Contests

The Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award) is currently accepting applications for the Otherwise Fellowships, providing $500 grants for “writers, artists, scholars, media makers, remix artists, performers, musicians, or something else entirely. If you are doing work that is changing the way we think about gender through speculative narrative – maybe in a form we would recognize as the science fiction or fantasy genre, maybe in some other way – ...Read More

LeVar Burton Reads podcast, in partnership with Fiyah magazine, has announced a new short story writing contest with the theme “Origins & Encounters”. Submissions will be open August 1-31 with the winner announced on October 15, 2021. Submissions “must include speculative or fantastical elements.” Judges include LeVar Burton, L.D. Lewis, and Diana M. Pho.

First prize is $500, second prize $250, and third prize $100, with the winning story to ...Read More

Simon & Schuster has launched the Books Like Us First Novel Contest, “to facilitate accessibility to underrepresented writers and celebrate the diversity of readers across the United States.” Entries will be accepted June 1-14, 2021. Semi-finalists will be notified September 7, finalists on November 2, and the grand prize winner on December 14, 2021. The winner will be offered a $50,000 book deal with Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books. ...Read More

The Sapiens Plurum 2021 Short Fiction Contest is open to submissions on the theme of “Healthy Together: Innovations for One Health” through May 31, 2021. Authors must be 18 or older, and entries must be 1,500-3,000 words. First prize is $1,000, second prize $500, and third prize $300.

For more information, including complete rules and how to enter, see the Sapiens Plurum website.

While you are here, please take a ...Read More

Submissions are now open for the 2021 Crystal Lake Publishing Speculative Poetry Contest. First place will receive $200 and publication on Crystal Lake’s website, in Cepheus Rising magazine, and in HWA Poetry Showcase. Additionally, the first place poem will be translated into Italian and published in Molotov Magazine. Second place will receive $80, and third place $40. The judges are Linda D. Addison and Alessandro Manzetti. Deadline for submissions ...Read More

The QueerSciFi.com Flash Fiction Contest is open now through April 30, 2021, with the theme this year of “Ink”.

Tell us about ink (and the stain it leaves) on your characters, the culture, and the world, for better or worse.

We’ll be accepting works from across the queer spectrum, and would love to see more entries including lesbian, trans, bi, intersex and ace protagonists, as well as gay men. We ...Read More

Washington STEAM Multilingual Academy (WSMA) in Pasadena CA announced a new science fiction writing contest named in honor of alumnus Octavia E. Butler. Last year, the school renamed its library after Butler as well. Librarian Natalie Daily said,

It’s the idea of [Butler] representing a very, unique way of integrating science and the arts, and bringing that to the world and her award-winning writing. And we want to inspire our ...Read More

Submissions are now open for the Imagine 2200 short story contest. The theme is “Climate fiction for future ancestors.”

The contest is run by Fix, Grist‘s “solutions lab,” and will be judged by authors Adrienne Maree Brown, Morgan Jerkins, and Kiese Laymon. They are seeking entries between 3,000 and 5,000 words “that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress.”

First prize is $3,000, second prize $2,000, and third ...Read More

The 2020 Illinois Science Fiction in Chicago (ISFiC) short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction and fantasy has extended its deadline for submissions to November 27, 2020. First prize includes $300, publication in the Windycon 47 program book and on the ISFiC website, and membership and accommodations for Windycon 47, to be held at the Westin in Lombard, Illinois on November 12-14, 2021, COVID-permitting, featuring all of the ...Read More

The 2020 Illinois Science Fiction in Chicago (ISFiC) short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction and fantasy is open to submissions through November 13, 2020. First prize includes $300, publication in the Windycon 47 program book and on the ISFiC website, and membership and accommodations for Windycon 47. Up to two honorable mentions will each receive an “American 1 oz. Silver Coin.”

The contest is open to applicants ...Read More

The Dream Foundry short story contest “for beginning professionals” is open to submissions from August 10 – October 11, 2020. The contest is open to writers who have published, in total, fewer than 4,000 words, earned less than $320, and have never been nominated for a major award.

Contest coordinators will select ten finalists, and judges will select first, second, and third-place winners from those finalists. First prize is $1,000, ...Read More