Applications call for Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest 2021. The 2021 Emerging Writer’s Contest will run from March 1 at noon EST to May 15 at noon EST. The Emerging Writer’s Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. Read past winners of the contest here.

Eligibility

To be eligible for Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest 2021, you:

• Have yet to publish a book (including eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, self-published works, and poetry chapbooks with a print run of more than 300).
• 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).

Conditions

• 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• Submitted work must be original and previously unpublished in any form.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, Ploughshares 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.
• International submissions welcome.
• Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest cannot accommodate revisions once a manuscript has been submitted.
• Cover letters are not necessary. Please remove all identifying information from your submission as they will be read anonymously.

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