Prize submission period January 1 – February 15.
26th Annual Arts & Letters Prizes Judges Announced.
2025 Prizes Judges
Poetry: James Kimbrell
Creative Nonfiction: Anjali Enjeti
Fiction: Melissa Pritchard
Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction Winners will appear on the Arts & Letters website.
About the Prizes
For our prizes in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, we offer the winner a $1,000 prize and online publication. Our prizes are made possible through generous gifts to our prize endowments from Dr. Martin Lammon, Dr. Barry Darugar, Bahram and Fari Atefat, and other friends of Arts & Letters. If you are interested in contributing to our endowments, please contact us!
Submission Guidelines:
Please do NOT include your name on any part of the uploaded file you submit to any genre. We accept most file formats (Word, .rtf, PDF).
We prefer, for the prizes, that your work not be simultaneously submitted. This helps us preserve the integrity of the contest(s). Our judges’ decisions are usually made by the end of May. Judges retain the right to declare no winner for their prize category.
All fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction prize submissions will be considered for publication at regular payment rates.
All writers and poets writing in English are eligible to enter, excepting friends, relatives, or current and former students of the current-year judges.
The entry fee is $20.
Submit a manuscript of up to 25 pages, typed, double-spaced
Susan Atefat Prize for Creative Nonfiction:
Submit a manuscript of up to 25 pages, typed, double-spaced
Rumi Prize for Poetry:
Submit a manuscript of up to 4 poems, typed, single-spaced (poems need not be thematically linked, though it is fine if they are)
All submissions are through our Submittable site:
PAST WINNERS
25th Annual Arts & Letters Prize Winners
Rumi Prize for Poetry Judge: Chelsea Rathburn
WINNER: Liza Katz Duncan, for “Four Ghosts,” and “Jaws Mural”
Arts & Letters Prize for Fiction Judge: Tiphanie Yanique
WINNER: Faith Shearin, for “The House Next Door”
Susan Atefat Prize for Creative Nonfiction Judge: Beth Ann Fennelly
WINNER: Siavash Saadlou, for “Dear God”