News

The Literary Times Magazine: “Half-Being” Issue

2026-06-08T19:56:00+00:00

Call for submissions: received by June 30

Deadline June 30 (must be received by this date). The Literary Times Magazine is a digital journal of experimental and original literature. For Issue 8, they are seeking unpublished poetry, fiction, essays, hybrid-genre work, and art on the theme "Half-Being". Reprints may be eligible if the original publisher is defunct. See website for length limits for each genre. Editors explain the theme as follows: "Half-Being describes a subject who is not unified but split within itself...We are looking for work that engages with identity in states of fracture, contradiction, or multiplicity. We are interested in writing where the self is not stable or singular, but shifting, divided, or uncertain in its own continuity."

Ploughshares

2026-06-01T19:58:00+00:00

Call for submissions: received by November 15

Deadline November 15 (must be received by this date). Ploughshares, a prestigious literary journal published by Emerson College, is open to submissions of unpublished poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and translations. Send 3-5 pages of poetry or up to 6,500 words of prose. This is a paying market.

Agita Publishing: “Side Hustle” Horror Anthology

2026-06-01T19:24:00+00:00

Call for submissions: received by June 14

Deadline June 14 (must be received by this date). Agita Publishing, an indie press for speculative fiction, is seeking unpublished short horror and dark science fiction for an anthology called Side Hustle: Horror Stories for Late Capitalism. Imagine the stress and exploitation of gig work with a supernatural element that makes it even darker. One story per author, 1,000-5,000 words. Deadline extended to June 21 for BIPOC, queer, and disabled authors, to encourage diverse representation. See thematic suggestions on website.

Midnight & Indigo

2026-05-22T17:14:00+00:00

Call for submissions: received by June 30

Deadline June 30 (must be received by this date). This literary journal specializes in work by Black women writers. They are currently open to submissions of creative nonfiction (1,200 words maximum), speculative fiction (2,000-7,000 words), and literary fiction (1,500-7,000 words). See website for descriptions of each genre. Accepted authors receive $150 per essay or 7 cents per word for short stories.

Giles St Aubyn Awards for Nonfiction

2026-05-20T12:33:00+00:00

10,000 pounds prize, deadline change: received by July 6

Deadline July 6 (must be received by this date), formerly September 1. Highly recommended free contest gives top prize of 10,000 pounds to residents of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, who are writing their first major commissioned works of nonfiction for a general audience. Entries must be scheduled for publication in the UK or Ireland by a UK- or Ireland-based publisher, and the manuscript should be due to the publisher no earlier than April 1 of the year following the deadline. Applications should include a completed entry form, a draft chapter from the book (maximum 20 pages), a 2-page book synopsis with time frame for completion, a 2-page statement regarding your writing and your financial circumstances, a signed copy of the publishing contract, and a supporting letter from the editor. Author, agent, or publisher/editor may submit application online. Sponsored by the Royal Society of Literature and named after nonfiction author, history professor, and RSL Fellow Giles St Aubyn. Known as the Jerwood Awards prior to 2017.

Peter Blazey Fellowship

2026-05-20T12:29:00+00:00

A$20,000 prize, deadline change: received by July 27

Deadline July 27 (must be received by this date), formerly August 11. Recommended free contest sponsored by the University of Melbourne gives an Australian writer a fellowship of up to A$20,000 to further a work-in-progress in the nonfiction fields of autobiography, biography, or life writing. Applicant must have a publishing record. Manuscript cannot be part of a submission for a higher degree. Submit 2-page CV, 1-page synopsis, and 5,000-word writing sample from the manuscript online. Fellowship is named in honor of journalist, author, and gay activist Peter Blazey.

Griffin Poetry Prize

2026-05-19T12:21:00+00:00

C$130,000 prize, deadline change: received by June 19, December 18

Deadlines June 19, December 18 (must be received by these dates), formerly June 20, December 19. Highly recommended free contest gives C$130,000 for English-language poetry books published in the current calendar year, as well as C$10,000 for shortlisted entries and a debut Canadian author. Translations are eligible, with the prize split between author and translator. See website for detailed eligibility rules. Publisher should send 4 copies of book plus entry form and a press packet. This is one of the most lucrative poetry prizes, as well as one of the most prestigious. Prize is awarded once a year, but there are ordinarily two deadlines depending on when the book was published. For the "2027" award, books published between January 1-June 30, 2026 must be received by June 19, 2026, and those published between July 1-December 31 must be received by December 18, 2026.

Roscommon New Writing Award

2026-05-19T12:08:00+00:00

500 euros prize, deadline change: received by July 16

Deadline July 16 (must be received by this date), formerly May 26. Neutral free contest awards two top prizes of 500 euros for a poem, 30 lines maximum, or a short story, 2,000 words maximum, by a writer aged 18+ with a strong connection to Roscommon, Ireland: e.g. birth, current or former residency, education, or employment. Winning entries will be published in the Roscommon Herald. Send up to two entries (one per genre) along with an explanation of your connection to the county by email. Sponsored by the Roscommon County Council.

Arsenal Pulp Press: “Queer Little Daydreams” Anthology

2026-05-15T23:34:00+00:00

Call for submissions: received by August 1

Deadline August 1 (must be received by this date). Arsenal Pulp Press, a well-regarded literary publisher in Canada, seeks submissions of unpublished poetry, short fiction, and speculative nonfiction by queer authors for an anthology that "purposefully plays with the speculative, strange, and surreal from a uniquely queer perspective...to imagine new worlds into being". The book will be edited by Adèle Barclay and David Ly, and published in 2027. Contributors receive a free copy. Editors say, "As we grapple with a grim political moment targeting queer and trans lives, our ability to dream is even more important." See website for more discussion of the theme, length limits, and formatting requirements.

Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards

2026-05-11T16:35:00+00:00

$250 prize, deadline change: received by July 31

Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1), formerly July 4. Neutral free contest gives prizes up to $250 and anthology publication for poetry, fiction, and essays by current and former US military service members and their immediate family (parents, siblings, children). Send 1-5 poems or one prose piece up to 5,000 words. Contest sponsor Line of Advance is a literary journal founded by veterans of the war in Afghanistan.