As part of our Valley of Writers opportunities for writers section, we regularly publish calls for submission for various writing contests, awards and publications. Here is a list of free and paid opportunities to submit your fiction, poetry and essays in December 2022.
Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize
Deadline: December 1, 2022
The eighteenth Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize is now open for submissions. Anyone over the age of 18 may submit who has not already published more than one full-length poetry collection.
Chimera Fantasy Awards 2023
Deadline: December 1, 2022
If you are a self-published or unpublished author who would like to compete for our award, please email the first 10,000 words of your manuscript, along with a single page synopsis, to the address below. All novels entered for the prize must be at least 50,000 words; we shall request full manuscripts from the shortlisted 12. Entry is a mere £6 to help cover prize costs, plus we will never spam you with adverts for writing courses, proofreaders, copy editors, 1-on-1 tutorials, marketing videos, secret recipes for perfect bacon sandwiches or luxury timeshares on the moon. Chimera is about sponsoring indie talent – we won’t reap dubious profits from the fields of your dreams.
C.P. Cavafy Prize 2022
Deadline: December 1, 2022
Every year, Poetry International gives a prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International for a single poem. Editors of Poetry International will judge each submission. Submit up to 3 poems with a $15 entry fee. Each additional poem will require $3 extra.
James Dickey Prize for Poetry
Deadline: December 1, 2022
Each year we select a poet to receive The James Dickey Prize for Poetry. The award is named in honor of James Dickey, who we are proud to say served on our Advisory Board. Dickey inspired and nurtured many poets, and we offer the award in his spirit. The contest winner receives $1,000, and the winning poems are published in an issue of Five Points. Every year, submissions are accepted electronically September 1 through December 1. We do not accept manuscripts for consideration sent via the post office or special carrier.
Meadowlark Press Birdy Poetry Prize
Deadline: December 1, 2022
Meadowlark Press created The Birdy Poetry Prize to celebrate the voices of this era
Meadowlark Books is an independent publisher, born of a desire to produce high-quality books for print and electronic delivery. Our goal is to create a network and system of support for today’s independent author. Our service is to ensure that the stories we love and believe in are presented to readers in a manner that enhances an author’s work.
Slipstream Press Poetry Chapbook Contest
Deadline: December 1, 2022
The annual Slipstream poetry contest offers a $1,000 prize plus 50 professionally-printed copies of your book. Deadline is Dec. 1 every year. Everyone who enters the poetry contest receives a copy of the winning chapbook plus one complimentary issue of Slipstream magazine.
Sleek City Press Magic Medicine
Deadline: December 4, 2022
Sleek City Press is open for contest submissions on the theme: Magic Medicine. Fiction and creative non-fiction entries of up to 800 words will be considered for inclusion in our coming anthology MINDSCAPES as well as the contest’s first prize of $1500. Participants are encouraged to let their imaginations run free and think the unthought. Deadline for entries is December 4th 2022. First prize winner will be announced by January 15th 2023.
Mslexia Women’s Poetry Competition 2022
Deadline: December 5, 2022
This competition is open to unpublished poems of any length, on any subject. Your £10 entry fee allows you to submit up to three poems.
Longleaf Press Book Contest
Deadline: December 15, 2022
The prize will be administered by the editors of Longleaf Press. The winning manuscript is to be selected by this year’s judge, Roger Weingarten, and will be published by Longleaf Press in January of 2024. Along with publication, the author will receive a $1000 prize, 25 author copies, and a virtual reading. The submission deadline is Dec. 15 through Submittable. A decision will be announced by February 1, 2023.
Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Novel Competition 2023
Deadline: December 16, 2022
The competition is sponsored by Minotaur Books and Mystery Writers of America.
The competition is free to enter.
The competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, aged 18 or older, who has never been the author of any published novel.
You may submit only one manuscript (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words) written in the English language. Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story.
WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest 2022
Deadline: December 16, 2022
At Writer’s Relief, we know how challenging it is for poets to get their poetry manuscripts published. So we’re very happy to sponsor the WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest and support the work of a talented poet.
Story of the Year Contest 2022
Deadline: December 27, 2022
The Story of the Year Contest is back for the sixth year, seeking diverse short stories that are ‘easy to read, and hard to put down.’ The 2022 competition will run from October 4th to December 27th and will feature four distinct award categories. Winners will be announced March 7, 2023 to receive over $12,000 in cash prizes, in addition to publication in both digital and print form. Winning stories and those selected as runners-up will be included in the Storyshares library, which is currently serving students in libraries and classrooms across all 50 states and over 180 countries. This is an opportunity for writers to not only expose their work to a large, established network of readers, but moreover, for their words to become part of the mission to improve literacy outcomes for teens and young adults across the globe. This is an opportunity to change lives, and make a difference. Entry is free, unlimited, and open internationally.
Calibre Essay Prize 2023
Deadline: December 30, 2022
The Calibre Essay Prize is one of the world’s leading prizes for a new essay and it is now worth a total of $7,500. The Calibre Essay Prize, then known as the Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay, was first presented in 2007 to Elisabeth Holdsworth for her essay ‘An die Nachgeborenen: For Those Who Come After‘ as part of a joint initiative between ABR and Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Leiby Chapbook Contest
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Each year The Florida Review Publications honors past editor Jeanne Leiby with the publication of a prose or graphic narrative chapbook. To purchase one of our previous winners’ chapbooks, please see the Store, and for more information about Jeanne Leiby, the award in her honor, and the chapbook winners and runners-up, please see the Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Series page. Reading a copy of one or more of our chapbooks and/or reading about the award’s history and winners will give you a good idea of the type of work we are looking for.
Masters Review Chapbook Open
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Each fall, The Masters Review holds an open call for chapbooks. We want to publish your collections of flash, your mini novellas, your 40 page short stories. We want to publish your braided essays, your eclectic brainchildren, your experiments. However you want to tell your story, we want to read it. (As long as it’s between 25-45 double-spaced pages.) The submission window will be open for the final four months of the year, and The Masters Review staff will select a small shortlist of our favorites to pass along to a Kim Fu, author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, who will select the winning manuscript.
Orna Ross Green Stories Novel Prize 2022
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Our mission is to create a cultural body of work that entertains and informs about green solutions, inspires green behavior and raises awareness of the necessary transformations towards a sustainable economy. Currently most green communications preach to the converted i.e. only those who already care choose to watch climate change documentaries or read books with a green theme. Thus a particular aim is to use fiction as a way to reach a wider audience, and support winning authors to translate their stories into published books.
Society of Classical Poets 2023 Poetry Competition
Deadline: December 31, 2022
The competition is organized by the Society of Classical Poets based in New York.
The competition is open to anyone. You may submit 1-3 poems on any topic.
Poems must contain meter (beginners and students may simply count syllables). Rhyme and other traditional techniques are encouraged as well, but not required.
The poem should be written in 2021. They may be previously published.
Click here to read the winning poems from the last contest.
The winner will receive $2,000.
Story Unlikely’s Short Story Competition
Deadline: December 31, 2022
The short story contest is open to everyone with a brain (this is more restrictive than you think). There are no restrictions on genre: fantasy, sci fi, memoir, fiction/nonfiction, etc – we don’t care as long as it’s a good story. he $1,000 prize package will be divvied up like so: $500 first place, $300 second place, $200 third place. The winning story will be featured on Story Unlikely’s website. All three placing stories will be published in the monthly issue.
Author: Team VoW
Valley of Writers provides resources, tools, ideas and training for new writers. We work with a writers and contributors based around the world. Our primary focus is to equip new writers with skills to help them reach new audiences and achieve their goals.
