The September 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

Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers | Boulevard

Fee: $18; Award: $1,000; Deadline: September 30th

Boulevard awards the winning essay, by a writer who has not yet published a book of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction with a nationally distributed press, with $1,000 and publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Fiction, Short Story Collection, and Nonfiction Book Prizes | Dzanc Books

Fee: $25; Award: $5,000, $2,500, $1,500 and Publication; Deadline: September 30th

The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative novels. This year’s judges are Tara Isabel Zambrano (Ruined a Little When We Are Born), Eugene Cross (Miss Me Forever), and Mubanga Kalimamukwento (Shipikisha). Also, the Short Story Collection Prize celebrates imaginative and inventive writing in book-length collections. And, the Nonfiction Prize recognizes innovative approaches, daring writing, and works of stunning journalism in book-length nonfiction manuscripts. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Short Fiction Competition | Zoetrope: All-Story

Fee: $30; Award: $1,000; Deadline: October 1st

The Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition is a catalyst for writing careers. Recent winners and honorable mentions have subsequently been recognized among the finalists for the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. They welcome short fiction of no more than five thousand words. Entries are vetted by a team of professional readers, and awards are adjudicated by guest judge, Jamel Brinkley. Visit the website for complete guidlines.

Fellowships

The Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship | One Story

Fee: $0; Award: $2,000 Stipend; Deadline: October 8th

Each year, together with the Talve-Goodman Family, One Story awards one writer the Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship. It offers a year-long mentorship on the craft of fiction writing with One Story magazine. This fellowship calls for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an advanced degree program (such as an MA or MFA) in Creative Writing, English, or Literature, and has no plans to attend one in the 2026 calendar year. They are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that centers, celebrates, or reclaims being marginalized through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

The Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship

Fee: $0; Award: $76,000; Deadline: October 15th

This scholarship is for any poet of American birth who is able and willing to spend one year outside the continent of North America. There is no age requirement, and there is no requirement that applicants be enrolled in a university or other education program. While many recent winners have been published poets, there is no requirement that applicants have previously published their work. Visit the website for complete guidelines.