AWP Award Series 2025
By: Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP)Last update:
Applicant criteria
NationalityNo specific nationality required
Age
- No specific age required
Gender
- Both
Opportunity criteria
Opportunity FieldForeign Languages and Literature
Opportunity description
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is organizing a literary competition open to all authors writing original works in English for adult readers. Submissions must be book-length manuscripts, with specific manuscript length definitions for each genre:
- Poetry: 48 pages minimum text
- Short story collection or creative nonfiction: 150-300 manuscript pages
- Novel: at least 60,000 and no more than 110,000 words
Submissions must be made using the online submission system available on the contest website.
Entry fees: $30 for nonmembers and $20 for AWP members.
Prizes:
- Donald Hall Prize for Poetry: $5,500 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press
- Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction: $5,500 and publication by Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press
- Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction: $2,500 and publication by the University of Georgia Press
- James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel: $5,500 and publication by the University of Nebraska Press
Eligibility criteria
The competition is open to all authors writing original works in English for adult readers. Only book-length manuscripts are eligible.