. Literal or abstract, near term or on distant horizons: worlds can take inspiration from innovations or alternative practices in earth and material science, regenerative agriculture, food, microbiology, and more.”
Deadline: 6th October 2025
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $1,000
Details here and here.
Woods Reader
They only accept submissions from writers in the US and Canada. “Woods Reader is a publication for those who love woodland areas: whether a public preserve, forest, tree farm, backyard woodlot or other patch of trees and wildlife. Our readers like to hear about others’ experiences and insights, especially those that make an impression that they think about long after they have finished the article. Submitted content should center around trees and woodlands.” And, “We buy articles in the following categories with woodland themes: Personal experience; Educational or nonfiction; The Woodland Philosopher; Fiction/fantasy; DIY article using woodland materials (accompanying photographs requested); Humor blog or cartoon; Short poetry; Destinations”. Please contact them prior to submitting book reviews. They publish works of 500-1,000 words. “We also buy the occasional longer fiction or true adventure story which may be serialized over up to four issues (2000-5000 words).”
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: Varies (see guidelines)
Pay: $35 each for short poetry or cartoons, $25 for standalone photos; and $40 to over $100 for longer articles
Details here.
THEMED CONTESTS
(Apart from themed, there are also some non-themed contests/fellowships open now, including:
— Princeton Arts Fellowship : An international fellowship for artists in many disciplines, including literary; a two-year program with teaching duty attached. Pays $93,000 per year ($186,000 for 2 years) + some expenses; deadline 9 September 2025; details here.
— Princeton: Hodder Fellowship: An international fellowship artists in many disciplines including published writers and translators; no formal teaching duties attached. Pays $93,000 + some expenses; deadline: 9 September 2025; details here.
— Harvard University: Radcliffe Institute Fellowships: An international fellowship for various disciplines, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, playwriting. Can apply as individuals or in a group of 2-3 people working on the same project. Pays $78,000 + some expenses; deadline: 11 September 2025; for published writers and journalists; details here, here, here, and here.
— Fulbright Scholarships: For US citizens, opportunities to teach, conduct research and carry out professional projects. For many disciplines including artists, journalists; can opt for teaching, research, teaching/research, and professional projects, in various countries, from a few months to a year. Awards for the 2025-26 cycle are here; deadline: 15 September 2025; details here.
— Guggenheim Fellowships: For US and Canadian citizens in various disciplines, including literature, who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. Also see their FAQ; deadline: 16th September 2025, work samples to be uploaded in November – see timeline here; details here (see various tabs on this page).
— Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship: For published fiction and non-fiction writers who were born in Africa/whose parents were born in Africa; also see guidelines about monthly work submissions and donation to MMF from the book they write. Pays £18,000 for fiction writers, possible additional funds for nonfiction, mentorship; deadline: 22 September 2025; details here and here.
— American Academy in Berlin Fellowship: For US-based people, including published writers (including collaborators) who wish to engage in independent study (generally, for an academic semester). You have to sign into SlideRoom to apply; see the help centre here.
Pays round-trip airfare, $5,000 per month, residency near Berlin; deadline: 22 September 2025; details here and here.
— The Kari Ann Flickinger Biennial Memorial Prize: For a short fiction and or short experimental fiction manuscript, at least 40,000 words (see guidelines, including for printing / production format). Prize $1,500; three prizes of $250 each; publication by Ballerini Book Press; deadline: 30 September 2025; details here.
— Black Mountain Institute: Shearing Fellowship: A residential fellowship for published writers. No formal teaching requirements, but this is a working fellowship (see guidelines); pays $46,500 over 9 months, residency; deadline: 30 September 2025; details here. They also run other residencies / fellowships; details on their website.)
— Changes Book Prize: Cash award of $10,000 and publication for a poet’s first or second poetry manuscript of 48-96 pages – open to US residents who have not published (or committed to publishing) more than one book-length collection of poetry with a registered ISBN. Submission period 1st September to 1st October; details here.
— PEN America: US Writers Aid Initiative: For US-based fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists; deadline:1 October 2025; details here.
— The Camargo Fellowship: A residency at Cassis, France is for artists (including writers, playwrights and translators) and scholars/thinkers, for those with a publication and/or grant track record. Teams of up to 3 people can apply. Spouses/partners and dependent minor children can accompany. Pays €350/week (€3,500 for 10 weeks); deadline: 1 October 2025. Webinar for interested participants on 9th September; details here and here. Camargo has several other programs, divided into various types; their open calls are here.)
Columbia Journalism School: J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards
These awards are given for nonfiction 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. One of the application requirements is 50-75 pages from the work in progress. There is no fee for the work-in-progress award. The prizes are run by Columbia Journalism School – they also have other awards, which charge entry fees.
Value: $25,000
Opens on: 3 September 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
The Academy for Teachers – Stories Out of School Flash Fiction Contest
They want honest, unsentimental stories, of 6-499 words, about teachers and schools. The contest is open to all writers, whether or not they are a teacher. The story’s protagonist or narrator must be a K-12 teacher. Sentimentality is discouraged and education jargon is forbidden. Apart from the prize, the winner also gets publication in A Public Space.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 7 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details 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.”
Value: $3,000, two prizes of $1,000 each
Deadline: 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.
Value: $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)
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Open for: Unspecified
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.
Value: $1,000 and publication
Deadline: 15 September 2025
Open for: US poets
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.)
New York Public Library: Cullman Centre Fellowship
This is for writers whose project draws on the collection housed in The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, formerly the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Visual artists can also apply (see guidelines).
Value: $90,000 and residency
Deadline: 26 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
Write Before Midnight: A Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Short Fiction Contest
Their guidelines say, “beyond its fact-based focus on science and security, the Bulletin has always had an affinity for and connection to the arts, high and low, from the artistic minimalism of the Doomsday Clock to the high satire of Dr. Strangelove and pop culture verve of The Who and Dr. Who. Now, to start the Bulletin’s 80th year of publication, we are launching a short fiction contest called “Write Before Midnight”. They want stories up to 7,000 words. “Submitted stories can be about any of the existential threats the Bulletin covers: nuclear weapons, climate change, biological and chemical weapons, artificial intelligence, killer robots, doomsday drone submarines, bioengineered zombies, the gray goo of nanotechnology gone wild, and so, so much more. The stories can be dystopian or utopian; pre-, post-, or non-apocalyptic. … Entries can be of any genre: high literature and potboiler noir will vie on a level playing field; scifi, fantasy, spy, detective, horror, and even romance tales will be not just allowed, but celebrated. The tales can be comic, tragic, ironic, satiric, or any kind of -ic at all … The stories do, however, need to have some conceivable connection to the Bulletin’s interest in (avoiding) the Apocalypse. The connection doesn’t necessarily have to be central to the story; a porkpie hat that Oppenheimer abandoned in a greasy diner might do the trick. But the existential-threat angle must be clear.”
Value: First prize $3,000, four runner-up prizes of $500 each
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
They want a short story on any theme; they are reading submissions for their 70th contest. Stories should ideally be up to 3,000 words, though those up to 4,000 words are considered. Readers of the magazine are interested in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Their newsletter subscribers include publishers, artists, musicians, and fellow writers. Their guidelines say, “While your writing should appeal to a reader with these interests and in these creative professions, all story themes are considered.”
Value: $150
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Shoreline of Infinity Flash Fiction Contest
They want a science fiction story of up to 1,000 words on the theme, Peace. “You can play with this theme in any way you want in time, space or elsewhere. Just make sure your story is a science fiction story.” And, “The two runners-up stories will likewise be published. All winners will also receive a 4 issue digital subscription to Shoreline of Infinity magazine.”
Value: £50
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
2025 Sejong International Sijo Competition
This is an international sijo contest from the Sejong Cultural Society. “The sijo is a traditional three-line Korean poetic form organized technically and thematically by line and syllable count. Using the sijo form, write one poem in English on a topic of your choice.” Their website has resources on how to write sijo.
Value: $500, $250, $100
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: All poets
Details here.
International Human Rights Arts Festival: Rhonda Gail Williford Award for Poetry
Their guidelines say, “Please submit one poem that incorporates themes of justice, dignity, and resistance”.
Value: $150, $100, $50
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Details here.
(Click on ‘Artist Opportunities’ on this page to see all their calls, including for the African human rights spoken word contest, open to writers everywhere, top prize $100, deadline 31 October 2025.)
Singapore Unbound: SUSPECT Flash Fiction Contest
This is a themed flash fiction contest; send stories if 100-150 words. “In conjunction with Gaudy Boy’s November 2025 publication of Sharmini Aphrodite’s THE UNREPENTANT, SUSPECT is holding its 2nd flash fiction contest with a call for submissions inspired by the title of this bold story collection. We are looking for flash fiction of 100-150 words on the theme of unrepentance interpreted in any imaginative way. When should we repent and why don’t we? When should we not repent? What do we hope to obtain by not repenting? Integrity? Praise? Or just plain sustenance?”
Value: $300, $200, $100
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing
These awards are for works that evoke the American South. For fiction and non-fiction, the awards are for published/soon-to-be-published books (see guidelines); for poetry, send a poem of up to 60 lines. Poems should evoke the US South. “Books must be published during the submission year and cannot be self-published. Advanced reader copies or proofs for books that will be published in October, November or December of 2025 are eligible.” And, “Winners also receive an expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Miss., where we celebrate the winning writers as part of the Oxford Conference for the Book.”
Value: $12,000 for prose; $3,000 for poetry
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Horror Writers Association: Diversity Grants
Horror Writers Association has scholarships which offer various amounts for assisting authors in professional development as horror writers. There are various amounts and requirements. Right now, they are open for Diversity Grants, which open close 1st October 2025, worth $500 each, which “will be open to underrepresented, diverse people who have an interest in the horror writing genre, including, but not limited to writers, editors, reviewers, and library workers. … the Diversity Grants have adopted the broadest definition of the word diversity to include, but not limited to, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabled, and neurodiverse.” They have other grants too with different application periods, some of which have recently closed.
Value: $500 for Diversity grants
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
(They also administer the Bram Stoker Awards for published works in various categories, which close end-November/end-December – see guidelines.
And, keep a lookout on the Speculative Literature Foundation website for upcoming grants; they usually open for the Working Class Writers Grant applications during September and pay $1,000.)
Getty Scholars Program
These grants are for researchers of all nationalities who are working in the arts, humanities, or social sciences, for established scholars and writers who have achieved distinction in their fields. Recipients can pursue their own projects free from academic obligations and make use of Getty collections. There are three-, six-, and nine-month residencies. The annual theme for this cycle is Provenance. Also see their FAQ.
Value: $21,500-65,000, residency
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Open for: Established scholars and writers
Details here and here.
(Also see the Getty African American Art History Initiative Fellowship; the deadline for that, too, is 1st October 2025).
American Antiquarian Society: Fellowships for Creative and Performing Artists and Writers
These are fellowships for historical research by the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Massachusetts, for those who wish to produce “imaginative, non-formulaic works dealing with pre-twentieth-century American history.” Typically, two Hearst Foundations Fellowships and two Robert and Charlotte Baron Fellowships are awarded annually. Fellowship projects may include (but are not limited to) historical novels, documentary films, TV programs, radio broadcasts, plays, screenplays, illustration and other graphic arts, magazine or newspaper articles, and nonfiction works of history for a general audience, either for adults or for children.
Value: $2,000, residency
Deadline: 5 October 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
(A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— Latino Voices in Children’s Literature: Free Spirit and Con Todo Press will soon open for a Latino Voices in Children’s Literature contest. “The contest is open to Latino authors who are at least 18 years of age or older and residing anywhere in the United States. The contest’s mission is to elevate authentic, culturally relevant children’s stories written by and about Latino people. Every entry is considered for publication and three cash prizes will be awarded.” It is for children’s books; there are two categories, 0-4 and 4-8; see their detailed guidelines. The top prize of $1,000. Submissions open on 8th September and the deadline is 13th October 2025. A category will open on Submittable during the reading period. Details here.
— Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship: This is for a poet of American birth, who is willing to spend a year outside the continent of North America. While many recent winners have been published poets, there is no requirement that applicants have previously published their work. Applications have to be mailed. One of the requirements is a poetry sample. The prize is approximately $76,000 adjusted for inflation; if there are two winners, each will receive the full amount; the deadline is 15 October 2025 (must be received by this date). Details here (application instructions), here (FAQ – includes link to application form), and here (home page).
— The Commonwealth Short Story Prize: This is a contest for writers from the Commonwealth, see the list of eligible countries here – send a piece of unpublished short fiction, in any genre, of 2,000-5,000 words. They take entries in several languages apart from English, as well as translated stories. The top prize is £5,000, regional prizes are £2,500. The submission period opens on 1 September, and the deadline is 1 November 2025. Details here.)
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
