Literary Prizes
Three prizes of $1,500 each and publication in New Ohio Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay.
Submit a story or essay of up to 20 pages or a poem or group of poems of up to 6 pages with a $23 entry fee, which includes a subscription to New Ohio Review, between January 15th and April 15th.
All entries are considered for publication.
Please see expanded guidelines on our Submittable page.
NORward Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
New Ohio Review awards $750 annually for a poem or series of poems, a short story, and a piece of creative nonfiction submitted to the NORward contest in each genre. This contest is collectively judged by former contributors to New Ohio Review.
Submit a poem or group of poems up to 6 pages or prose up to 20 pages with a $23 entry fee between August 15th and November 15th.
All entries are considered for publication, the winner is published in an upcoming issue of NOR, and any poem that receives a first-place vote will be published on NOR’s website.
Please see expanded guidelines on our Submittable page.
The Ellis Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
New Ohio Review awards $750 for a poem or series of poems, a short story, and a piece of creative nonfiction submitted in each genre. This contest is judged by alumni of Ohio University’s Creative Writing program. This year’s judges are Devon Halliday for Fiction, Rachael Peckham for Nonfiction, and Kate Nuernberger for Poetry.
Submit a poem or group of poems up to 6 pages or prose up to 20 pages with a $23 entry fee between November 16th and January 14th.
All entries are considered for publication, the winner is published in an upcoming issue of NOR.
Please see expanded guidelines on our Submittable page.
Past Winners and Judges
Please click here to check out a list of the previous winners and judges.
2027 Literary Prize Judges
2027 Fiction Contest Judge
Katie Kitamura
2026 Nonfiction Contest Judge
Eileen Myles
2027 Poetry Contest Judge
Donna Masini
