Awards
Coming Soon
CRAFT First Chapters Contest
Guest Judged by Rebecca Makkai
2023: June 1 – July 30
More details soon!
Past
CRAFT Character Sketch Challenge
Judged by the CRAFT Editorial Team
2023: May 15 to May 25
The 2023 Character Sketch Challenge will be awarded in July 2023. One winner, chosen by the editorial staff, will be awarded $500 with publication. Learn more here.
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Nana Nkweti
2023: March 1 to April 30
The 2023 Short Fiction Prize, for unpublished short stories from 1,000 to 5,000 words, will be awarded in October 2023. Guest Judge Nana Nkweti will choose three stories from a shortlist of fifteen. First place will receive $2,000 and a free four-issue subscription to Journal of the Month. Second and third place will receive $500 and $300, respectively. All three stories will be published with an author’s note and an introduction from the guest judge. Learn more here.
CRAFT Hybrid Writing Contest
Guest Judged by Nicole McCarthy
2023: January 3 to February 28
The 2023 Hybrid Writing Contest, for unpublished hybrid work up to 5,000 words, will be awarded in July 2023. Guest Judge Nicole McCarthy will choose one winner and two runner-ups. The winner will receive $1,000 and a free writing class from Project Write Now. Second- and third-place runner-ups will receive $300 and $200, respectively. All three hybrid pieces will be published with an author’s note and introduction from the guest judge. Learn more here.
CRAFT Creative Nonfiction Award
Guest Judged by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
2022: November 1 to December 29
Winners
Christian Bodney: “What I Do and Don’t Remember from the Days and Nights of Endlessly Smoking Crack and Shooting Heroin”
Lotte Mitchell Reford: “On Possessing a Body”
Amber Wong: “Where Am I From?”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Amelia Gray 2K Contest
Guest Judged by Amelia Gray
2022: September 1 to October 31
Winners
Sudha Balagopal: “Flapping Wings and a Shoeless Walk”
Katharine Duckett: “Birds x Bees”
Amy Grote: “Penny, Barbara, Ruth, Irene”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT First Chapters Contest
Guest Judged by Maisy Card
2022: May 3 to June 30
Winners
First Place: Leah Bailly, Vegaboy
Second Place: Sarah Harris Wallman, Angels and Bears
Third Place: Ra’Niqua Lee, Frenzied, Desperate Birds
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Alan Heathcock
2022: March 1 to May 1
Winners
First Place: Lisa K. Buchanan, “Question Twenty-Eight”
Second Place: Amy Stuber, “Ghosts”
Third Place: Billy Middleton, “Pine Barrens”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Hybrid Writing Contest
Judged by CRAFT Editorial Team
2022: February 1 to February 28
Winners
First Place: Chelsea Biondolillo, “Weeds”
Second Place: Christine Hume & Laura Larson, “All the Women I Know (Sandra, Dani, Roma, Alex)”
Third Place: Jade Hidle, “Census”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Creative Nonfiction Award
Guest Judged by Ira Sukrungruang
2021: November 1 to December 30
Winners
JT Baldassarre: “Roach Farm”
Amy Evans: “The Stoics”
Gina DeMillo Wagner: “Following Floodlights Instead of the Moon”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Flash Fiction Contest
Guest Judged by Robert Lopez
2021: September 1 to October 31
Winners
Amina Gautier : “What the Mouth Knows”
A.J. Rodriguez: “De Nuevo”
Pete Stevens: “Riders”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT First Chapters Contest
Guest Judged by Masie Cochran
2021: May 3 to June 30
Winners
First Place: Sam Simas, We the Liars
Second Place: Sena Moon, Familiar Strangers
Third Place: Leigh Camacho Rourks, When We Drowned
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Kirstin Valdez Quade
2021: March 1 to May 2
Winners
First Place—Willa Zhang: “Night Air”
Second Place—Leesa Fenderson: “Ugly”
Third Place—Cyn Nooney: “Just the Thing for a Day Like This”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Creative Nonfiction Award
Guest Judged by Joy Castro
2020: November 1 to December 31
Winners
Tammy Delatorre: “The Ties That Bind”
Clare Fielder: “What You Don’t Know”
Liz Harmer: “Catalogue for a Coming of Age”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Flash Fiction Contest
Guest Judged by Leesa Cross-Smith
2020: September 1 to November 1
Winners
Puloma Ghosh: “In the Winter”
Ruth LeFaive: “It Will Be All of These Things”
Arshia Simkin: “Everything Is Haram and So Are You; or, What to Do with a Birthday Card”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Elements Contest: Conflict
2020: June 1 to August 3
Winners
John Haggerty: “Shelter”
Tobey Hiller: “Splinter”
Eliana Ramage: “This Dreary Exile of Our Earthly Home“
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Alexander Chee
2020: March 1 to April 30
Winners
First Place—Jinwoo Chong: “Ariel”
Second Place—Rachel Pollon: “Yo Te Veo”
Third Place—Elie Piha: “Mule”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Flash Fiction Contest
Guest Judged by Benjamin Percy
2019: September 1 to October 31
Winners
Carol M. Quinn: “Epilogue”
Steven Simoncic: “Girls’ Weekend”
Hillary Smith: “How to Return Your Child to School”
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT First Chapters Contest
Guest Judged by Naomi Huffman of MCDxFSG & FSG Originals
2019: June 1 to July 31
Winners
First Place: Meg Richardson, Paradise Pawn
Second Place: Timothy Hickey, Little Squirrel
Third Place: Jonathan Bohr Heinen, Empire of Dirt
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Elizabeth McCracken
2019: March 1 to April 30
Winners
First Place: “Winters,” by Marilyn Hope
Second Place: “Every Bird a Rival,” by Jacqui Reiko Teruya
Third Place: “Assassin, Alchemist,” by Robert Ren
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Elements Contest: Character, Dialogue, Setting
2018: August 15 to September 30
Winners
Character: “So Much Trouble,” by Karin Lin-Greenberg
Dialogue: “Heart Trouble,” by Rex Adams
Setting: “Passing,” by Thaïs Miller
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Jim Shepard
2018: March 1 to April 30
Finalists
First Place: “Beyond Love,” by James Winter
Second Place: “Mule Brigade,” by Kenan Orhan
Third Place: “Proof You Worked the Land,” by Charlotte Crowe
Find our full list of honored contest entries here.