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We found nearly three dozen excellent free poetry and prose contests with deadlines between September 15-October 31. This issue features "Mushrooms" by Sylvia Plath, from Julian Peters' Nature Poems to See By. Annie Mydla details the character of an inciting incident that gets your book off to a great start.
The internet makes authors vulnerable to scammers, but subscriber James K. Zimmerman shows you can also use it to shut down suspicious inquiries. If you have a tip, recommendation, or warning, please email it to info@winningwriters.com.
Closing Soon!
TOM HOWARD/MARGARET REID POETRY CONTEST
24th year. Deadline: October 1. We will award $3,500 for a poem in any style or genre and $3,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $500 each (any style). The top 12 entries will be published online. The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Length limit: 250 lines per poem. Entry fee: $25 for a submission of 1-3 poems. Multiple submissions welcome. Final judge: Michal 'MJ' Jones, assisted by Dare Williams and Ezra Fox.
Coming next month: We'll announce the winners of our 34th annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest.
View past newsletters in our archives. Need assistance? Let us help. Join our 65,000 followers on Facebook and Bluesky. Advertise with us, starting at $20.
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Recent Honors and Publication Credits for Our Subscribers
Congratulations to Beth Ann Fennelly, Bruno George, Michael McKeown Bondhus, Mandy Shunnarah, Tamara Kaye Sellman, Lesléa Newman, Michal 'MJ' Jones, Don Mitchell, J Brooke, Patricia Lee Lewis, D M Gordon, Rick Lupert, and Cheryl J. Fish.
Winning Writers editor Jendi Reiter will be the featured reader at A Writer's Night Out on Thursday, October 8, at 6:45 pm at the Longmeadow Adult Center, 211 Maple Road in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Jendi and K.G. Keough-Huff will give a reading entitled "Poetry, Queer Identity and Changing the World" in the Voices for Resistance series on Saturday, October 10, at 2:00 pm at the Coolidge Museum in Forbes Library, 20 West Street in Northampton, Massachusetts. Both programs are sponsored by Straw Dog Writers Guild.
Have news? Please email it to jendi@winningwriters.com.
Do you use TikTok or Instagram? Send your news to the @winningwriters account so we can share it!
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Eyelands International Book Awards
Early Bird deadline: September 20
Submit your book to the 2026 Eyelands International Book Awards and win a holiday in Athens or have your book translated into Greek.
New: Writers' Choice Award! Prize winners vote for the best book! Offers another chance for a holiday in Athens!
24 prizes across 12 categories. Win a special handmade ceramic designed especially for the awards, plus a certification document for every prize.
Selected excerpts from the winning books will be published online with a translation into Greek.
Final deadline is October 20, but enter by September 20 for a reduced fee.
Categories include:
• Novel or novella of any genre
• Collection of short stories
• Poetry collection
• Historical fiction
• Memoir/Autobiography
• Children's or YA book, including graphic novels
• LGBTQIA+ (any genre with themes that relate to the community)
• Science Fiction & Fantasy/Magic Realism
• Crime/Thriller & Horror (novel or novella)
• Self-published book
• Special awards for short stories and poems by writers up to age 20
• Short play
Finalists will be announced on November 20, and final results on December 30. Learn more.
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Early Bird Special: 2027 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Early Bird deadline: September 30
Entries are now being accepted for the 2027 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the most exciting and rewarding book awards program open to independent publishers and authors worldwide who have a book written in English and released in 2025, 2026, or 2027 or with a 2025, 2026, or 2027 copyright date. Enter by September 30th and you can pick a second category for your book for FREE.
There are 80+ categories to choose from, so take advantage of this exciting opportunity to have your book considered for cash prizes, awards, exposure, possible representation by a leading literary agent, and recognition as one of the top independently published books of the year!
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Early Bird Special: 2027 Next Generation Short Story Awards
Early Bird deadline: September 30
The Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit international awards program for authors of short stories.
• Submissions accepted: Original unpublished short stories and poems in English (5,000 words or fewer)
• Categories: 30+
• Deadline: Thursday, January 28, 2027
• Prizes: Winners in each category receive $75 cash prizes, gold medals, digital stickers, story inclusion in a digital Anthology of Winners available free to all, social media coverage, and website exposure. Three Grand Prize Winners selected from all entries receive $500 for 1st Prize plus a trophy, $300 for 2nd Prize, and $200 for 3rd Prize, and are invited to attend an awards reception held in conjunction with the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
• Enter at: www.shortstoryawards.com
The Short Story Awards is offering an Early Bird Special during September to all writers. Enter and pay by September 30, 2026, and choose a second category for your story for free!
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A Supportive and Inspiring 4-Week Online Poetry Retreat Created by Poets for Poets
Presented by Two Sylvias Press
- October 5-November 1
If you participated in last year's online retreat (summer or fall), you will find that this retreat has all-new prompts, exercises, and reflection questions. Same style as the retreats in previous years, but with new material to inspire you!
For the fall retreat, the editors of Two Sylvias Press (Kelli Russell Agodon & Annette Spaulding-Convy) will critique your poem.
Note: Space is limited, so sign up early. This retreat is for people who have not already participated in our July or August retreats.
All you need for this retreat is access to your email and some writing time. Do as many or as few of the prompts and activities as you would like. It's a poetry writing retreat you can do from your own home on your OWN schedule! We provide the prompts, writing exercises, and inspiration—directly to your email box!
The 4-week Online Poetry Retreat includes the following:
- Daily poem prompts and writing exercises developed specifically for the retreat.
- One poem critiqued by the editors at Two Sylvias Press, Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy.
- Example poems and exercises/prompts emailed to you throughout the week (Monday-Friday), with weekends left open for focused writing and revision.
See testimonials from satisfied poets and register now for the fall retreat.
Annie in the Middle
Bang! Choosing an Inciting Incident
By Annie Mydla, managing editor
In your quest for the best way to start your book, consider these two questions:
1. What is the normal pattern of life before my story starts?
2. What interferes with that pattern?
The answer to question 2 will be your inciting incident. Of course, there are other angles to consider. An inciting incident isn't necessarily just something that "happens". It's part of a pattern of escalating tension and release that culminates with the climax and concludes with the resolution. It intersects with other developmental concerns like narrative emphasis, scope, genre expression, target audience, style, motif/symbol/metaphor, and more.
All of these factors can be leveraged to help you choose the perfect inciting incident for your book...
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The Missouri Review's 36th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize
Deadline: October 1
$5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry
Winners receive a cash prize, publication in the Spring 2027 issue of the Missouri Review, and promotion across our social media channels.
Guidelines
• Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 7,500 words or any number of poems between 6 to 12 pages. Please double-space fiction and nonfiction entries.
• Multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions are welcome, but you must pay a separate fee for each entry and withdraw the piece immediately if accepted elsewhere.
• Entries must be previously unpublished.
• Standard Entry fee: $25. Each entrant receives a one-year subscription to the Missouri Review in digital format (normal price $24) and a digital copy of the latest title in our imprint, Missouri Review Books, a short story anthology by former contributors (normal price $7.95).
• "All Access" Entry fee: $30. In addition to the one-year digital subscription to the Missouri Review and Missouri Review Books e-book, this entry fee grants access to the last 10 years of digital issues and the audio recordings of each digital issue.
Read prizewinning stories by Melissa Yancy, Rachel Yoder, and Thomas Dodson, essays by Peter Selgin and Dave Zoby, and a selection from poetry winners Katie Bickham, Kai Carlson-Wee, and Alexandra Teague. You can also check out readings and conversations with past winners on our YouTube channel.
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Submit Now. Set 2027 Up for Success.
September Tip
A Question Sent the 'Book Club' Packing
Subscriber James K. Zimmerman is the author of Unbroken Circle, Unending Thread (Fernwood Press, 2026) and several other poetry books. A little targeted questioning may have saved him $100 recently.
"There are a lot of scams out there where they laud your book and want you to read or present to their 'reading group'. Most of them are quite obvious, largely because their description of the book is lifted directly from its back cover or publisher's promotional text. I got one recently that was more sophisticated than most, from someone named Jillian Hiscock, from a purported group named 'A Book of Their Own'. When I questioned further, she acknowledged there would be an upfront fee of $100. Thanks to AI, I discovered that she established and runs a bar in Minneapolis called A Bar of Their Own, and also supposedly does promotional work for writers, etc. She denied her connection to the bar, but when confronted, she hasn't responded further to any emails."
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Pumpkin Guts: The Perfect Read for Halloween
Winner, 2025 North Street Book Prize, Graphic Novel & Memoir
This Halloween horror adventure is perfect for those who are passionate about the holiday and all things spooky! It tells the tale of Nancy and the Ravens, a gang of rambunctious friends who just want to have some fun on Halloween night.
The Ravens do what any teenagers would do—decide to attend a mysterious local Halloween festival. The fear gets real when Lord Hallow'en, an ancient evil sorcerer tied to Halloween's past, wreaks havoc on the festivalgoers. Using a magical ember, Lord Hallow'en transforms the carnival's costumed actors and guests into an army of hideous demons who kidnap Nancy's closest friend, Katrina. To save her, the Ravens must battle ghouls, spooks, and their worst nightmares.
As a bloody dawn looms, the Ravens race to save Katrina's soul. Can they thwart Lord Hallow'en? Will anyone even make it out alive? It's an epic Halloween adventure, a 300-page masterpiece that puts the graphic in graphic novel, the monstrous fruit of ten years' devotion by author Jacoby Matott!
"...a colorfully grotesque graphic novel that pays homage to teen slasher movies, with sassy characters who crack jokes about the tropes that they're reenacting...
"The plot is straight out of pulp fiction, yet the story has emotional weight for the same reason as a good Stephen King gore-fest: likeable characters with relatable stakes. A close-knit high school friend group, banned from the Halloween dance by their grouchy teacher (Breakfast Club vibes!), try to have a special evening together at the carnival, knowing that graduation will soon separate them. One of them, Nancy, is also grieving her grandfather's recent death. Halloween was their special holiday. Meanwhile, a homicidal escaped convict is on the loose, seeking an artifact that will turn him back into the immortal Lord Hallow'en, an evil sorcerer with links to the holiday's origins."
From the critique by Jendi Reiter, final judge of the North Street Book Prize
Spotlight Contests (no fee)
Some contests are best suited to writers at the early stages of their careers. Others are better for writers with numerous prizes and publications to their credit. Here is this month's selection of Spotlight Contests for your consideration:
Emerging Writers
Solstice Nature Prize for Young Writers. Writing East Midlands CIC will award 100 pounds in each age category (7-11, 12-14, 15-17, and 18-25 years) for unpublished nature-themed poems, stories, or blog posts by young writers residing in the UK. Entries must be received by October 10 (new deadline).
Intermediate Writers
Zocalo Public Square Book Prize. Zocalo Public Square will award $10,000 for the best US-published nonfiction book, published or forthcoming in the current calendar year, that best enhances our understanding of community and the forces that strengthen or undermine human connectedness and social cohesion. Books may be scholarly or general-interest nonfiction from a variety of disciplines including philosophy, history, journalism, and political science. One copy of book must be received by October 16 (new deadline).
Advanced Writers
Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. The Amy Lowell Trust will award a fellowship of about $78,000 for US poets, to fund a year of travel outside North America. While contest is open to all, poets with significant publishing credits have the best chance. Send two copies of application and include 40 pages of poetry OR published book and maximum 20 pages of additional (more recent) poetry. Applications must be received by October 15.
See more Spotlight Contests for emerging, intermediate, and advanced writers within The Best Free Literary Contests database.
Winning Writers Contest
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Deadline: October 1
TOM HOWARD PRIZE: $3,500 for a poem in any style or genre
MARGARET REID PRIZE: $3,500 for a poem that rhymes
or has a traditional style
The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $500 each (any style)
Submit published or unpublished work. Top 12 entries published online.
Judged by Michal 'MJ' Jones, assisted by Dare Williams and Ezra Fox.
Recommended by Reedsy as one of The Best Writing Contests of 2026.
Submit 1-3 poems for one $25 entry fee.
Calls for Submissions
Winning Writers finds open submission calls and free contests in a variety of sources, including FundsforWriters, Erika Dreifus' Practicing Writer newsletter, Erica Verrillo's blog, Authors Publish, Lit Mag News Roundup, Poets & Writers, Duotrope, and literary journals' own newsletters and announcements.
• Indigo (experimental poetry and short prose - September 30)
• Independence Literary Review: "Healthcare and Healing" Folio (poetry, fiction, essays, and art on this theme - October 1)
• Showcase Quarterly (poetry and prose about escaping high-control environments - October 9)
• Consequence Magazine: The America Feature/The Iran Feature (creative writing and literary translations about geopolitical violence - October 15)
• MIDLVLMAG: "Human Capital" Issue (creative writing about the human impact of the work environment - October 31)
• The Perch: "The Mix" Issue (creative writing on the burdens and gifts of mental illness - October 31)
Highlights from our Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest Archives
This month, editor Jendi Reiter presents some of our favorite poems from our Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. There are many more in our Contest Archives.
"Happy Childhoods"
by F.J. Bergmann
Honorable Mention
2019 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
"Suddenly, She Can't Finish Sentences When She Tries to Order Starbucks"
by Tamara Sellman
Honorable Mention
2019 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest (Traditional Verse category)
"American Alien"
by Imane Terhmina
Honorable Mention
2020 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest (Traditional Verse category)
"afro/latina/a"
by Edythe Rodriguez
First Prize
2021 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest (Traditional Verse category)
"Aria"
by Tawanda Mulalu
Honorable Mention
2021 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Comics
"Mushrooms" by Sylvia Plath
Illustrated by Julian Peters
"Mushrooms" appears in Nature Poems to See By, a new volume from Julian Peters available in ebook and hardcover formats. Order from the publisher or Amazon.
The Last Word by Jendi Reiter
September Links Roundup: Write for Spite
I often say that I write for lust, money, or revenge—hence this series about horny gay men working through their trauma. So I appreciated Hollis Robbins' essay "Notes on Spite" in the Pittsburgh Review of Books.
Jendi Reiter is the editor of Winning Writers. Visit their website and subscribe to their Substack.
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