The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters has opened submissions for its 2026 Poetry and Fiction Contests, offering Wisconsin residents age 18 and older the chance to win cash prizes, publication, a reading at the Wisconsin Book Festival, and a residency at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts!

The poetry contest, judged by Wisconsin Poet Laureate Brenda Cárdenas, accepts 1-3 poems per entry and closes March 15, 2026. The fiction contest accepts stories up to 2,500 words and closes March 31, 2026. Winners receive $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third place, with first-place winners earning a five-day (poetry) or one-week (fiction) artist residency in Mineral Point.

For African writers living in Wisconsin, this contest represents an accessible opportunity to enter the state’s literary ecosystem. The Wisconsin Academy has run these contests since 1994, making them among the most established writing prizes in the Midwest. Entry fees are modest: $10 for Academy members and $15 for non-members. All judging is done blindly, ensuring submissions are evaluated solely on merit. Winning pieces are published in Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine, both in print and online, giving writers a platform beyond the immediate Wisconsin literary community.

The residency component deserves particular attention. Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point provides first-place winners with dedicated time and space to write, away from daily obligations and distractions. For writers balancing work, family, or academic commitments, circumstances many African writers in the diaspora navigate, a week of subsidized writing time can be transformative. The residency comes with the prestige of the prize itself, plus the opportunity to read at the Wisconsin Book Festival in October, connecting winners to Madison’s literary scene and statewide readership.

African writers in Wisconsin should submit work that reflects their full range of concerns, aesthetics, and storytelling traditions rather than assuming what judges want to see. The contests accept all forms of poetry and fiction without genre restrictions or thematic requirements. Whether your work engages directly with African diasporic experience, explores entirely different subject matter, or operates somewhere between, the blind judging process means the writing speaks for itself. Submissions must be original and previously unpublished, whether online or in print. Submit through the Wisconsin Academy website for poetry here and for fiction here, with poetry submissions due March 15 and fiction submissions due March 31. For questions about eligibility, contact [email protected].