Electric Literature, the nonprofit literary platform that has spent seventeen years dedicated to uplifting emerging writers, has launched its very first Emerging Writers Contest, with categories in fiction and poetry. It is open to international writers, meaning African writers are eligible, and the prize package is one of the more generous on offer from an independent literary platform right now.

One winner in each genre will receive $1,000, publication in either Recommended Reading (fiction) or The Commuter (poetry), and two weeks at the Writing Downtown residency program in Downtown Las Vegas. Second-place winners will receive $250 and third-place winners $100. All fiction finalists will additionally receive a review with feedback from a literary agent. Winners will be announced in early 2027.

The 2026 contest judges are Alexander Chee for fiction, author of Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, Whiting Award and Guggenheim Fellow, and Danez Smith for poetry, author of Don’t Call Us Dead and Homie, widely recognised as one of the leading voices in contemporary poetry.

The contest is open to emerging writers, defined as anyone who has not published a full-length book with a major publisher. Authors who have published chapbooks, indie or university press books with a print run under 500, or who have self-published are all eligible, provided the work submitted is original and unpublished. Fiction writers may submit one story between 2,000 and 10,000 words; poets may submit up to three poems totalling no more than 1,500 words. The entry fee is $20 per submission. Submissions open July 1, 2026 via Submittable and close July 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time or earlier, if the caps of 1,000 fiction and 600 poetry submissions are reached. Submit at electricliterature.submittable.com/submit and access all the information here.