Here are themed submission calls and contests for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some of the themes are: revel; lunarpunk; Banned Books Week; Christmas; exhaustion; vampires and such; Halloween ghost stories; omen; folk horror; seasons; epistolary stories; war and geopolitical violence; the librarian. Also see this list – a few themed deadlines are coming up.
Vautrin: Gritty urban and crime/mystery fiction
They publish gritty urban fiction and crime/mystery fiction. Also, “if you’ve written a good short story with crime fiction elements that doesn’t necessarily seem like genre fiction, it could still be a fit.”
Deadline: 3 May 2022
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $65-130
Details here.
The Suburban Review: Revel
They’re reading submissions on the Revel theme. “Medusa’s letting her hair out and the snakes are going wild, because it’s time to REVEL. Lay out your best party clothes and get ready for a righteous carnival of debauchery, fireworks, chocolate fountains and champagne towers. We’re looking for a feast of submissions for this issue – send your best, your most ribald, your 3am morsels. What kind of poetry do you read (or write) at a rave? What scenes of glamour does your prose fiction walk through, and does non-fiction join the same party, or leave early for home? How do you picture wildness through photography, illustration, or comics?”
Deadline: 5 May 2022
Length: 500-2,500 words for prose; up to 3 poems
Pay: AUD150-275 for prose; AUD125-275 for poetry
Details here.
Starward Shadows Quarterly: Eastern European Heritage & Folklore
This speculative fiction magazine is reading for a special issue, to support people affected by the war on Ukraine: “As long as your story pays homage to Eastern European culture, or even touches on the horrors of war in some other form we can’t articulate, please send it our way. … Alongside our usual emphasis on speculative fiction, we’re also open to personal anecdotes about Eastern European upbringing, heritage, or cultural experiences. Please just note that, since we are still a speculative fiction publication, we’re most likely to accept non-speculative personal stories that fit within the Eastern European theme if they’re flash pieces.” They publish Cosmic Horror, Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, High/Epic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos inspired tales, Gothic Horror, Space Opera, Dark Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, New Weird, Grimdark, Slipstream, and Cyberpunk; they will read all kinds of speculative fiction. Also read detailed guidelines to see the tropes they love (includes monsters, vampires, aliens, themes of neurodivergence, death cults, trickster kings, and more), and which they do hate (post-apocalyptic settings, dystopian fiction, parodies, rock-hard SF, zombies, mermaids, sirens, pandemic stories, and more). Please note, the funding for this issue is Kickstarter-based and it is unclear whether the project will take off, if the Kickstarter does not reach its funding goal.
Deadline: 9 May 2022
Length: 500-1,500 words for flash, 1,500-4,000 words for short fiction
Pay: Unspecified for this issue
Details here (general guidelines) and here (themed issue guidelines).
(Another publicly-funded project is Mother: Tales of Love and Terror from Weird Little Worlds Press, pays $0.05/word for prose and $50 for poems, deadline 15 May 2022. They specify that the project will take off only if their Kickstarter goals are met, and they are close to meeting them.)
Griffith Review: Real Cool World
They are now reading poetry submissions for their ‘Real Cool World’ (Antarctica) themed issue, published in partnership with the Australian Antarctic Division. “Real Cool World will explore Antarctica as a place and as a canvas for imagination. This vast, dry continent drives much of the Earth’s weather, part litmus test for change at the world’s extremities and part canary in the coalmine. If stories about Antarctica illuminate much of the rest of the planet’s past and future, they also create a space to play out human ideas of exploration, investigation and fantasy.” Please note, this is a poetry call only for this themed issue – do not submit other genres. They pay.
Deadline: 13 May 2022
Length: Up to 4 poems
Pay: Unspecified
Details here and here.
Rakehell: Swashbuckling adventure
This is a new, modern magazine of swashbuckling adventure – you can read more about them here. “We love fantasy, steampunk, and historical fiction, but we’ll read anything that fits the Rakehell vibe. We’re looking for small-scale conflicts with personal motivations. We’re less interested in epic quests and straight military fiction. … Feel free to draw on other genres, like mystery, comedy, and romance. No erotica, please.” Think Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, Horatio Hornblower, Flashman, Indiana Jones (and more). Please send submissions only during the reading period.
Reading period: 8-14 May 2022
Length: 3,000-7,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Solarpunk Magazine: Two themes
This is a magazine of solarpunk fiction. The May submission window is for the BIPOC issue, and also for the Lunarpunk issue. The magazine “publishes hopeful short stories and poetry that strive for a utopian ideal, that are set in futures where communities are optimistically struggling to solve or adapt to climate change, to create or maintain a world in which humanity, technology, and nature coexist in harmony rather than in conflict. We also publish solarpunk art as well as nonfiction that explores real world, contemporary topics and their intersection with the solarpunk movement for a better future.” Also, “Any genre of science fiction, interstitial fiction, magic realism, or fantasy has potential as a solarpunk forum—we welcome robots and elves with equal excitement.” The kind of work they want is described on their Moksha submission page, as well as the guidelines page.
Deadline: 14 May 2022
Length: 400-7,500 words for fiction; up to 5 poems; 1000-2,000 words for non-fiction
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction; $40/poem; $75/essay or article
Details here (guidelines) and here (Moksha submission portal).
Cast of Wonders: Banned Books Week – To See Yourself in Pages, Paragraphs, Sentences, and Words: Books, Stories, and Representation
Cast of Wonders is a YA speculative fiction online magazine and podcast from the Escape Artists suite of magazines, aimed at the 12-17 age range – they have extensive submission guidelines. They also accept translations, reprints, and submissions from young writers. They have a short submission window for their Banned Books Week in May; they have extensive guidelines on the 2022 sub-theme for Banned Books Week on the submission/Moksha portal: ‘To See Yourself in Pages, Paragraphs, Sentences, and Words: Books, Stories, and Representation’. They will be open again in June for stories by writers aged 19 and younger (see schedule).
Deadline: 14 May 2022 for Banned Books Week
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here (general guidelines), here (Moksha/submission portal) and here (schedule).
Lucent Dreaming: For a Friend anthology
This is a themed prose and poetry anthology. They want “pieces that range from words of encouragement to life advice-styled poetry and prose, to love letters you might send to a friend, i.e. writing that is a source of comfort, inspiration, learning and escape. We are looking especially for work from writers of colour and working class writers living in the UK.”
Deadline: 15 May 2022
Length: 400-3,999 words for prose; up to 72 lines for poetry
Pay: £100
Details here.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker anthology
This is a shared-world short story anthology, and the editor is seeking some prose stories as part of the campaign to celebrate show’s 50th anniversary. Also, “the prose anthology will consist of stories from throughout Kolchak’s life, from the late 1930s to the late ’90s. Please, be familiar with Kolchak before writing your story and watch the TV movies and series! … While we’re looking for writers to submit full stories, you can send a story pitch to the editor before you write the story.”
Deadline: 15 May 2022
Length: 1,500-5,000 words
Pay: $120
Details here.
(– Submissions are also open for Azathoth: Ordo ab Chao anthology, based on the Lovecraftian god of chaos, Azathoth. Pay is $0.05/word for stories of 5,000-7,000 words, and the deadline is 31 May 2022.
— And submissions are open for LOLcraft: An Compendium of Eldritch Humor, dark speculative fiction which combines humor and something from the Cthulhu Mythos. Pay is $0.04/word for stories up to 4,500 words, and the deadline is 30 June 2022, or until filled.)
Space Fantasy Magazine: Is there anybody out there?
They are reading for their inaugural issue and the theme is, ‘Is there anybody out there?’ For this theme, they want “stories about unexpected encounters in isolated places.”
Their general submission guidelines say, “We want stories that challenge our relationship with space—past, present, and future. … Show us new mythologies and undiscovered gods. Show us what emerges from a black hole when its egg finally cracks. Show us the place where science becomes magic.”
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Length: Up to 1,250 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Touchpoint Press: Two themes
They’re open for two fiction anthologies: Nightmares of Strangers, and Christmas.
— Nightmares of Strangers: They want “stories that send a chill down your spine and send your imagination into overdrive, that keep you up at night and leave you shaking”.
— Christmas: They want “wholesome stories that inspire, instill kindness and hope, and contain a sense of togetherness and community. Deep conflict (and multiple conflicts) is good, but your story must be HEA or HFN.”
Deadline: 31 May 2022 for both anthologies
Length: 3,000-7,000 words for both anthologies
Pay: $100
Details here.
(They also have various romance novel calls.
— And Chicken Soup for the Soul is looking for real stories and poetry based on real events around various topics, including Thanksgiving, Xmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & New Year’s. Pay is $200, and the deadline is 20 May for this theme – more details here and here.)
the other side of hope: journeys in refugee and immigrant literature
This is a journal of refugee and immigrant literature. Fiction (including flash, short stories, and novel excerpts) and poetry are open to refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants only; fiction and poetry are unthemed. Nonfiction, on the migration theme, is open to everyone, as are book reviews and author interviews. For nonfiction they want narrative nonfiction, short essays, creative ethnography, memoir, criticism, reportage, and travelogue. They publish one issue online, and one in print. They also pay for cover art. They also consider poems from refugee/asylum seeker writing groups.
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Length: 1,000-8,000 words for fiction; up to 4 poems; 2,000-5,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: £100 per published author in the print issue, £50 per published author in the online issue; authors who are seeking asylum will receive a £100/£50 online gift card
Details here.
(– Submissions are open for Rural Writers of Color Fiction Anthology from EastOver Press, a reprint anthology by BIPOC writers who live in or hail from rural or semi-rural locales in the US and whose short stories feature characters living and/or working in rural or semi-rural spaces. Pay is $100-300.
— For more opportunities for underrepresented writers, please see this list.)
Off Topic Publishing: Exhaustion – Limited Reserves
They want themed flash fiction and poetry for a themed chapbook. “A common human experience is exhaustion in its many guises. Feeling used up or worn out. Reaching the limits of our personal and collective resources. Tapping out. Laying waste to the planet. Burning fuel until there’s nothing left but fumes. Covering a topic in its entirety, until everything that could be said has been said. This chapbook will engage these and other notions of exhaustion.”
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Length: Up to 1,000 words for flash, up to 60 lines for poetry
Pay: CAD15
Details here.
(They also read for their Poetry Box Postcard series, for which they pay CAD40 – one poem will be chosen for their subscribers each month; submissions reopen on 26th May.)
HellBound Books: Vampires and Such; and other calls
They are open for several anthologies for 2022. One of the themes is Vampires and Such. “In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the first publication of Dracula, the grandaddy of them all, we are courting vampire stories of all kinds.
So, send us your very best vampiric tales – gothic, contemporary, speculative – chill our bones and have us panic-buying garlic and wooden stakes…”
Deadline: 31 May 2022 for Vampires and Such
Length: 4,000-10,000 words (flexible)
Pay: $5
Details here (scroll down).
(– Their other anthology themes are: Madame Gray’s Poe-Pourri of Horror, about Poe-inspired stories; Hellbound Sci-Fi; Kids are Hell!; In Celebration of Splatterpunk; and Beautiful Tragedies, a poetry anthology – please see the individual guidelines, including deadlines, of each.)
Halloween Ghost Anthology
They want dark fiction of “classic paranormal, poltergeists, ghosts, spirits, haunted places and objects, and the eerily unexplained that take place on or around Halloween. Bonus points if they’re about families, siblings, longtime pals, or pets.” They do not want children’s or middle grade stories, slasher horror, vampires, werewolves, zombies, extreme horror, or creature horror (unless they’re ghosts). Stories should be rated PG-13 and R.
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Length: 2,000-4,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here.
(– Night Terror Novels is open for There Used to Be a House Here, horror stories that feature a house that was once somewhere, but is no longer. The anthology is raising money for a charity that tackles poor housing and homelessness in the UK. Pay is £25, and the deadline is 31 May 2022, or until filled.
— Utter Speculation Publications wants submissions for The Dancing Plague anthology, “stories of utter speculation on the cause of the dancing plague” of 1518; pay is $10, and the deadline is 24 May 2022.
— Death Knell Press wants stories for Nightmare Skies: Stories of astronomical horror anthology; pay is $0.01/word, the deadline is 31 May 2022.
— And Red Cape Publishing wants fiction on O is for Outbreak for A to Z of Horror series, pays £10, deadline 31 May 2022; they’ll open on P is for Poltergeist theme during June and July.)
Apparition Lit: Omen
This speculative fiction and poetry magazine will open a brief submission period for work on the ‘Omen’ theme. They are looking for all kinds of speculative fiction – fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary. Also, “Our submission window will remain open for an additional week each quarter for writers who identify as BIPOC … We will also accept simultaneous submissions from writers who identify as BIPOC or LGBTQIA+.” (See guidelines)
Reading period: 15-31 May 2022 for general submissions; extended window for BIPOC submissions (see above)
Length: 1,000-5,000 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: $0.05/word for fiction, $50/poem
Details here.
(They are open for a monthly flash fiction challenge until 15th May. This is themed, and all visual prompts for 2022 are listed. Pay is $30 for this challenge.)
Eerie River Publishing: Two themes
They’re open for fiction on two themes; one for their Elements series (Fire), and the other, for Folk Horror.
— Elements – Fire: They want horror stories with the ‘Fire’ theme (R rated stories are welcome): some suggestions are fire, volcanoes, smoke, burning, and ignition. “Although there can be some fantasy elements tossed in there, the overall feel of the stories must remain in the horror genre.”
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Length: 1,500-7,000 words
Pay: CAD0.01/word
Details here.
(The other forthcoming calls in Elements horror series are Water, open for submissions during August, and Wind, open for submissions during December.)
— Folk Horror: “Give me your rituals, your sacrifices. Give me your isolated communities and their backwards practices. Give me your old or forgotten gods and the creatures that men fear to speak of above a whisper. Give me idols, pagan practices, and harvest festivals. … Stories do not have to be set in modern day, or in our reality, but any fantasy submissions must be dark fantasy with an emphasis on the dark elements, and must have the intention to unsettle the readers.” They want stories with atmosphere.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: 2,000-7,000 words
Pay: CAD0.01/word
Details here (scroll down).
Wordsmyths: Seasons Unceasing anthology
This is a fantasy and science fiction fiction anthology on the ‘Seasons’ theme. “Seasons, weather, cyclical nature, ending, returning, regularity interrupted, growing things, dying things, planet sized impact, local microsystems, – Stories featuring the classic four seasons, or an entirely new season you’ve created for your world”.
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Length: 2,000-8,000 words
Pay: $0.005/word (up to $40)
Details here.
Eternal Haunted Summer: Other-Than-Human Realms
Eternal Haunted Summer is a publication about the gods and goddesses and heroes of the world’s many pagan traditions. They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and reviews. They are reading work on the ‘Other-Than-Human Realms’ theme. “In many cosmologies, Earth is the middle realm, the land of mortals. Other realms — above, below, sideways and sidewise — are home to other-than-human peoples. Some of these lands are forbidden to mortals, while some we can visit only in dreams or trance. But wherever and whatever they are, they are not our home; they belong to Others. Send us poems about Olympus and Hyperborea, Annwn and Alfheim. Send us short stories about the court of a Fae Queen, the garden of a peri, Hy-Brasil and Feather Mountain. Send us essays about the Garden of the Hesperides, the Land of Manu, and fiery Muspelheim.” They do not want works on fictional lands such as Narnia, Wonderland, or Oz.
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Length: Any length (see guidelines)
Pay: $5
Details here.
Parabola: Belonging
This is a quarterly journal that explores the quest for meaning as it is expressed in the world’s myths, symbols, and religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the relationship between this store of wisdom and our modern life. The theme for their next issue is ‘Belonging’. They accept original essays and translations. Their guidelines say, “We look for lively, penetrating material unencumbered by jargon or academic argument. We prefer well-researched, objective, and unsentimental pieces that are grounded in one or more religious or cultural tradition; articles that focus on dreams, visions, or other very personal experiences are unlikely to be accepted.” They publish articles (1,000-3,000 words), book reviews (500 words), retellings of traditional stories (500-1,500 words), forum contributions (up to 500 words), and poetry (up to 5 poems).
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Length: See above
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
Consequence Forum: Human consequences of war and geopolitical violence
They publish work on the human consequences of war and geopolitical violence, and they are accepting flash creative nonfiction pieces on this theme now. “We’ve often been told that the truth is in the details. … When it comes to things we experience in times of war/geopolitical conflict, or as a result of such conflict, some details become fuzzy and shift out of focus, for reasons ranging from traumatic injury to defense mechanisms to the simple passage of time. Other details maintain—or even increase in—clarity, as if to tether us to reality. These are the details we’re interested in exploring in our flash nonfiction series. … zoom in on one specific sensory detail that makes your experience of war/geopolitical conflict true, the detail that’s been imprinted on your memory forever.” All other genres are closed.
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Length: 500-900 words
Pay: $25
Details here.
Scorched Earth Press: Cars Against Humanity anthology
This is a nonfiction anthology, “to illuminate the many ways in which cars, and the infrastructure built to support them, constrict (human) life.” They especially welcome submissions that address the peculiarities of a local transit culture, submissions by people who don’t think of themselves as writers or scholars, and work by authors outside the global North. Although essays may contain a personal element, contributions should focus on description and exploration of the anti-life ecology created by cars. Topics might include: roadkill disposal work, how cars change laws, highway geographies and urban segregation, the impact of cars and roads on multi-species worlds, cars as housing, and other themes.
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Length: 500-4,500 words
Pay: $50
Details here.
The Massachusetts Review: Disabled and/or Deaf artists special call
This literary magazine wants poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid work for a forthcoming issue focusing on publishing work by disabled and/or D/deaf artists. The guest editors are actively soliciting work from writers and poets “who identify as D/deaf, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, and/or neurodiverse”.
Deadline: 1 June 2022 for the special issue
Length: Up to 7,000 words for prose; up to 6 poems
Pay: Unspecified for this call
Details here (themed call)
(Please note, their unthemed submissions pay $100 for general submissions, and $250 for Working Titles submissions, which are longer. Also, for general submissions, under the ‘What kinds of writing are you looking for?’ subhead, they say, “Submissions from authors who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color will be accepted year-round” – please see the guidelines for further details.)
Eye to the Telescope: Veterans of Alien Wars
This is the magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. They are reading on the ‘Veterans of Alien Wars’ theme. “Conflict’s unlikely to vanish, even in the most utopian of futures. How will veterans of future wars have to adapt and adjust to civilian life once their cybernetics have been stripped from their bodies and they have no more access to their power armor? What memories will haunt them as they learn to live in a reality in which the aliens they fought are no longer their enemies?
I have a special fondness for form poetry done well—rhymes that don’t jingle, sestinas that aren’t forced—but will absolutely consider free-verse as well. Special consideration will be given to writers who have served in the armed forces, and we hope that this provides them with an artistic outlet that they may not have pursued in the past.” They also accept translations.
Deadline: 15 June 2022
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.03/word, up to $25
Details here.
The Bureau Dispatch: Dear X – epistolary stories and/or found things
They want fiction submissions, in all genres, on the theme of epistolary stories and/or found things.
Their general guidelines say, “We are not a spec fic journal, but our stories often have a hint of the speculative, a dash of the intriguing. We want fiction that is compelling and beautifully-crafted; narratives that leave the reader breathless and changed.”
Deadline: 17 June 2022
Length: 500-1,500 words
Pay: $50
Details here.
Air and Nothingness Press: The Librarian
This is a fiction anthology about a librarian roving through the multiverse. “The Librarian travels the multiverse (along the timeline – past through the future – and across planetary systems and universes) helping out people, societies, and those in need, with their questions, problems, and research (as librarians do). Looking for positive, hopeful stories with positive endings, and narratives that celebrate librarians.” They have some guidelines/suggestions on the librarian as a character (see guidelines). Authors may explore any genre with their stories.
Deadline: 30 June 2022
Length: 1,000-3,500 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.
THEMED CONTESTS
Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors
This is a climate fiction contest from Fix, Grit’s solutions lab. This is their second annual contest, and they want hopeful cli-fi stories. “Stories must be set anytime between today and the year 2200, and show a path to a clean, green, and just future. We especially want to read — and share — narratives that center solutions from the communities most impacted by climate change and stories that envision what a truly equitable, decolonized society could look like. In 3,000 to 5,000 words, show us the world you dream of building.”
Value: $3,000, $2,000, $1,000; $300 each for nine winners
Deadline: 5 May 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
FIYAH Grants
These are grants for Black writers and editors of speculative fiction; they have a number of grants, of up to $1,000. Applications for the Rest, Craft, and Study grants close mid-May.
Value: Up to $1,000
Deadline: 15 May 2022
Open for: Black writers and editors
Details here.
(And FIYAH Magazine will open for submissions in June and July 2022 for the Hauntings & Horrors theme.)
Roadrunner Review High School Contest
They accept work from students, for the journal as well as their poetry and prose contests. They’re open for their international High School Student Contest, and the winner in each category gets $100 and publication.
Value: $100 in each category
Deadline: 15 May 2022
Open for: High school students
Details here and here.
Singapore Unbound: Singapore Poetry Contest
This is an international poetry contest. “We are looking for poems that use the chiming words “time” and “regime” together or separately in imaginative ways. The words must be used as they are, although different forms of the words (pluralized, adjectival, etc.) may appear elsewhere in the poem. Submissions may be on any theme, but they will be judged for the creative use of the words “time” and “regime,” as much as they will be for overall excellence.”
Value: $300, $200, $100
Deadline: 16 May 2022
Open for: All poets
Details here.
(They also want creative writing for their magazine from Asian writers, and pay $100. They’re open for a fee-based poetry manuscript prize, as well, from Asian writers.)
Bacopa Literary Review Writing Contest
This is an international contest, and writers can submit to one category. Apart from prizes in fiction, creative nonfiction, and humor, they have three poetry prizes: formal poetry, free verse poetry, and visual poetry. Please see the guidelines for submission requirements in the category you wish to submit.
Value: $200, $100 in each of the six categories
Deadline: 23 May 2022
Details here.
Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
This is an international fiction contest. While the story should appeal to the audience of this magazine, all themes will be considered. Their readers have interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Ideally, stories should not exceed 3,000 words, but those up to 5,000 words will be considered.
Value: $100
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Speculative Literature Foundation Grants: Older Writers Grant
They have some upcoming reading periods for grants. The one open now is their Older Writers Grant, for a writer who is 50 years of age or older at the time of grant application, and is intended to assist such writers who are just starting to work at a professional level. The writing application sample could be of poetry, fiction, drama, or creative non-fiction, of speculative literature. A writing sample (up to 10 pages of poetry, 10 pages of drama, or 5,000 words of fiction or creative nonfiction — if sending a segment of a novel, novella, or novelette, include a one-page synopsis as well) is part of the application.
Value: $1,000
Application period: 1-31 May 2022
Open for: All speculative fiction writers above 50
Details here.
(They also have other grants application periods coming up, later in the year – Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds Grants during July; Working Class Writers Grant during September; and Gulliver Travel Research Grant during November. Details of all Speculative Literature Foundation grants can be found here.)
The Black Orchid Novella Award
They want novellas (15,000-20,000 words) that confirm to the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series. They should focus on the deductive skills of the sleuth. Their guidelines also say, “We need to stress that a novella is not a padded short story. A novella needs to be as tight and fast-paced as a short story or a novel. Authors need to ensure that the story they want to tell is properly sized for whatever format they choose.” They are not looking for derivatives of the Nero Wolfe series, or the milieu. They accept mailed submissions only.
Value: $1,000 and publication in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
Deadline: 31 May 2022 (postmarked)
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Owl Canyon Press Essay Contest
This is an international prize for the best essay of at least 2,000 words about some aspect of Marc Jampole’s experimental literary work, The Brothers Silver. Potential topics include but are not to “point of view issues, use of language, relationship to Jampole’s poetry, comparison to other novelists or literary trends, textual readings, social criticism in the novel, images of Judaism and other religions, significance to contemporary literature, and symbolism in the novel. Papers in foreign languages must be submitted with an English translation.” And apart from the cash prize of $5,000, an additional $1,000 will be awarded to the winner if their essay is published in an eligible publication (see guidelines); authors of any other entry published in an eligible publication will receive $300.
Value: $5,000 + potential $1,000; $300
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Humane Education Network: A Voice for Animals
This is an international essay contest for students in two categories: for 14-15-year-olds, and for 16-18-year-olds. The essay themes include mistreatment of one animal species, the preservation of one endangered species, and more (see guidelines). Participants must currently be attending middle or high school, or be home-schooled, and less than 19 years of age on 31 January 2022 The contest is also open for those for whom English is a second language. Entries can be essays, essays with photos, or videos. They have extensive guidelines.
Value: Total prize purse up to $5,900; individual prizes of up to $500
Deadline: 31 May 2022
Open for: All 14 to 18 year old students
Details here.
PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants
This international grant is to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation. Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion. The works must be translated into English. Projects may have up to two translators. There are various submission requirements, including a translation sample of 8-10 pages.
Value: $2,000-4,000
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship
This is for an author of children’s or young-adult fiction. The fellowship is for helping writers whose work is of high literary caliber and is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length fiction work-in-progress. Applicants must have already published one work for children or young adults that was warmly received by literary critics, but whose work has not yet attracted a broad readership.
Value: $5,000
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Open for: Published YA/children’s writers (by a US trade publisher)
Details here and here.
PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History
These grants are for literary works of nonfiction that use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. They are to help maintain or complete ongoing projects. Oral history must be a significant portion of the work and its research. Writers have to send in writing samples and transcripts as part of the application.
Value: Two grants of $15,000 each
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
Atlanta Review: Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets
The Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets solicits poems from college-age students, aged 18-23, on any subject or style. Poems with an international focus are especially welcomed, but all poems must be written in English. Students may submit up to two poems (40 lines or fewer for each poem). A letter of recommendation from a teacher or other person well-acquainted with the student’s writing must accompany the poem(s). The recommendation letter should affirm that these poems are the student’s original work.
Value: $100
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Open for: College-age poets (18-23 years)
Details here.
Sapiens Plurum Short Fiction Contest: Inventing Beautiful Futures
Sapiens Plurum conducts an annual short fiction contest, opening on Earth Day of each year. The theme is ‘Inventing Beautiful Futures’: “Even within the harmful elements of nature and society there is an innate potential that can be harnessed into something beneficial or even beautiful. Technology can be the tool or catalyst for that transformation. Tell us a story about how you see this story unfold.
Your story should be consonant with the Sapiens Plurum mission: to inspire us — the first species that can intentionally impact its own evolution — to aspire beyond what was humanly possible.” Submissions should be 1,500-3,000 words.
Value: $1,000, $500, $300
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
The Novel Prize
The Novel Prize is an award for a novel of literary fiction (at least 30,000 words) managed by the three publishers working in collaboration, with Fitzcarraldo Editions reading submissions from Africa and Europe, Giramondo from Asia and Australasia, and New Directions from the Americas. Apart from the cash prize, the novel will get simultaneous publication in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and in North America. The prize rewards novels which explore and expand the possibilities of the form, and are innovative and imaginative in style.
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 1 June 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here (and see the publisher/submission links for various regions above).
A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Contest; this international contest by the greeting card company is open to all poets, and writers can enter as often as they like. The prizes are $350, $200, and $100. The deadline is 30 June 2022.
— The Ann Petry Award; this is for a work of previously unpublished prose, either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a 25,000-word minimum (approximately 150 pages) by a Black writer. The award is a residency, $3,000, and publication. The deadline is 31 July 2022.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
