Emerging Writer’s Contest
The 2025 Emerging Writer’s Contest is open.
Since 1971, Ploughshares has been committed to promoting the work of up-and-coming writers. Over the years, Ploughshares has helped launch the careers of great writers like Edward P. Jones, Sue Miller, Mona Simpson, Tim O’Brien, and many more.
In the spirit of the journal’s founding mission, the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We consider authors “emerging” if they haven’t published or self-published a book in any genre.
One winner in each genre per year will receive $2,000 and publication in the literary journal. The winners will also receive a conversation with our partnering literary agency, Aevitas Creative Management, regarding their work and writing careers.
The 2025 contest judges are R . O. Kwon in fiction, Joshua Bennett in poetry, and Elisa Gabbert in nonfiction.
Guidelines
Publication
The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2025 contest will be published in the Winter 2025-26 issue of Ploughshares.
Eligibility
You are eligible if you:
- Have not published a book or chapbook in any genre.
- Have no book or chapbook forthcoming before April 15, 2026.
- Are not affiliated with Emerson College or with Ploughshares as a volunteer screener, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.
- Will not have a relationship with Emerson College before April 15, 2026 (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
Writers can submit to the Emerging Writer’s Contest from March 1-May 15.
We accept fiction and nonfiction up to 6,000 words and 3-5 pages of poetry. Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained.
- 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- Submitted work must be original and previously unpublished in any form.
- Please remove all identifying information from your submission as it will be read anonymously. Cover letters are not necessary.
- 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.
- We cannot accommodate revisions once a manuscript has been submitted.
- If submitting work with images, please acquire permission beforehand and, if possible, ensure any images are high resolution (300 dpi).
- We strongly encourage typed, double-spaced (poetry may be single-spaced), and numbered pages.
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, your contest entry is free of charge. Make sure you are logged into your account before you begin the submission process. You will still be prompted to “checkout” but you will not be required to enter payment information and will not be charged.
If you are not a subscriber, the submission manager will prompt you to pay the $30 fee at checkout. The fee includes a 1-year print and digital subscription to Ploughshares and free submissions to the 2025 regular reading period (June 1-January 15).