2015 Emerging Writer’s Contest

The 2015 Emerging Writer’s Contest is now open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. The winner in each genre will be awarded $1,000. Read past winners of the contest here.

Publication
The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2015 contest will be published in the Winter 2015-16 issue of Ploughshares, and each writer will receive $1,000.

Eligibility
You are eligible if you:

• Have yet to publish a book (including chapbooks, eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, and self-published works) in any of the genres (creative nonfiction, poetry, or fiction).
• Have no book forthcoming before April 15, 2016.
• Are not affiliated with Ploughshares or Emerson College as a contributing author, volunteer screener, blogger, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.
• Will not have a relationship with Emerson before April 15, 2016 (example: if there is a chance you will attend the Emerson MFA program in the coming year or if your work has been accepted for publication for an upcoming issue).

Submitting
The contest opens March 1, 2015 at noon EST and closes May 15, 2015 at noon EST.

Fiction and Nonfiction: Under 6,000 words
Poetry: 3-5 pages

Submit one entry per year via our online submission manager.

• No entries via email or mail will be considered for the contest.
• Submitted work must be original and previously unpublished in any form.
• For poetry, we will be reading both for the strongest individual poem and the general level of work, and may choose to publish one, some, or all of the winner’s submitted poems.

Entry Fee
Entry to the contest requires a $24 fee, which is waived if the submitter is a current subscriber. The fee is:

• Payable by Visa or MasterCard through the online submission system.
• Includes a 1-year subscription to Ploughshares (beginning with the Spring 2015 issue and ending with the Winter 2015-16 issue).

Current subscribers—through the Winter 2015-16 issue—may submit for free.

>via: https://www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest/guidelines