Welcome to another writing contest roundup. How are your 2021 goals and resolutions? I recently crossed over 500 rejections and started the year strong with four publications—a young arson story in Down & Out: The Magazine, a pair of contrasting flash fiction pieces in MacQueen’s Quinterly, and a quiet flash about balconies in the debut issue of Nevermore Journal. Every season is a chance to try something new.
This contest submissions season covers deadlines from March 1, 2021 through May 31, 2021. Spring is a great time to submit to literary journals that read during the academic year or opportunities that take place during the summer. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.
Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.
March 2021
Hunger Mountain – Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize – $10 fee
Deadline: March 1, 2021
“One first place winner receives $1,000 & online publication, & one runner-up receives $100 & online publication.” Judged by Trinie Dalton. “Please enter one original, unpublished story under 8,000 words.”
Reasons to submit:
- Flag-bearer—open to international submissions
- No hunting for winners—can read past winners online
- Oh, wordy!—generous word count limit
- Prestige—#116 in Pushcart ranking
- Share the wealth—multiple prizes
2021-2022 U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program – $0 fee
Deadline: March 1, 2021 (cover sheet) and March 29, 2021 (full application)
“The Japan U.S. Friendship Commission offers up to five leading contemporary and traditional artists from the United States an opportunity to spend three months in Japan in 2021-2022 through the U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program. Cultural understanding is at the heart of this program. … Artists should have compelling reasons for their residency in Japan, and they should conduct preliminary research to identify contacts there. … $20,000 for a maximum of three months to cover housing, living, and professional expenses. … In the last 10 years writers must have published at least one of the following: Five different short stories in two or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications… A novel or a novella”
Reasons to submit:
- Eligibility restriction—less competition
- Friendly to novelists
- Rebirth—accepts published work
- Regional restriction—less competition
- Share the wealth—multiple prizes
- Wanderluster—prize includes lodging or travel
Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize 2021 – $25 fee
Deadline: March 5, 2021
“The 2021 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize will be judged by Joshua Ferris. The winning work will be performed and recorded by an actor in spring 2021, and published on Electric Literature. The winning writer will receive $1000 and a free 10-week course with Gotham Writers.” Submit 750 words or less.
Reasons to submit:
- Flag-bearer—open to international submissions
- No hunting for winners—can read past winners online
- Prestige—#41 in Pushcart ranking
Writers’ Trust of Canada – Writers’ Trust Mentorship – $0 fee
Deadline: March 8, 2021
“The Writers’ Trust Mentorship program provides support, guidance, and one-on-one instruction to a developing writer from an established writer.” … The fiction mentor “selects one mentee from a pool of applicants to work with over a 5-month period. Beyond instruction, mentees will also receive $2,500.” Only Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
Reasons to submit:
- Flag-bearer—open to international submissions
- Friendly to emerging writers
- Friendly to novelists
- Oh, wordy!—generous word count limit
- Regional restriction—less competition
National Endowment for the Arts – Literature Fellowship – $0 fee
Deadline: March 10, 2021
“The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose … to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process in which the criteria for review are the artistic excellence and artistic merit of the submitted manuscript. Through this program, the Arts Endowment seeks to sustain and nurture a diverse range of creative writers at various stages of their careers and to continue to expand the portfolio of American art.”
Reasons to submit:
- Blind submissions are fine submissions!
- Eligibility restriction—less competition
- Friendly to novelists
- Oh, wordy!—generous word count limit
- Rebirth—accepts published work
- Wanderluster—prize includes lodging or travel
Colorado Review – 2021 Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction – $17 fee
Deadline: March 14, 2021
“$2,000 will be awarded for the best short story, which will be published in the fall/winter 2021 issue of Colorado Review. This year’s final judge is T. Geronimo Johnson … There are no theme restrictions, but stories should be at least 10 pages and under 50 pages.”
Reasons to submit:
- Blind submissions are fine submissions!
- Flag-bearer—open to international submissions
- Oh, wordy!—generous word count limit
- Prestige—#36 in Pushcart ranking
- Prestigious judge
Bellingham Review – 2021 Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction – $20-$30 fee
Deadline: March 15, 2021
$1,000-dollar first-place prize. “Dedicated to forming a community of writers, Bellingham Review also offers continual support to our authors through interviews, book reviews, social media promotion, and endless words of encouragement. Winners of the 2021 contests will be notified in June 2021. Winning entries and many runners up will be published in the Spring 2022 print edition, Issue 84. … The cost to enter is $20. International entries are $30 to cover increased shipping costs. An entry consists of … one story [or] up to three pieces of flash… Please limit prose to 4,000 words. For prose that is 1,500 words or fewer, submit up to three in one entry. (These flash prose pieces will be considered individually, unless they are connected.)”
Reasons to submit:
- Blind submissions are fine submissions!
- Flag-bearer—open to international submissions
Permafrost Magazine – Permafrost Book Prize in Fiction – $20 fee
Deadline: March 16, 2021
“The Permafrost Book Prize in Fiction offers publication of a book length work of fiction (novel, novella, or short story collection), $1000, and distribution through University of Alaska Press. … We prefer manuscripts that are a minimum of 150 pages. All entries will be read anonymously. … The Permafrost Book Prize in Fiction welcomes manuscripts from any writer, including non-US citizens, writing in English. Simultaneous submissions are accepted.”
Reasons to submit:
- Blind submissions are fine submissions!
- Flag-bearer—open to international submissions
- Friendly to novelists
- Oh, wordy!—generous word count limit
- Rebirth—accepts published work (possibly for short story collections)
2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship – $25 fee
Deadline: March 17, 2021
“The Emerging Voices Fellowship provides a five-month immersive mentorship program for early-career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world. The program is committed to cultivating the careers of Black writers, and serves writers who identify as Indigenous, persons of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, writers with disabilities, and those living outside of urban centers. Through curated one-on-one mentorship and introductions to editors, agents, and publishers, in addition to workshops on editing, marketing, and creating a platform, the five-month fellowship nurtures creative community, provides a professional skill-set, and demystifies the path to publication—with the ultimate goal of diversifying the publishing and media industries. Twelve fellows will be chosen in 2021, each awarded an honorarium of $1,000.”
Reasons to submit:
- Eligibility restriction—less competition
- Friendly to emerging writers
- Friendly to novelists
- Rebirth—accepts published work
- Share the wealth—multiple prizes
The Pinch – 2021 Pinch Literary Awards – $20 fee
Deadline: March 31, 2021
“Fiction First Prize: $2,000.00. Judged by Dianca London Potts. … All entries are considered for publication. First, second, and third place winners will be selected … The first place winners will be published in the Spring issue following announcement. Second and third place winners will be given high-priority consideration for publication, but because of space, cannot be guaranteed.”
Reasons to submit:
- Blind submissions are fine submissions!
- No hunting for winners—can read past winners online
- Prestige—#41 in Pushcart ranking
- Share the wealth—multiple prizes
