<![CDATA[News]]> http://www.winningwritersee4.dreamhosters.com/ en jbreiter@aol.com Copyright 2026 2026-05-22T17:14:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Midnight & Indigo]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/midnight-indigo https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/midnight-indigo#When:17:14:00Z Deadline June 30 (must be received by this date). This literary journal specializes in work by Black women writers. They are currently open to submissions of creative nonfiction (1,200 words maximum), speculative fiction (2,000-7,000 words), and literary fiction (1,500-7,000 words). See website for descriptions of each genre. Accepted authors receive $150 per essay or 7 cents per word for short stories.

]]> 2026-05-22T17:14:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Giles St Aubyn Awards for Nonfiction]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-nonfiction-9 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-nonfiction-9#When:12:33:00Z Deadline July 6 (must be received by this date), formerly September 1. Highly recommended free contest gives top prize of 10,000 pounds to residents of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, who are writing their first major commissioned works of nonfiction for a general audience. Entries must be scheduled for publication in the UK or Ireland by a UK- or Ireland-based publisher, and the manuscript should be due to the publisher no earlier than April 1 of the year following the deadline. Applications should include a completed entry form, a draft chapter from the book (maximum 20 pages), a 2-page book synopsis with time frame for completion, a 2-page statement regarding your writing and your financial circumstances, a signed copy of the publishing contract, and a supporting letter from the editor. Author, agent, or publisher/editor may submit application online. Sponsored by the Royal Society of Literature and named after nonfiction author, history professor, and RSL Fellow Giles St Aubyn. Known as the Jerwood Awards prior to 2017.

]]> 2026-05-20T12:33:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Peter Blazey Fellowship]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/peter-blazey-fellowship-10 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/peter-blazey-fellowship-10#When:12:29:00Z Deadline July 27 (must be received by this date), formerly August 11. Recommended free contest sponsored by the University of Melbourne gives an Australian writer a fellowship of up to A$20,000 to further a work-in-progress in the nonfiction fields of autobiography, biography, or life writing. Applicant must have a publishing record. Manuscript cannot be part of a submission for a higher degree. Submit 2-page CV, 1-page synopsis, and 5,000-word writing sample from the manuscript online. Fellowship is named in honor of journalist, author, and gay activist Peter Blazey.

]]> 2026-05-20T12:29:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Griffin Poetry Prize]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/griffin-poetry-prize-4 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/griffin-poetry-prize-4#When:12:21:00Z Deadlines June 19, December 18 (must be received by these dates), formerly June 20, December 19. Highly recommended free contest gives C$130,000 for English-language poetry books published in the current calendar year, as well as C$10,000 for shortlisted entries and a debut Canadian author. Translations are eligible, with the prize split between author and translator. See website for detailed eligibility rules. Publisher should send 4 copies of book plus entry form and a press packet. This is one of the most lucrative poetry prizes, as well as one of the most prestigious. Prize is awarded once a year, but there are ordinarily two deadlines depending on when the book was published. For the "2027" award, books published between January 1-June 30, 2026 must be received by June 19, 2026, and those published between July 1-December 31 must be received by December 18, 2026.

]]> 2026-05-19T12:21:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Roscommon New Writing Award]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/roscommon-new-writing-award-6 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/roscommon-new-writing-award-6#When:12:08:00Z Deadline July 16 (must be received by this date), formerly May 26. Neutral free contest awards two top prizes of 500 euros for a poem, 30 lines maximum, or a short story, 2,000 words maximum, by a writer aged 18+ with a strong connection to Roscommon, Ireland: e.g. birth, current or former residency, education, or employment. Winning entries will be published in the Roscommon Herald. Send up to two entries (one per genre) along with an explanation of your connection to the county by email. Sponsored by the Roscommon County Council.

]]> 2026-05-19T12:08:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Arsenal Pulp Press: “Queer Little Daydreams” Anthology]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/arsenal-pulp-press-queer-little-daydreams-anthology https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/arsenal-pulp-press-queer-little-daydreams-anthology#When:23:34:00Z Deadline August 1 (must be received by this date). Arsenal Pulp Press, a well-regarded literary publisher in Canada, seeks submissions of unpublished poetry, short fiction, and speculative nonfiction by queer authors for an anthology that "purposefully plays with the speculative, strange, and surreal from a uniquely queer perspective...to imagine new worlds into being". The book will be edited by Adèle Barclay and David Ly, and published in 2027. Contributors receive a free copy. Editors say, "As we grapple with a grim political moment targeting queer and trans lives, our ability to dream is even more important." See website for more discussion of the theme, length limits, and formatting requirements.

]]> 2026-05-15T23:34:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/col-darron-l-wright-memorial-writing-awards-2 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/col-darron-l-wright-memorial-writing-awards-2#When:16:35:00Z Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1), formerly July 4. Neutral free contest gives prizes up to $250 and anthology publication for poetry, fiction, and essays by current and former US military service members and their immediate family (parents, siblings, children). Send 1-5 poems or one prose piece up to 5,000 words. Contest sponsor Line of Advance is a literary journal founded by veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

]]> 2026-05-11T16:35:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Subscriber News: May 2026]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/subscriber-news-may-2026 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/subscriber-news-may-2026#When:20:40:00Z Recent Honors

Congratulations to Jason Prokowiew. His book War Boys: A Father and Son Memoir will be published in July by Trio House Press. Read an interview with him on the Straw Dog Writers Guild website. War Boys braids his personal story of growing up queer with an abusive father, and his research into his father's history as a survivor of the Nazi invasion of Belarus in 1941.

Congratulations to Deborah Majors. Her poem "Just What Do You Do All Day While I'm at Work" was chosen by former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser as the winner of the 2026 Bill Hickok Award for Humor Poetry, sponsored by I-70 Review. The most recent submission period for this $1,000 prize was January 1-February 28.

Congratulations to Stephen Billias. His novel The Zen Time Traveler: A Pilgrim's Journey Through the Koans, a work of spiritual speculative fiction, will be published in June by Discovery Publishers. Pre-order at Barnes & Noble here. The book launch is scheduled for Sunday, July 12, at 2:00 pm at the Engaged Mindfulness Institute, 595B River Road, Deerfield, MA. Visit his website to learn more.

Congratulations to Noah Berlatsky. His poetry chapbook Someone Else was published by LJMcD Communications and is available as a free digital download. In other news, his poem "Poem Beginning With a Line by Amy Hempel" was published in Tulane Review (Spring 2026). Scroll down to pg.23 of the online issue.

Congratulations to Lesléa Newman. Her picture book Something Sweet: A Sitting Shiva Story is now out from Charlesbridge, with illustrations by Sarita Rich. In this story, a child learns about Jewish mourning customs by helping her friend grieve for his grandfather. In addition, Lesléa's picture book Rainbow Cookies was published by Levine/Querido, with illustrations by Z.B. Asterplume. A bakery of holiday-themed sweets celebrates Pride Month, but not everyone in the community is supportive.

Congratulations to Ranjith Sivaraman. His poetry collection An Earth Full of Gratitude was published by Wipf & Stock. Visit his website to learn more about his work.

Recent Publications

Ana M. Mahomar's poems "Palestine Sings" and "I woke up dreaming" were published in Toyon Multilingual Literary Magazine, an abolitionist and anti-colonial literary arts journal edited by students at Cal Poly Humbolt.

Louisa Prince's flash fiction "The Pearl Choker" was published in Sky Island Journal, Issue #35 (Spring 2026).

Rosetta Dorsa's poem "Rush Hour in NYC" was published in Superpresent Magazine (Spring 2026). The theme of this issue was "Beginnings".

Patricia Lee Lewis will be the featured reader at WOW (Westfield on Weekends) Writers Out Loud Guest Author Series on Thursday, May 21, at 7:00 pm at the WOW Center, 105 Elm Street, Westfield, MA. She will be reading from Thorns of the Mesquite (Levellers Press, 2025), her historical novel about a rancher's wife taking a stand against the Klan in 1930s Texas. Profits from the book sales will be donated to the ACLU and the domestic violence shelter Safe Passage. Patricia's work will also be featured in the event "Storytelling as Healing", sponsored by Safe Passage's Survivor Anthology Project, on Thursday, May 28 from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton, MA. Reserve your free ticket here.

Eileen P. Kennedy will launch her poetry collection Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Earth (Shanti Arts, 2026) at a reading on Sunday, June 28, at 2:00 pm at Cherry Hill Cohousing, 120 Pulpit Hill Road, Amherst, MA. The collection is an ekphrastic response to works by Norwegian artist Irene Christensen, who will also give a talk at the event. A poem in this collection, "Migration", was a past winner in our Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Jane McPhetres Johnson, a Cohousing resident, will read from her book Maven Reaches Mars. To attend online, email EileenPKennedy@yahoo.com for the Zoom link.

Michael Bondhus's poem "Body of Christ" was published in South Carolina Review. His poem "My Penis as a Bullet" was published in New York Quarterly.

Robert L. Giron was interviewed by Jim Masters at Close Up Radio about his work as editor of Gival Press and the literary journal ArLiJo. Listen to the two-part podcast here and here.

]]> 2026-05-06T20:40:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Blessing the Boats Selections]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/blessing-the-boats-selections-2 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/blessing-the-boats-selections-2#When:19:18:00Z Deadline June 15, formerly July 14. Recommended free contest from BOA Editions gives $1,500 honorarium and publication with a standard royalties package to a US woman poet of color for a book-length manuscript, between 65-120 pages. Cis, trans, and nonbinary people who are "comfortable in a space that centers on women's experiences" are encouraged to enter. Limit one entry per poet. Enter online or send your paper MS. by mail, along with your cover letter.

]]> 2026-05-06T19:18:00+00:00 <![CDATA[Hubert Butler Essay Prize]]> https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/hubert-butler-essay-prize-6 https://winningwriters.com/whats-new/hubert-butler-essay-prize-6#When:19:08:00Z Deadline July 3 (must be received by this date), formerly July 4. Neutral free contest awards prizes up to 2,500 pounds for English-language essays, maximum 3,000 words, by UK or European Union citizens aged 18+ on a theme that changes annually. For 2026, the theme is "Poetry makes nothing happen". Email your completed entry form along with your essay. Named after Irish essayist Hubert Butler, the prize is sponsored by the Ireland-based Kilkenny Arts Festival.

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