Awards

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First Chapters Contest
Guest Judged by Kimberly King Parsons
2024: June 1 to August 4

The 2024 First Chapters Contest will be awarded in December 2024. The first-place winner will receive $2,000, online publication, a manuscript critique by Artful Editor, and an agent query workshop by Ladderbird Literary Agency. Second and third place will receive $500 and $300, respectively, online publication, and an agent query workshop. All three winners will be published with an introduction by Guest Judge Kimberly King Parsons. Learn more here.

Past

EcoLit Challenge
Judged by CRAFT Editors
2024: May 20 to May 30

The 2024 EcoLit Challenge will be awarded in October 2024. The winner, chosen by our editorial team, will receive $750 and publication. Learn more here.

Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Deesha Philyaw
2024: March 18 to May 19

The 2024 Short Fiction Prize will be awarded in October 2024. The first-place winner will receive $2,000, online publication, a free four-issue subscription from Journal of the Month, and a $500 Tech Bonus. Second- and third-place finalists will receive $500 and $300, respectively, and online publication. Guest Judge Deesha Philyaw will write an introduction for the top three stories. Learn more here.

Novelette Print Prize
Guest Judged by Hanna Pylväinen
2024: January 15 to March 17

The 2024 Novelette Print Prize will be awarded in December 2024. The winner will receive $3,000, online excerpt publication, print publication with foreword by Guest Judge Hanna Pylväinen, royalties on optional international drop-shipping, twenty author copies, and a free class of choice at The Loft Literary Center. Learn more here.

Memoir Excerpt & Essay Contest
Guest Judged by Sarah Fawn Montgomery
2023: November 13 to January 14

Winners
Chaya Bhuvaneswar: “Orchid,” Excerpt from Orchid: A Memoir
Elissa Lash: “Twelve”
Gabe Montesanti: “Bus Stop”

Find our full list of honored entries here.

Flash Prose Prize
Guest Judged by Kathy Fish
2023: September 1 to October 31

Winners
Annabel Li: “Analysis of a Fugue”
Heidi Richardson: “Southern Womb”
Rebecca Starks: “The Two Denvers”

Find our full list of honored entries here.

Setting Sketch Challenge
Judged by CRAFT Editors
2023: August 10 t0 August 20

Winner:
Gabrielle Hovendon: “North Country, New York”

Find our full list of honored entries here.

First Chapters Contest
Guest Judged by Rebecca Makkai
2023: June 1 to July 30

Winners
First Place: Sonny Buttar, The Bad One
Second Place: Melissa Yancy, The Golden Suicides
Third Place: Jill Rosenberg, My Demons

Find our full list of honored entries here.

Character Sketch Challenge
Judged by CRAFT Editors
2023: May 15 to May 25

Winner:
Naomi Melati Bishop: “Gordon Bishop”

Find our full list of honored entries here.

Short Fiction Prize
Guest Judged by Nana Nkweti
2023: March 1 to April 30

Winners
First Place: Chinonyelum Anyichie, “Blackbird”
Second Place: Uyen Dang, “A Line of Wings”
Third Place: Janey Tracey, “Cillian”

Find our full list of honored entries here.

Hybrid Writing Contest
Guest Judged by Nicole McCarthy
2023: January 3 to February 28

Winners:
First Place: Rowan McCandless, “Split Ends”
Second Place: Andrew Borneman, “The Babysitter”
Third Place: Baņuta Rubess, “Four Words Whispered on a Smoky Field”

Find our full list of honored entries here.

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?”