Writers seeking fiction awards have several options with deadlines early in the month. The Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest is open to U.S. writers with a $25 entry fee, offering a prize of $3,000 alongside publication. Simultaneously, the Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize provides a $15,000 prize and publication for U.S. writers who have published at least three books of fiction, also carrying a $25 entry fee. Both contests share a deadline of November 1, 2026.
Additional fiction and prose categories include the F(r)iction Short Story Contest, which is open to all writers and offers a $1,000 prize with a November 13 deadline requiring no entry fee. Later in the month, the Quill Prose Award invites submissions exclusively from queer writers, featuring a $1,000 prize and publication for a $10 entry fee ahead of its November 30 deadline.
Poetry and multi-genre competitions round out the monthly schedule. The A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize provides $1,000 and publication for U.S. poets who have not yet published a book, requiring a $30 entry fee by November 30. In multi-genre categories, the Narrative Fall Story Contest offers a $2,500 prize with a $27 entry fee due on November 13. Furthermore, the Chautauqua Prize accepts submissions of fiction and select nonfiction for books first published in English in the U.S. during 2026, offering a $7,500 prize with an $85 entry fee by November 30.