Kentucky Monthly’s 11th Annual Writers’ Showcase seeks poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or the opening paragraph of a novel. Winners will be published in the February 2019 Kentucky Monthly. See website for submission criteria, guidelines, and entry fees. Deadline Dec. 10.
Hamlin Garland Award for short stories up to 7,000 words. Prize: $2,000 and publication. Entry fee $20. Deadline Dec. 10.
LEO Weekly seeks fiction, poetry, graphic novels, cartoons, and photography. Winners published in February 2019 Literary LEO. Enter online. Entry fee $5. Deadline Dec. 24.
New Issues Prize for a first book (40+ pages) of poems. Prize: $1,000, publication, and a paid reading at Western Michigan University. Entry fee $15. Deadline Dec. 30.
Danahy Fiction Prize seeks stories from 500 to 5,000 words. Prize: $1,000 and publication in Tampa Review. Entry fee $20. Deadline Dec. 31.
Nowhere Writing Contest seeks stories that possess a powerful sense of place. Stories can be fiction, nonfiction or essay; indicate genre at the top of the manuscript. Prize: $1,000 and publication in Nowhere. Entry fee $20. Deadline Dec. 31.
River Styx Micro-Fiction Contest seeks stories up to 500 words; up to three stories per entry. Prize: $1,500 and publication. Entry fee $10. Deadline Dec. 31.
Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction seeks stories up to 10,000 words, all genres and styles. Prize: $1,000 and publication in Lascaux Review. Entry fee $10. Deadline Dec. 31.
Boulevard Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers seeks stories up to 8,000 words by emerging writers. Prize: $1,500 and publication in Boulevard. Entry fee $16. Deadline Dec. 31.
Wicked Woman Book Competition seeks book-length (42 to 64 pages) poetry collections thematically connected by the “wicked woman” theme. Prize: $250 and publication by BrickHouse Books. Entry fee $10. Deadline Jan. 1.
James Knudsen Prize for original, unpublished fiction up to 7,500 words. Prize: $1,000 and consideration for publication in Bayou magazine. Entry fee $20. Deadline Jan. 1.
Information about contests, markets, and grants is provided as a service to writers, and is not an endorsement of any particular contest or sponsoring organization. Always check contest websites for complete rules.