Emerging Writer's Contest Guidelines

The Emerging Writer's Contest is now open. 

The Emerging Writer's Contest is 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 $2,000. Read past winners of the contest here. 

The 2021 contest judges are Kiley Reid (Fiction), Paige Lewis (Poetry), and Paul Lisicky (Nonfiction).

Publication

The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2021 contest will be published in the Winter 2021-22 issue of Ploughshares. 

Eligibility

  • Have yet to publish a book (including chapbooks, eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, and self-published works).
  • Have no book forthcoming before April 15, 2022.
  • Are not affiliated with Emerson College or with Ploughshares as a contributing author, volunteer screener, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.
  • Will not have a relationship with Emerson before April 15, 2022 (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, 2021 at noon EST and closes on May 15, 2021 at noon EST. We will announce the winners in mid-September of 2020. 

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  • Submitted work must be original and previously unpublished in any form.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.
  • Cover letters are not necessary. All identifying information will be removed from submissions. 
  • International submissions welcome.
  • Cover letters are not necessary. Please remove all identifying information from your submission as they will be read anonymously. 

Simultaneous vs. Multiple Submissions
We only consider one submission per author for the duration of the contest, regardless of genre. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are fine as long as we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere via email (pshares@pshares.org) or our online contact form. 

Entry Fee

If you are a current subscriber through our Winter 2021-2022 issue, your contest entry is free of charge. You will still be prompted to "checkout" but you will not be required to enter payment information and will not be charged. If you're not sure when your subscription expires, feel free to email us at pshares@pshares.org.

If you are not a subscriber, or your subscription expires before our Winter 2021-2022 issue, the submission manager will prompt you to pay the $24 fee at checkout. The fee includes a 1-year subscription to Ploughshares (beginning with the Spring 2021 issue and ending with the Winter 2021-2022 issue) and free submissions to the 2020 regular reading period. 

If you are an international submitter, please be in touch via email for more information about this process.