These are themed calls and contests from 45 outlets for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; a few outlets have more than one call. Some of the calls are: the end; surf noir; strange clocks & different calendars; mathematical horror; color; familiars; the brides of Dracula; the map of lost places; rattus futura; pirate tales; and here there be dragons.
THEMED CALLS
Hawk and Cleaver: The Other Stories Podcast – The End
Hawk and Cleaver publishes horror, sci-fi, and thriller fiction on their podcast, The Other Stories. They want tales that terrify, scar and haunt. Their upcoming theme is ‘The End’.
Deadline: 9 December 2023
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: £15
Details here (click on submission form for length and payment details).
Kelp Journal: Surf Noir Anthology
They want short fiction for this anthology. It must take place in a beach locale. “We are looking for noir/neo-noir. Crime, capers, detective stories, and mysteries are all a good fit. Literary stories work as well provided it contain the requisite subject matter. We always appreciate a surfer or water-related person (life guards, sea captains, etc) as a character.” (Other opportunities are also listed on their Submittable, please be sure to submit in the correct one.)
Deadline: 15 December 2023
Length: 3,000-6,000 words preferred
Pay: $35
Details here and here (Submittable).
Eye to the Telescope: Death
“A quarterly online journal, began publishing science-fiction, fantasy, horror, and other speculative poetry in 2011, under the auspices of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association.” They are currently open for submissions on the ‘Death’ theme. They have detailed guidelines, including, “These pipe dreams, doors and canyons into which we dive, some willingly, some not, some with trepidation, some with relief, are less final than they appear”. See their past and future themes here.
Deadline: 15 December 2023
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.04/word up to $25
Details here.
I Want That Twink OBLITERATED! Anthology
They want “pulp-inspired science fiction, fantasy and horror that explores or subverts classic genre tropes through queer protagonists and villains, particularly those who are non-traditionally masculine.” They have detailed guidelines, including, “IWTTO! is seeking classic pulp adventures centring non-traditionally masculine queer heroes and villains. … Whether fantasy, science-fiction or horror, we want to prove that hetero himbos don’t hold a monopoly on giant swords. We want out and proud thrill-rides starring queers who don’t give a fuck what society says. Smash systems, kiss boys, be gay do crime. … Bring us your femboy starship captains, bring us to trans berserkers fuelled by queer rage, bring us your literal demon twinks. Most of all, bring us stories that make you shriek…” And, “The editors are particularly interested in submissions from trans, non-binary, or intersex writers; aro or ace writers; disabled writers; neurodiverse writers; black, south asian, or east asian writers; or other writers of colour.”
Deadline: 17 December 2023
Length: Up to 6,000 words (see guidelines)
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.
Funemployment Press: Strange Clocks & Different Calendars Anthology
This is a science fiction and fantasy anthology. “Think the schism between Gregorian & Julian calendars, the attempt of the French revolution to start their own, the Soviet days of the week, what a calendar would look like if the elves lived millennia, how time would be kept on a space station in the void, internal & external clocks, circadian rhythms, hourglasses filled with enchanted grains, secret societies with secret timepieces, the subjectivity of a second, punching in, clocking out, we can’t wait to see what you & ourselves come up with.”
Deadline: 18 December 2023
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: CAD20
Details here.
Moonstruck Books: Nightmare Diaries
Moonstruck Books is a publisher of “speculative fiction, science fiction, horror, fairy tales, gritty and gothic fiction, and experimental fiction.” Currently, they are also open for an anthology of dark fiction titled Nightmare Diaries. They want short stories, fairy tales, flash fiction, and novellas.
Deadline: 27 December 2023
Length: 500-10,000 words
Payment is $0.10 per word
Details here (scroll down).
Rough Cut Press: Still
They publish short prose from the LGBTQIA community, and have monthly themed submission calls. Send short prose on the ‘Still’ theme.
Deadline: 27 December 2023
Length: Up to 650 words
Pay: $25
Details here.
Polymath Press: Arithmophobia – An Anthology of Mathematical Horror
This is a fiction anthology about math horror. They have detailed guidelines, including, “make sure the mathematical ideas are clearly featured in the story. What kind of mathematical ideas do we want? That’s for you to decide. Think outside the box and give us something interesting. Show us weird geometries, cursed numbers, mathematicians going crazy, you name it. Most importantly of all, remember that we want math AND horror, so make it as scary as you can.”
Deadline: 31 December 2023, or until filled
Length: 3,000-15,000 words (see guidelines)
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Book XI: A Journal of Literary Philosophy – Color
Book XI publishes personal essays, memoir, fiction, science fiction, humor, and poetry with philosophical themes. They want submissions on the ‘Color’ theme. They want prose of 2,000 and 7,000 words, but will also consider shorter and longer works (see guidelines). They are affiliated with Hamilton College’s Arthur Levitt Center for Public Affairs.
Deadline: 31 December 2023, or until filled
Length: See above
Pay: $200 for prose and $50 for poems
Details here and here.
Channel Magazine
This Irish magazine accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry; nonfiction is accepted through the year (for both print and online), and fiction and poetry have submission periods; submissions for the upcoming issue opened on 20th November. “Channel’s aim is to provide a home for Irish and international writing that contributes to building rich, mutually sustaining relationships between human beings and the natural world. … This journal exists to provide a passage through which ideas about human relationships with our environment, expressed and embodied in creative work, can flow.” Submissions can be in English or Irish, and also works in translation. “Although based in Ireland, Channel welcomes international submissions. We also welcome submissions in Irish or English translation.”
Deadline: 31 December 2023 for fiction and poetry, ongoing for nonfiction
Length: prose up to 6,000 words, up to 4 poems
Pay: €35/page; minimum payment €50, maximum €250
Details here.
Air and Nothingness Press: We Are All Thieves of Somebody’s Future
They want fiction submissions. “We are seeking stories for an anthology to be titled We Are All Thieves of Somebody’s Future which will collect stories with the theme: Resource Scarcity – using up the last of a critical resource and dealing with the aftermath. While stories could be dystopic (ex. the last tree), authors could also explore hopepunk (losing a resource leads to something unforeseen and positive), solarpunk (a pollution laden resource leads to a better solution), fantasy (the last dragon). We are open to all genres.”
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: 1,000-3,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.
(Air and Nothingness Press will open submissions for another themed anthology in February 2024, see guidelines.)
The House of Gamut is currently accepting fiction for their Winter in the City anthology; they want dark urban stories. Pay is $0.10/word for stories of 3,000-7,500 words, deadline 31 March 2024, details here. This is a speculative fiction publisher, see guidelines for all their current calls – anthology, fiction reprints, poetry, and nonfiction – here.
Castaigne Publishing: In the Eyes of the Hungry
This is a fiction anthology. “One of the great American authors wrote a werewolf novel and sadly, we will likely never see it. But wouldn’t it be great to speculate on what such a book might look like? We invite you to do exactly that.
We are asking for short horror stories … in the style of Steinbeck, in his settings, and/or covering his themes. But we’re not going to limit you to werewolves. What fun would that be? We invite you to populate these stories with any of the classical monsters (think Universal), so if you can find a way to put the Creature from the Black Lagoon into a Steinbeck-style yarn, go for it!”
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: 2,500-6,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here.
Zombies Needs Brains: Two Anthologies
They want submissions for two fiction anthologies.
— Familiars “is to feature science fiction, fantasy, or urban fantasy stories where the story revolves around some type of animal familiars (or human familiar). We would like a wide variety of genre settings for this anthology. In other words, we don’t want the entire anthology to be urban fantasy settings. As always, we are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.”
— Last-Ditch “is to feature military science fiction, fantasy, or urban fantasy stories revolving around spies, espionage, and last-ditch Hail Mary efforts to turn the tides of war. We would like a wide variety of genre settings for this anthology. In other words, we don’t want the entire anthology to be science fiction settings. As always, we are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.”
Deadline for both anthologies: 31 December 2023
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here, here, and here.
DBS Press: Dracula Beyond Stoker – The Brides of Dracula
Dracula Beyond Stoker publishes fiction issues (with some poetry) featuring characters and more from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You can read about them here. For this submission period, they want work on ‘The Brides of Dracula’. “We like stories that feel like they could be canon, but we also enjoy fun alternate takes and pastiche. Prequels, sequels, updates, divergent timelines – unleash your creative powers of darkness and show us something exciting.”
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: 1,500-5,000 words
Pay: $0.05/word
Details here.
Apex Book Company: The Map of Lost Places
This is a horror fiction anthology. They want “stories about places where weird things happen. Places that have strange histories, their own traditions and customs, their own dangers. These can be based off real folk tales or old wives tales – think the Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV – or ones that you come up with all on your own. But your story should tell of someone going to one of these places – either intentionally or they just stumble across it – and what happens when they encounter the frightening/strange thing that is in or occurs in that location.” Also, please note, “In order to avoid duplicates in the open submission call, locations already chosen by the featured authors are listed below. This list will be updated as the authors make their decisions, so be sure to check back!” The Kickstarter for this project has been funded.
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Grendel Press: Uncanny & Unearthly Tales (Vol 2) – The Midnight Labyrinth
This is a fiction anthology. The general submission guidelines for the press say they publish stories of dark fantasy, horror, and romance. For this anthology, “Each story should feature a tale delivered from a character who stepped through a door and found themselves someplace unexpected. On their journey, they will notice a book called Midnight Labyrinth. No requirement to read or interact with it; it just needs to appear. Genre-bending is welcome! Sci-fi, steampunk, horror, fantasy, etc. … This anthology is an exploration of PLACE and FANTASY, so the MC in the story needs to actually find themselves in a new world/city/place that they’ve either never been before or haven’t been for a long time.”
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: 2,500-7,000 words
Pay: $0.05/word
Details here and here.
Neon Hemlock Press: We’re Here — The Best Queer Speculative Fiction
Neon Hemlock is currently open for an anthology of reprints of queer speculative fiction published in 2023.
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: Up to 17,500 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here (past and future calls), here, and here.
Manawaker Studio: Rattus Futura
Rattus Futura is an anthology focused on stories about the future which feature rodents. This volume will contain stories, poetry, and visual art. “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 rodent. It does not have to be a rodent of the genus Rattus. Other members of the rodent family, like mice and beavers, are also acceptable, as are non-biological minks, metaphorical hamsters, robots with the acronym S.Q.R.L., and so on.” This is a sequel to their earlier Felix Futura anthology.
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: No hard word limit for fiction, but novellas and above might be hard to find room for (see guidelines), up to 5 poems
Pay: $10/poem, $0.01/word for fiction
Details here.
Thinking Ink Press: Neurodiverse Anthology
They want submissions for a science fiction anthology – “stories, flash fiction, poetry, and art exploring encounters between neurodivergent people and neurodivergent aliens.” And, “The universe is filled with aliens—creatures with different histories, cultures, and even biologies—who may seem strange to us. But our world is filled with a diversity of people, many of whom find each other strange. One particular group finds the rest of humanity especially strange: neurodivergent people. Would neurodivergent folks find themselves at an advantage in dealing with aliens?”
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: Fiction up to 6,000 words, poetry up to 100 lines
Pay: $50 for flash fiction and poetry, $100 for short fiction
Details here.
The Black Beacon Book of Pirate Tales
This is a fiction anthology, “we’re looking for pirate tales, preferably about pirates and buccaneers from the 16th to 18th centuries. Stories set in completely fictional/fantasy worlds will be considered but are likely to be a hard sell. That said, we’re interested in stories belonging to various genres just so long as the central characters and setting are pirates or centred on the theme of piracy, even if the story is set in the present. For example, a ghost story featuring a legendary pirate or a mystery about a lost treasure. We’re not looking for sci-fi or futuristic stories.” They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Preferred length: 3,000-9,000 words
Pay: $20
Details here and here.
(Also see the Black Beacon Books’ novel submission calls here.)
New York Times: Modern Love
Modern Love is a non-fiction column. They want “honest personal essays about contemporary relationships. We seek true stories on finding love, losing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoption, polyamory, technology, race and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.” Also, “Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely and be informed by factors including race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture.” Send essays of 1,500-1,700 words. Modern Love has two submission periods, September through December, and March through June. Writers are paid. Send submissions to modernlove (at) nytimes.com. They especially welcome work from historically underrepresented writers, and from those outside the US.
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: 1,500-1,700 words
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
(Also see their Tiny Love Stories column; these are also personal essays similar in theme to Modern Love, but much shorter, of 100 words.)
Workers Write!
Their website says, “Issue 20 of Workers Write! will be Further Tales from the Cubicle and will contain fiction and poems from the office worker’s point of view – we’re especially interested to see how the home office has taken on a new meaning because of Covid and what it’s been like for those of us who have returned to the annoying commutes and communal bathrooms.”
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Length: 500-5,000 words
Pay: $5-50
Details here.
(Also see their Overtime! Series of chapbooks for longer workplace-related fiction; writers can send submissions or queries for works of 5,000-10,000 words, pay is $40-60, details here.)
Underdog Press: Two anthologies
They are reading submissions for two fiction anthologies. “How you incorporate the quarterly theme in your story is up to you. We do ask that you make sure the theme idea is not an afterthought, but an integral part of the story. We want truly want stories depicting underdogs rising to the occasion when it seems all hope is lost. … If your story is nobledark, noblebright, grimdark, or grimbright or something in the middle of all of those that’s okay.”
— The Way of Worlds “is an anthology focused on space exploration and colonization … We want aliens, solar systems, spaceships, alternate universes, and to go somewhere beyond imagination. The focus of this anthology is space but it doesn’t have to be hard science fiction. Show us what is happening in the galaxy next door.” Deadline 31 December 2023.
— Nightmares Before Bed “is exactly what you think it is. This will be our first horror anthology and we want to be clear, no sexual violence, abuse of children, overly disturbing images and ideas, or gore will be published. We want horror, we want to be scared, but let’s do it in a way that is respectful. We’d love to see fantasy horror or sci-fi horror here.” Deadline 31 January 2024.
Deadlines: See above
Length: 3,500-12,000 words for both Underdog Press anthologies
Pay: $0.03/word
Details here.
Hiraeth Books: Here There be Dragons Anthology
Their guidelines say, “Dragons are icons of fantasy and legends about them abound. Found in novels, poetry, and art, they stir the imagination as helpers, heroes, villains, and symbols of love, fear, and wealth. We are looking for renderings of dragons in writing and art that capture the essence of these fascinating creatures.”
Deadline: 1 January 2024, or until filled
Length: 3,000-6,000 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: 8 cents/word for the first 3000 words and 3 cents/word thereafter for fiction; $1/line for poetry
Details here.
Anterior Skies
This is an annual anthology of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. They will publish “cosmic and weird stories, ranging from fantasy (preferably low fantasy, but high fantasy will be considered) to sci-fi to noir, as long as there’s a dab of horror somewhere in there.”
Deadline: 1 January 2024
Length: 100-6,000 words (see guidelines)
Pay: $0.01/word, up to $50
Details here.
Room Magazine: Bodies
They publish fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and art by folks of marginalized genders, including but not limited to women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people. They want submissions on the Bodies theme. “We’re seeking writing about touch and isolation, trans and queer embodiment, fat liberation, chronic illness and disability, brutality, sensuality, and other meditations on the bones and muscles you inhabit every day. What words live in the relationship between your body and other bodies? Between your body and the land beneath it? Explore what it means to feel empowered and grounded in your body—and what it means to feel betrayed by it. Have you ever lost your body to dissociation? Or perhaps to transcendence? The body is a site of self-love, self-hate, and body neutrality alike: accepting loving odes, body horror, and everything in between.”
Deadline: 5 January 2023
Length: Up to 3,500 words for fiction and creative non-fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD50/page, up to CAD200 for print, and CAD75 for reviews and work accepted for online publication
Details here and 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 2024
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $45/page, up to $450.
Details here.
Eastover Press: Mirrorball – How Taylor Swift Reflects the Loss, Hope & Love of Millions Around the World,
This is a prose and poetry anthology, “an anthology of writings from around the world inspired by Taylor Swift, her music and her call to fans globally to cry and laugh and dance and mourn and grow together. More than anything, the anthology mirrors the joy that has come from sharing our lives with one another the way Taylor’s lyrics of love and loss, of betrayal and of chosen family, have made all the Swifties around the globe feel less alone.
We are calling for contributions from all nations, all genders, all ages and all levels of fandom.”
Deadline: 31 January 2023
Length: Up to 3 poems, up to 3,500 words for prose
Pay: $100 for prose, $50 for poetry
Details here.
Terrain.org
They welcome submissions on place, climate, and justice – fiction (short story, flash fiction series, novel excerpt, radio play, or other fiction piece), nonfiction, and poetry. They also accept translations, and art. Payment is a minimum of $50. And, “All accepted submissions by writers of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, women, and/or other marginalized communities whose contributions explore place particularly in the context of social, environmental, or climate justice are considered for our annual Editor’s Prize of $500 per genre.” Certain sections, like Letter to America and ArTerrain, are open year-round, and other sections have submission periods, or are open periodically.
Deadline: 31 January for poetry; 31 March 2024 for fiction and nonfiction
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, 2-6 poems
Pay: Minimum of $50
Details here and here.
THEMED CONTESTS
Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards
These 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. 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
Deadline: 7 December 2023
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here
Minotaur Books / 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 and are uncontracted. The writing should be no less than approximately 65,000 words. Authors of self-published works only may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work. Minotaur is an imprint of Macmillan.
Value: $10,000 advance against royalties
Deadline: 15 December 2023
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here
International Women’s Media Foundation: Kim Wall Memorial Fund
This grant is for women or nonbinary journalists with one or more years of professional experience working in news media from anywhere in the world. “The IWMF’s Kim Wall Memorial Fund will provide $5,000 grants to journalists whose work embodies the spirit of Kim’s reporting. The grant will fund women or non-binary reporters covering subculture, broadly defined, and what Kim liked to call “the undercurrents of rebellion.”
Value: $5,000 each
Deadline: 17 December 2023
Open for: Women and nonbinary journalists
Details here.
(See more of IWMF’s programs/grants/awards here.)
The Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest
This contest is for registered undergraduate full-time Juniors or Seniors at accredited four-year colleges or universities in the US in the Fall 2023 Semester. Students are invited to write an essay about an ethical issue they have encountered, and analyze what it has taught them about ethics, and themselves. “What challenges awaken your conscience?
Is it the conflicts in American society? An international crisis?
Maybe a difficult choice you currently face or a hard decision you had to make?”
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 29 December 2023
Open for: US students (see guidelines)
Details here.
The Lyric Magazine: College Poetry Contest
This is a contest open to undergraduates enrolled full time in an American or Canadian college or university. Poems must be original and unpublished, 39 lines or less, written in English in traditional forms, preferably with regular scansion and rhyme. Students can send up to three poems.
Value: $500, $200, $100
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Open for: Undergraduates in an American or Canadian college or university
Details here
The AIIRA Writing Contest: How will AI change the landscape of your career within the next decade?
They want fiction or creative non-fiction (see guidelines), of up to 3,500 words, from US high schoolers. The theme is, “How will AI change the landscape of your career within the next decade?” Their website says, “Think of a career you’d like to have in the future. How might AI technology advance your field and help you perform your job within the next decade? What aspects or duties of your job may become irrelevant due to AI? Describe a day in the life of your job with AI as your new work partner.
Your submission can be either a creative nonfiction essay speculating on the changes your desired career may undergo or a fictional scene depicting what your desired job may look like in ten years.”
Value: $550, $400, $250
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Open for: US high schoolers
Details here and here.
The Writers College: My Writing Journey Competition
They want a 600-word piece on ‘The best writing tip I’ve ever received’. The contest is open to writers all over the world.
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Value: AUD200/£100
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 2023. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were published in 2023 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, or do not have an application process.
Value: $1,000 for three finalists, an additional $20,000 for the winner
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
The Caribbean Writer Prizes
Their website says, “The Caribbean Writer (TCW) has issued a call for submissions for Volume 38 under the 2024 theme: Legacies: Reckoning and Resolve. We inherit the legacies of our those who march before us, if not directly, some other way and so reckoning has become a way of life. Some suggests that what will save us is our resolve.
Contributors may submit works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays or one act plays which explore the ideas resonating within the region and its diaspora. The Caribbean should be central to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage, experience or perspective.” Submissions are also eligible for various prizes (there is no separate application process): The Canute A. Brodhurst Prize of $600 for best short fiction; The Daily News Prize of $500 awarded to a resident of the US Virgin Islands or the British Virgin Islands; The Marvin E. Williams Literary Prize of $500 for a new or emerging writer; The Cecile deJongh Literary Prize of $500 for a Caribbean author whose work best expresses the spirit of the Caribbean; The Vincent Cooper Literary Prize of $300 awarded to a Caribbean author for exemplary writing in Caribbean Nation Language.
Value: $300-600
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
Kinsman Quarterly: Iridescence Award
This is an award for short stories and poetry by BIPOC authors. “Themes should include the supernatural, extraterrestrial, or the paranormal. Prizes include publication in the Iridescence anthology with cash awards up to $500. … Genres include, but are not limited to, fantasy, folk mythology, science fiction, and the paranormal.”
Value: $500, $250, $100; gift cards for finalists
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Open for: BIPOC writers
Details here.
Meridians: The Elizabeth Alexander Creative Writing Award
Meridians is a literary magazine affiliated with Smiths College. This award is for short works – poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and play scripts. “The Elizabeth Alexander Creative Writing Award celebrates an author whose work embodies the lyrically powerful and historically engaged nature of Dr. Alexander’s writing. We aim for this award to highlight different forms of knowledge production that emerge from the artistic, political, and cultural advocacy undertaken by women of color nationally, transnationally, and globally.”
Value: $500
Deadline: 31 December 2023
Open for: Unspecified
Details 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; for Category C, 10-30 minutes. They accept plays co-authored by more than one writer. 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, and other non-cash prizes
Deadline: 31 December 20243
Open for: All playwrights
Details here.
Defenestrationism.net Lengthy Poem Contest
They are reading entries for a lengthy poem, of at least 120 lines and up to chapbook-length (see guidelines). It is best to divide it into parts or sections, though this is not a strict requirement. Poem cycles will be considered. Please note, the shortlisted poems will be posted on the website, which will be followed by fan voting.
Value: $300
Deadline: 1 January 2024
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. They 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 2024
Open for: Writers working on biographies
Details here
Quantum Shorts Flash Fiction Contest
This is for Quantum-inspired flash fiction. “The challenge for writers is this: craft a story no longer than 1000 words that takes inspiration from quantum physics. The story must also incorporate the phrase “nobody said this was going to be easy”.”
Value: $1,500, $1,000, a People’s Choice prize of $500; $100 for shortlisted stories
Deadline: 8 January 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
She Does the City: New Voices Fund
This fund is open to women, non-binary, and transgender writers, who have less than 20 bylines to their name and are Canadian residents. “If you love to write about the arts and entertainment, or have a compelling personal story to share, you’ve come to the right place. Chosen writers will receive a $200 honorarium.” Some of the topics they are interested in are: Your personal experiences as an artist; Unique perspectives within Canada’s arts & entertainment industry; and Creative projects that inspire positive change.
They also have monthly themes, but writers can send submissions outside of these themes, as well. See the fund guidelines here and their general pitch guide for freelancers is here. You can read about the website here.
Value: CAD200
Deadline: Ongoing
Open for: Canadian writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
