Calls for Submissions March 2026

Each month we curate a list of contests, fellowships, and other writing opportunities with approaching deadlines. Opportunities will be posted in the month prior to their deadlines, so that you have ample time to submit your work or applications.

Fiction Contests

Ann Petry Award
Eligibility: Black writers
Prize: $3,000
Deadline: March 31, 2026

Nonfiction Contests

Hazel Rowley Prize
Eligibility: First-time biographers writing in English
Prize: $5,000 + an agent’s reading of the manuscript + a year’s membership in BIO
Entry fee: $25
Deadline: March 1, 2026

Poetry Contests

Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships
Eligibility: Poets, ages of 21-31
Prize: $27,000
Deadline: March 2, 2026

Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award
Eligibility: Poets who have previously published at least one full-length book of poems and are citizens or residents of the U.S.
Prize: $2,000 + publication
Entry fee: $30
Deadline: March 15, 2026

Translation Contests

Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize
Eligibility: Translators with book-length translations Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, or Vietnamese into English poetry or source texts from Zen Buddhism in previous calendar year
Prize: $10,000
Deadline: March 16, 2026

Italian Prose in Translation Award (IPTA)
Eligibility: Translators with books of fiction or literary non-fiction translated from Italian into English in previous calendar year
Prize: $5,000
Deadline: March 16, 2026

ALTA First Translation Prize
Eligibility: Translators with a full-length debut literary translation published in the previous calendar year
Prize: $2,000
Deadline: March 16, 2026

Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize
Eligibility: Translators with works published between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026
Prize: £3,000
Deadline: March 31, 2026