8 Submissions Due by March 31

Eight submissions open with a March 31 due date:

1. EYE CONTACT AWARD IN GENRE FLASH FICTION

https://sites.google.com/setonhill.edu/eyecontact/guidelines/genre-flash-fiction-prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Theme Symphony. Genre Fantasy. Submit the best genre story that lands 1000 words or less by the deadline — and that also fits the theme — and you could not only be accepted into the magazine but win a cash prize (or gift card equivalent) of $250!

2. COPPICE PRIZE
https://www.redbudwriting.org/coppice-prize-2026
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The Coppice Prize is an annual short story competition run by the Redbud Writing Project. Every year, we invite writers around the world to submit a short story, up to 4000 words. The contest is open to writers who identify as belonging to marginalized or under-represented groups (e.g. cultural identity, income level of your family, racial identity, gender identity, disability, or something else). Winners and the finalist receive review and feedback from a literary agent. Winners also receive $600 (first place), $300 (second place) and $100 (third place).

3. CLAIRE HARRIS POETRY PRIZE
https://gooselane.com/pages/claire-harris-poetry-prize-submissions

NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Eligible writers include Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada who are writers from Black, Indigenous, or other racialized communities and who have not previously published a book-length collection of poetry. (Poets who have published a chapbook, but not yet a book-length collection, are eligible to apply). Manuscripts should be book-length works of poetry, i.e., approximately 48-100 pages. The prize includes a cash award of $1,000, a contract for the publication of the collection under the icehouse poetry imprint in the following year (2027), and public readings in at least three Canadian cities.

4. FOLEY POETRY CONTEST

https://americamedia.submittable.com/submit
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Each entrant is asked to submit one poem of 45 lines or fewer. Poems should not be under consideration elsewhere. Poems may address any topic. The winning poem will be announced in early June and published in the print edition of America. The cash prize is $1,000. Three runners-up will also be published in subsequent issues.

 

5. PARSEC SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://parsec-sff.org/short-story-contest/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The 2026 Contest theme is "Metamorphosis." No minimum, no more than 3500 words. Stories will be judged on writing quality and effective use of the contest theme. The contest is open to non-professional writers who have not met the eligibility requirements for SFWA Full Membership. Writers meeting the SFWA Associate level of membership are eligible to submit to the contest. Submitting to the contest implies consent for printing in the Confluence program book and publication in a short story contest ebook that will be distributed to Parsec members. First-place receives $200 and publication in the Confluence program book and 2026 short story contest ebook. Second-place receives $100 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. Third-place receives $50 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. Youth Story Prize receives $50 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook.

 

6. THE ILSE SCHWEPCKE PRIZE FOR WOMEN'S TRAVEL WRITING
https://societyofauthors.org/prizes/other-prizes/ilse-schwepcke-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. This prize is for non-fiction prose works of travel writing and not open to fiction or poetry. The winning author will receive £5,000. Entries must be written in English and not translated works. Submissions must be made by an established commercial publisher.

 

7. ANN PETRY AWARD

https://redhen.org/ann-petry-award/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The Ann Petry Award is for a work of previously unpublished prose, either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a minimum of 150 pages, by a Black writer. Grand prize $3000, publication by Red Hen Press. 

 8. WILD LOT PRESS

https://wildlotpress.com/submissions

NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31 2026. Wild Lot Press, with the assistance of the Pennsylvania Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program (CEAP), is publishing an illustrated nonfiction anthology book about night, with the working title Nightness: Ruminations on the Darker Side of Day. We’re looking for essays/creative nonfiction of any length, from snippets and passing anecdotes to longform opuses, that take keen interest in what happens between dusk and dawn in the wild spaces of our world, or better still, in the liminal spaces that bridge the human-centric, built world and the extra-human margins that encircle us. The winning essay will receive a prize of $250; all selected contributors will receive free copies.