SFWP Literary Awards

The SFWP Literary Awards recognize outstanding poetry, short fiction, and creative non-fiction by unpublished and published writers. The contest is judged by prominent authors. Unpublished work, self-published work, and work from small or micro-presses that has not received marketing support will be eligible.

Deadline: September 15
Categories: See website for more details
Prizes: Grand Prize is $1,500; two runners-up receive $500 each. A competitive publishing contract will be offered.
For More Info: Santa Fe Writers Project Awards

Nikesha Elise Williams is the 2026 judge

Nikesha Elise Williams is the author of The Seven Daughters of Dupree. She’s also a two-time Emmy award winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast. A narrative strategist by day and journalist always, her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Bitter Southerner, Essence, and Vox. Nikesha’s work has been supported by the Kimbilio Fiction Fellowship, the DeGroot Foundation, and the Tin House Summer Workshop. A Chicago native, she lives in Florida with her family.

The 2025 Literary Awards Finalists and Winners

2025 Literary Awards Program Winners:

Family Matters: A Collection by Sudha Balagopal

Worshiping the Sun by Cara Albert

Dot and Edward by Terese Svoboda

The Short List (alphabetical by last name):

Birth of Orisha by Oghenechovwe Ekpeki

Worshiping the Sun by Cara Albert

The Paradise Club by Jane Labous

Ivy in Darkness and Light by Kathryn Larrabee

Bad Homos Have Macaroni Hearts by Michael Narkunski

Ephphatha: Travels and Meditations by Mary Pacifico Curtis

Grief Camp by Cassandra Lewis

Former Hopeful by Katja Bartholmess

If She Remembers The Zombie Vanilla Slab Cake by Alison Gadsby

Black River by Sandy Nietling

Lyndon Baines Takes a Fare to the Palace of Wisdom by William Nixon

Hunger Will Kill You by Jennifer Love

The Folktale Collector’s Daughter and Other Stories by Cara Diaconoff

The Absinthe Drinker by Celeste Amidon

Home Repair Manual by Ellen Birkett Morris

The Price of Ash by R. B. Gustafson

Analog by Scott Lane

The Bellow, the Ache by R.W. Hartshorn

Conflagration by Allison Landa

The Bell in the Body by Anjoli Roy

Hope You Still Love Me by Rabha Ashry

The Sky King: A Literary Choose Your Own Adventure Novel by Anna Dickson James

Dot and Edward by Terese Svoboda

Family Matters: A Collection by Sudha Balagopal

Passages: An Essay in Four Movements by Amanda Sarasien

The Long List (in no particular order):

Conflagration by Allison Landa

Dot and Edward by Terese Svoboda

Passages: An Essay in Four Movements by Amanda Sarasien

The Bell in the Body by Anjoli Roy

Ephphatha: Travels and Meditations by Mary Pacifico Curtis

Grief Camp by Cassandra Lewis

Something in the Trees: An Upstate Gothic by Dee Holloway

Family Matters: A Collection by Sudha Balagopal

Former Hopeful by Katja Bartholmess

The Chrysanthemums by Kaitlin Lavinder

No Secrets to Conceal: Coming Out With Bob Dylan by Paul Haney

Letters to Trout Fishing in America by Matt Smythe

This is How the Story Ends by Kristen-Paige Madonia

Dear Mr. Producer by Miriam Glassman

Birth of Orisha by Oghenechovwe Ekpeki

The Crave by Thomas Calder

If She Remembers The Zombie Vanilla Slab Cake by Alison Gadsby

Black River by Sandy Nietling

Lyndon Baines Takes a Fare to the Palace of Wisdom by William Nixon

The Sky King: A Literary Choose Your Own Adventure Novel by Anna Dickson James

Hunger Will Kill You by Jennifer Love

The Folktale Collector’s Daughter and Other Stories by Cara Diaconoff

The Absinthe Drinker by Celeste Amidon

Home Repair Manual by Ellen Birkett Morris

Another Generation Ruined by Joseph O’Donnell

Silent Soldiers by Kendall Stark

In Fuga (Getaway) by Amanda Holmes

The Double Sun by Jeanne Gassman

The Transplants by Joe Oestreich

The Price of Ash by R. B. Gustafson

Analog by Scott Lane

The Bellow, the Ache by R.W. Hartshorn

Worshiping the Sun by Cara Albert

The Paradise Club by Jane Labous

Ivy in Darkness and Light by Kathryn Larrabee

Mara’s Call by Rhiannon Harvey

Polite Animals by Carlin Mackie-Stephenson

Children of Sons: Stories by Cameron Green

What Kind of Hawk by Sarah Giragosian

Power Out by Kem Joy Ukwu

A Small Priceless Thing and Other Stories by Kris Faatz

Bad Homos Have Macaroni Hearts by Michael Narkunski

Hope You Still Love Me by Rabha Ashry

The Specials by Mark Purcell

Coast Starlight by Paul Bendix

In the Lap of the Mountain God by Barbara Drake-Vera

Tent City by David Snee

One Pima Pilgrim: A Symphonic Memoir of a Father, His Son, and the Indigenous Southwest by D.A. Navoti

Heartbeaten by Sam Corradetti

An Estate of Ironies by Maryann Ifeanacho

Somnambulist Mixologist by Stephen Haines

Painted Smiles by Lindsay Stenico

blackbeltfirstaidkits: essays/confessions on violence by Barrett Bowlin

Combat Zones by Jamy Bond

The Only Member of the Choir by Nicole Haroutunian

Santa Fe Writers Project (SFWP) Literary Awards Program is an annual international contest that recognizes book-length fiction and creative nonfiction manuscripts of any genre, offering cash prizes and a competitive publishing contract.

Good luck!

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