The February 2025 edition of "Get Submitting" is a monthly hand-curated list of the top five contests, grants, scholarships, submission calls, and awards. We try to prioritize opportunities that are at least one of the following: open to all genres, local, free to apply, and/or committed to celebrating and supporting writers from historically marginalized communities. We do the research, so you have more time for what matters: the writing.

Contests & Awards

Fiction Prize | Autumn House Press

Fee: $35; Award:$1,000 honorarium, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book; Deadline: February 28th

For the 2025 prize, the Autumn House staff as well as select outsider readers serve as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Alexandra Kleeman. The winner receives publication of their full-length manuscript and $2,500. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Women's Prose Prize | Red Hen Press

Fee: $25; Award: $1,000 and publication; Deadline: February 28th

Established in 2018, the Women’s Prose Prize is for previously unpublished, original work of prose. Novels, short story collections, memoirs, essay collections, and all other forms of prose writing are eligible for consideration. The awarded manuscript is selected through an annual competition which is open to all writers who identify as women. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

AWP Award Series | Association of Writers & Writing Programs

Fee: $30 for nonmembers and $20 for AWP members; Award: $5,500 and publication; Deadline: February 28th

The AWP Award Series is an annual competition for the publication of excellent new book-length works in Poetry, Short Fiction, Novel, and Creative Nonfiction. The AWP Award Series conducts an evaluation process of writers, for writers, by writers. AWP hires a staff of screeners who are writers themselves; the screeners review manuscripts for the judges. Typically, the screeners will select ten manuscripts in each genre for the judges’ final evaluations. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Fiction and Poetry Contest | Hayden's Ferry Review

Fee: $15; Award: $1000 and publication online in summer 2025 and in the fall/winter 2025 print issue; Deadline: February 28th

This year’s fiction judge is Gwen Kirby, author of Shit Cassandra Saw. And the poetry judge is Hieu Minh Nguyen, author of Not Here. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Submissions

Call for Submission | Narratives of Women of Color in Greater Boston

Fee: Free; Selection for the event; Deadline: February 12th

This is an open call for community music series dedicated to the stories, history, and narratives of women of color in Greater Boston. You are invited to submit any textual materials, including stories, poetry, prose, quotes, family letters, journals, book excerpts, etc. that reflect "Narratives of Women of Color in Greater Boston." Anyone from the community is welcome to share, and your submission is greatly appreciated!