Postmark Deadline: November 15 (annual)
Submissions Accepted: October 1 – November 15
The Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest is open to poems written by members of the United States Armed Forces, active duty or reserve, with a close connection to North Carolina: place of birth, current or former residence, current or former posting. Poems are not limited by length or subject matter. The Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest honors Gerald Barrax and Ronald Bayes, poets and military veterans, and seeks to encourage creative writing among members of an essential but often overlooked segment of our state’s population. The contest is administered by the MFA in Creative Writing Program at North Carolina State University. The winner receives $250 and possible publication in the North Carolina Literary Review.
Eligibility and Guidelines
· The competition is open to anyone who is a veteran or current member of the United States Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard), whether active duty or reserve, and is a NCWN member or has a connection to North Carolina: place of birth, current or former residence, current or former posting.
· Entries must be unpublished single poems.
· Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
· To submit online, go to https://ncwriters.submittable.com/submit. Do not include a cover sheet with your document; Submittable will collect and record your name and contact information.
· If submitting by mail, submit two copies of each poem, single-spaced on single-sided pages, in black 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins.
· If submitting by mail, do not include the author’s name on the poem(s). Instead, include a separate cover sheet with name, military branch, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, and poem title(s).
· To submit by USPS:
Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest
NCWN
PO Box 21591
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
· Entries will not be returned.
· The winner will be announced before the end of January on ncwriters.org.
For questions, please contact ed@ncwriters.org.
JACOBS/JONES AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERARY PRIZE
Postmark Deadline: January 2 (annual)
Submissions Accepted: November 1 – January 2
The Jacobs/Jones African-American Literary Prize honors Harriet Jacobs and Thomas Jones, two pioneering African-American writers from North Carolina, and seeks to convey the rich and varied existence of African-American/Black North Carolinians. The contest is administered by the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication of the winning entry in The Carolina Quarterly.
Eligibility and Guidelines
- The competition is open to any African-American/Black writer whose primary residence is in North Carolina.
- Entries may be fiction or creative nonfiction, but must be unpublished, no more than 3,000 words, and concerned with the lives and experiences of African-American/Black North Carolinians. Entries may be excerpts from longer works, but must be self-contained. Entries will be judged on literary merit.
- An entry fee must accompany each submission: $10 for NCWN members, $20 for nonmembers. You may submit multiple entries, but the correct fee must accompany each one.
- You may pay the members’ entry fee if you join the NCWN when you submit.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript.
- The winner will be announced in February.
For questions, please contact mail@ncwriters.org.
JACOBS/JONES AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERARY PRIZE
Postmark Deadline: January 2 (annual) Submissions Accepted: November 1 – January 2
The Jacobs/Jones African-American Literary Prize honors Harriet Jacobs and Thomas Jones, two pioneering African-American writers from North Carolina, and seeks to convey the rich and varied existence of African-American/Black North Carolinians. The contest is administered by the Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication of the winning entry in The Carolina Quarterly.
Eligibility and Guidelines
- The competition is open to any African-American/Black writer whose primary residence is in North Carolina.
- Entries may be fiction or creative nonfiction, but must be unpublished, no more than 3,000 words, and concerned with the lives and experiences of African-American/Black North Carolinians. Entries may be excerpts from longer works, but must be self-contained. Entries will be judged on literary merit.
- An entry fee must accompany each submission: $10 for NCWN members, $20 for nonmembers. You may submit multiple entries, but the correct fee must accompany each one.
- You may pay the members’ entry fee if you join the NCWN when you submit.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript.
- The winner will be announced in February.
For questions, please contact mail@ncwriters.org.