The following is a list of awards for magazines and presses, organized by the month during which the submission deadlines typically occur. Please visit the sponsoring organization’s website for updated information and exact deadlines. To submit awards to be added to this list, contact us at [email protected].
January
For Presses
The $10,000 Translation Prize, presented by the French-American Foundation, awards translators of fiction and nonfiction “for excellent translations from French into English.” There is no entry fee.
The Georgia Author of the Year Awards, presented by the Georgia Writers Association, acknowledges authors who currently or have lived in the state of Georgia and who published a book or chapbook in the previous year. Entry fee: $60.
The Mass Book Awards recognize significant works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s/young adult literature, and translation published by current Commonwealth residents. There is no entry fee.
The $500 Midland Authors Awards, presented by the Society of Midland Authors, recognize book writing excellence by Midwestern authors in several categories. Entry fee: $25.
For Literary Magazines
The £10,000 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing is awarded annually to a previously published short story by an African writer.
The Best Small Fictions, published by The Sonder Press, is an annual anthology featuring previously published short hybrid fiction.
February
For Presses
The Levis Reading Prize, given by Virginia Commonwealth University, honors the best first or second book of poetry published in the previous calendar year. There is no submission fee.
The $1,000 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award is given annually by the Academy of American Poets for a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year. There is no submission fee.
The $10,000 Raiziss/de Palchi Book Prize is given every other year by the Academy of American Poets for the translation into English of a significant work of modern Italian poetry. Publishers may submit books published in any year, but only books published in the United States by living translators are eligible. There is no submission fee.
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards, presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group in cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen O’Shea Literary Agency, honor independently published books in more than 70 categories. Submission fee: $60-75.
For Presses and Literary Magazines
The Maine Literary Awards, sponsored by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, are given for published books, as well as drama, short works (either published or unpublished), and student writing by Maine residents.
March
For Literary Magazines
The $1,000 National Program Directors’ Prize, awarded by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, is given annually to honor outstanding undergraduate literary magazines in the categories of content and design. There is no submission fee.
April
For Presses
The $5,000 Italian Prose in Translation Award is given annually by the American Literary Translators for an exceptional work of translated Italian fiction or literary nonfiction published in the previous year. There is no submission fee.
The $2,500 National Translation Awards in Prose and Poetry are given annually by the American Literary Translators Association for exceptional books of translated prose and poetry published in the previous year. Submission fee: $30-50.
The $5,000 Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize is given annually by the American Literary Translators Association for an outstanding book of poetry or a text from Zen Buddhism, translated from Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, or Vietnamese into English and published in the previous year. There is no submission fee.
The Northern California “Golden Poppy” Book Awards recognize the most distinguished books written by writers and artist who make Northern California their home. They are given for books published in the preceding year in the following categories: fiction, nonfiction, cooking & food, mystery, poetry, young adult, middle grade, children’s picture book, mirrors & windows, and regional interest. Residency exceptions can be made for titles nominated in the regional and mirrors & windows categories. Nominated books must be sent directly to the members of the relevant committee. (The deadline for books published in the first half of the year is usually in April.)
The $25,000 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction is given to a writer for a single, published work of imaginative fiction. Anyone can nominate eligible titles published in the U.S. in English or in translation to English. There is no submission fee.
The $40,000 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant is awarded annually to
as many as ten writers in the process of completing a book-length work of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general readership. Projects must be under contract with a publisher in the U.S., U.K., or Canada to be eligible. There is no submission fee.
May
For Presses
The $5,000 James Laughlin Award, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, is given to honor a second full-length poetry collection that is under contract with a U.S. publisher and scheduled to be published between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. The prize includes an all-expenses-paid weeklong residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. There is no submission fee.
The $25,000 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year. The prize includes a ten-day residency at Glen Hollow in Naples, New York. Submission fee: $75.
The $10,000 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction is given annually for a novel set in the South and published in the previous year. There is no submission fee.
The National Book Awards are given annually to works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people’s literature, and translated literature. All submitted books must be published by U.S. publishers located in the United States during the previous year. Entry fee: $135.
The PubWest Book Design Awards are given annually to books published or produced in North America in the past year, judged in several categories for overall design and production quality. Submission fee: $75-100.
June
For Presses
The Housatonic Book Awards are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published in the previous year. Three winners receive $1,000 each in addition to $500 in travel expenses to give a reading and teach a master class at Western Connecticut State University’s low-residency MFA program. There is a $25 submission fee.
July
For Presses
The Northern California “Golden Poppy” Book Awards recognize the most distinguished books written by writers and artist who make Northern California their home. They are given for books published in the preceding year in the following categories: fiction, nonfiction, cooking & food, mystery, poetry, young adult, middle grade, children’s picture book, mirrors & windows, and regional interest. Residency exceptions can be made for titles nominated in the regional and mirrors & windows categories. Nominated books must be sent directly to the members of the relevant committee. (The deadline for books published in the second half of the year is usually in July.)
The $1,000 Jan Garton Prairie Heritage Book Award is given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction published in the previous year that “illuminates the heritage of America’s mid-continental prairies.” There is no submission fee.
The $20,000 Story Prize is given annually for a short story collection for books published in the previous year. Publishers, authors, or agents may submit two copies of a book published between January through June. There is a $75 submission fee.
For Literary Magazines
The Best of the Net Anthology features previously published poems, stories, and essays submitted by the editor of the publication in which they originally appeared. There is no submission fee.
The Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) Award, given by the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), publicly recognizes excellent literary magazines produced by students with the support of their teachers. Entry fee: $25 (waived for first-time submitters).
August
For Presses
PEN America awards close to $350,000 to writers and translators through its Literary Awards series.
The $15,000 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, presented by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, honors outstanding novels or short-story collections from rising African American authors. There is no submission fee.
The $2,000 Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize is given annually for the best poetry collection published between July and June by a resident of Upstate New York. There is no submission fee.
For Literary Magazines
The O. Henry Prize honors stories that are published in magazines distributed in North America. Twenty winners are included annually in The Best Short Stories of the Year: The O. Henry Prize Winners. Editors are invited to submit any short stories—including works in translation but not including novel excerpts—published in print or online in PDF form to [email protected]; ideally each story should be sent in its own PDF labeled with the name of the publication and the date of the story’s publication, and editors should not indicate which story in an issue is their favorite. Stories are considered from July 1 to July 1 of the following year. Stories received after July 1 will automatically be considered for the following volume of The Best Short Stories of the Year: The O. Henry Prize Winners. There is no submission fee and no maximum number of submissions per magazine.
September
For Presses
The $1,500 Foreword Indies Books Awards are given in a range of categories for books published by independent publishers in the previous year. Winners are promoted to booksellers and librarians, among other industry professionals. Submission fee: $89.
The $10,000 New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award is given annually to an American writer age 35 or younger for either a novel or collection of short stories.
The Oregon Books Awards are given for books poetry, fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, children’s literature, young adult, and drama by Oregon residents whose legal residence is in Oregon at least six months of the year.
The Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition is given for the best self-published and small-press books. Winners receive editorial coverage in Shelf Unbound. The submission fee is $100.
October
For Literary Magazines and Presses
The $2,000 AWP Small Press Publisher Award is an annual prize for nonprofit presses and literary journals that recognizes the important role such organizations play in publishing creative works and introducing new authors to the reading public. There is no submission fee.
For Presses
The $15,000 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is given for a novel, novella, or short story collection published in the previous year. Four finalists receive $5,000 each. There is no submission fee.
The $15,000 Pulitzer Prizes are given for books of poetry, fiction, general nonfiction, and biography, and history published in the previous year. The submission fee is $75.
The €10,000 John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize is given for a debut poetry collection written in the English language and published in the previous year. There is no submission fee.
November
For Presses
The CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature are given annually to celebrate books that make a significant contribution to our literary culture and the publishers that strive to introduce important voices to readers far and wide. Prizes are awarded in the categories of Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry, as well as Magazine/General Excellence and Magazine/Best Debut. Each winner in the books category receives $2,000–$1,000 for the press and $1,000 for the author or translator. Entry fee: $25-65.
The $50,000 Gotham Book Prize honors a work of nonfiction or fiction set in or about New York City.
The Lammy’s, given by Lambda Literary, honor the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books published in the previous calendar year.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize is a prize dedicated to supporting small presses publishing literary fiction in the United States and Canada. Presses on the prize’s longlist and shortlist will divide the total award amount of $35,000.
The $20,000 Story Prize is given annually for a short story collection for books published in the previous year. Publishers, authors, or agents may submit two copies of a book published between July through December.
The $10,000 University of North Texas Rilke Prize is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published at least two previous collections. Publishers or authors may submit three copies of a book published between November and October.
For Literary Magazines
The CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature honor literary magazines that make a significant contribution to our literary culture in the categories of Best Debut and General Excellence. Each winner in the magazine categories receives $1,000. Entry fee: $25-65.
The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes 12 emerging writers each year for their debut short story published in a literary magazine, journal, or cultural website. There is no submission fee.
The Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes are given triennially to eight literary magazines. Applicants must be based in the US; be a federally-recognized nonprofit classified as a public charity (or fiscally sponsored by one); and have published at least annually in the past three years to be considered eligible. Initial applications are due in late November.
December
For Presses
The American Book Awards are given annually for books published in the previous year that make an outstanding contribution to American literature. There is no submission fee.
The $10,000 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize outstanding books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction published in the previous year that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity. There is no submission fee.
The $500 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Awards are given in the categories of first novelist, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for books by African American authors published in the previous year. The awards acknowledge outstanding achievement in the presentation of the cultural, historical, and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora. There is no submission fee.
The $5,000 W. Y. Boyd Literary Award, sponsored by The American Library Association, is given annually for a novel set in a period when the United States was at war. Publishers or authors may submit seven copies of a book published in the previous year.
The $5,000 Cabell First Novelist Award, given by Virginia Commonwealth University, honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. There is no submission fee.
The California Book Awards are given annually to books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published in the previous year about California or by a California author. There is no submission fee.
The $4,000 Friends of American Writers Awards are given annually to books of fiction or creative nonfiction published in the previous year set in the Midwest or by a Midwestern author. There is no submission fee.
The C$65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize is given annually in two categories—international and Canadian—for the best collection of poetry in English published during the preceding year. One prize goes to a living Canadian poet or translator, the other to a living poet or translator from any country, which may include Canada. For books published between July and December, the deadline is in December; the 2020 deadline for all books is December 31.
The National Book Critics Circle Awards honor the finest books published in English in six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, and Criticism. Beginning in 2022, NBCC will also present the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize, honoring the best book of any genre translated into English and published in the United States. Publishers should send books published in the calendar year by December 1.
The Pattis Family Foundation Global Cities Book Award, presented by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, is given annually for books published in the previous year that improve our collective knowledge of actors, communities, and/or institutions that significantly shape global cities. There is no submission fee.
For Literary Magazines
The Best American Series invites submissions of essays, stories, poems, and more from editors of the publications in which these works appeared. There is no submission fee.
- Best American Short Stories. Editors should send their publications to Heidi Pitlor (c/o The Best American Short Stories, P.O. Box 60, Natick, MA, 01760). Stories published by online journals and magazines should be sent to [email protected]. Stories must typically be received by December 31 of the year that they were published.
- Best American Poetry. Submissions to Best American Poetry should be sent to the series editor, David Lehman, as well as the individual editor that year.
- Best American Essays. Writers and editors should submit published essays from any American periodical published in the previous year to: Robert Atwan (Robert Atwan Series Editor, The Best American Essays 995 E. Green St. #436 Pasadena, CA 91106-2410). The deadline for essay nominations typically occurs in February.
- Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Editors and authors should submit eligible stories via the Moksha portal or full magazine issues, anthologies, or collections to [email protected], typically by December 1.
The $20,000 Four Quartets Prize is given annually by the Poetry Society of America for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book. There is no submission fee.
The Pushcart Prizes accepts up to six nominations each from print or online magazines and small presses of poetry, short stories, essays, memoirs, or stand-alone excerpts from novels for its annual prize anthology. There is no submission fee.