Ploughshares: Writing Contests, Literary Awards, and Career Opportunities

Ploughshares maintains a robust slate of literary awards that reinforce its long-standing role as a champion of both emerging and established writers. Its programs range from the Emerging Writers’ Contest, which offers publication and significant support to unpublished authors, to prizes honoring exceptional fiction, literary criticism, and debut books by past contributors. With clear submission structures and an editorial approach centered on rigor and discovery, the journal continues to shape contemporary literature by elevating new voices and recognizing work of enduring merit.

Ploughshares maintains one of the most respected award programs in contemporary literature, anchored by more than five decades of editorial work that has introduced major writers at early points in their careers. Founded in 1971 and now published at Emerson College, the journal has a documented history of first publishing or early publishing writers who later went on to release influential books with major houses such as Knopf, Graywolf, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and Scribner. Contributors like Carmen Maria Machado, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tracy K. Smith, Gish Jen, and Anthony Doerr all appeared in Ploughshares before winning National Book Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, MacArthur Fellowships, and other national honors. The awards program operates within that lineage, functioning as a pipeline that identifies writers capable of producing work of the same longevity and cultural impact.

These prizes do not operate as standalone accolades. They are structured mechanisms within the journal’s editorial ecosystem, designed to cultivate work that reflects the range of contemporary literature, including debut fiction that demonstrates narrative control equal to later novels, nonfiction that signals the beginnings of larger investigative or memoiristic projects, poetry that shows early skill later reflected in full-length collections, and criticism that expands the conversation around the writers who shape the canon. Because these awards feed directly into the journal’s print issues, the selection process often marks the first national appearance of writers who subsequently secure literary agency representation, book contracts, fellowships, and institutional appointments.

Ploughshares’ award program also reflects its long-term commitment to supporting a broad field of writers rather than a single aesthetic. The journal regularly publishes and recognizes authors working across genres, styles, and traditions, including those writing in hybrid forms or from historically underrepresented communities. Its prizes often become early indicators of future work that will circulate widely in classrooms, book clubs, and cultural criticism. In many cases, recognition from Ploughshares precedes a writer’s first book by several years, serving as a publicly visible credential when they move through the submission and acquisitions process with agents and editors.

Through this integrated system of awards, publication opportunities, and editorial selection, Ploughshares continues to shape the trajectory of contemporary American literature. It identifies work with endurance, gives it an early platform, and supports authors as they transition from debut publications to the books that define the next generation of the field.

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Ploughshares Emerging Writers’ Contest

The Emerging Writers’ Contest remains the journal’s flagship opportunity for early-career authors working in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Open only to writers who have not yet published a book in the contest genre, the award is designed to remove some of the barriers that often prevent new voices from breaking into the industry. Writers submit between February 1 and March 31. One winner per genre receives $2,000, publication in the Winter issue, and a career consultation with Aevitas Creative Management. The contest’s blind review process, strict eligibility rules, and emphasis on originality help ensure that the winners represent truly emerging talent.

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Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction

The Alice Hoffman Prize honors the strongest work of fiction published in Ploughshares each year. Established by the bestselling author, the award recognizes a story or novel excerpt distinguished by emotional depth, narrative command, and lasting resonance. The editors select the recipient and receive one thousand dollars. Unlike other awards, no application is required; the prize reflects the editorial team’s assessment of the year’s most compelling fiction and is announced each September.

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Look2 Essay Prize

The Look2 Essay Prize supports rigorous literary criticism that revives attention to writers who have been overlooked or underappreciated. Open to all writers, the prize encourages essays that deepen the conversation around neglected authors and expand the ways readers engage with the literary canon. The winning essay is published in Ploughshares, and the author receives $2,500. Submissions are accepted from June 1 through August 31.

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John C. Zacharis First Book Award

The John C. Zacharis First Book Award recognizes an outstanding debut in fiction or poetry by an author previously published in Ploughshares. Named for a longtime champion of the journal, the prize celebrates early-career writers whose first book demonstrates exceptional promise and craft. Winners receive fifteen hundred dollars. Candidates are nominated internally by the editorial team, and the award is announced each November.

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General Submissions

Beyond its prize programs, Ploughshares accepts unsolicited fiction, nonfiction, and poetry during its regular reading period, June 1 through January 15. This open submission window remains a core element of the journal’s mission, offering space for new work to be considered outside the contest structure.

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Together, these prizes and submission opportunities form a comprehensive ecosystem for identifying, supporting, and amplifying significant literary work. Through careful editorial selection and sustained commitment to emerging talent, Ploughshares continues to shape the landscape of contemporary writing and uphold its longstanding role as a vital home for ambitious, original storytelling.