This contest by The Winter Tangerine Review is open through June 1, is free to enter, comes with $250 per award, and is open only to writers who have not published a book of poems, a novel, or a collection of stories. Check it out:

The Mission

We aim to honor new and emerging poets and prose writers who are creating electric work. Submissions will only be accepted from writers who have not yet published a chapbook, novel, or collection of any type. We aim to showcase writers based on the merit of their work, rather than the prestige behind their name, so submissions will be read entirely blind. We don’t believe in reading or entry fees, so entries for the awards are free (though we do have optional tip jar submissions!). Additionally, we believe that writers deserve to be paid for their work, so we’ve allotted a cash prize of $250 for the award winners.

What We’re Looking For

“I love stories that showcase characters’ humanity, that show good people doing terrible things, villains doing good, or stories with characters that aren’t quite villains or heroes, but much more complex. I look for stories and essays that surprise me, take risks, break rules. I’m a prose stylist, so I’m always looking for prose that is playful, a story or essay with rhythm. I want to read a good story, but I also want to hear it sing.”

Jaquira Díaz, Prose Judge

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“There are as many ways to excite in poetry as there are words. No subject is wrong and no syntax is sin. I am drawn to poems that risk their own collapse in the hopes of asking the difficult, deeper question. Poems where the only hero is language itself.”

Ocean Vuong, Poetry Judge

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To find out more, and to submit, click here.