The Porch Prize

Established in 2019 and open to published and unpublished writers over the age of 18, The Porch Prize honors fresh voices and excellent writing. In years past, our judges have included the notable writers Megan Stielstra, Tiana Clark, Silas House, Edgar Kunz, Kristen Arnett, and Margaret Renkl. We award a cash prize and Porch gift certificate to one winner in each category, and all finalists are acknowledged at our annual fundraiser. Winning entries are also published in Nashville Review, the publication of Vanderbilt University’s Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.

In 2021, we are thrilled to work with final judges David James Poissant, Maggie Smith, and Aimee Nezukhumatathil. We will begin accepting submissions on January 28, 2021.

Call for Entries

submissions are currently CLOSEd

Eligibility

Open to published and unpublished authors over the age of 18. The manuscript entered must be the author’s original work and be unpublished and uncontracted at the time of deadline and unpublished during the contest itself. Manuscript must also not exceed a word count of 3,000. All entries must be sent electronically.

Entry Fee

$20.00 for Porch members, $25 for non-members. Learn more about Porch membership here. Please note: One fee per entry.

Document Formatting Requirement

.doc and .docx files only.

The title of the document being uploaded must match the title of the entry.

If submitting multiple entries, each one must be submitted individually.

A single document with multiple submissions will not be accepted.

Double-spaced – no extra spacing between paragraphs.

Times New Roman or approximate font, 12-pt font size

One-inch margins on top, bottom, and both sides

Unjustified right margins Manuscript must NOT include author name to ensure blind judging.

Pages should be numbered, but not include any other identifying information.

Manuscripts must be submitted via Google Form (see link above under “How to Enter”).

Contact porchprize@porchtn.org for questions or help with formatting.

Note: We are unable to accept screenplays or other alternative formats/genres.

Judging Specifics

All manuscripts will undergo a first round of numerical scoring by a committee of preliminary judges.

Scores will be totaled and the top three finalists from each category will be announced.

All entrants will be notified of their manuscript’s status at this time.
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Our final judges will read each of the three finalists in their category and select a winner.

Prizes

One winner from each of the three categories will receive:

Cash prize of $500

Publication in the Nashville Review, a publication of Vanderbilt University

Gift certificate for a multi-week Porch class(es) valued at $300

Final Judges

Fiction: David James Poissant
Poetry: Maggie Smith
Creative Nonfiction: Aimee Nezhukumatathil

The Porch Prize

Call for Entries

submissions are currently CLOSEd

Eligibility

Categories

Entry Fee

Document Formatting Requirement

Judging Specifics

Prizes

Final Judges

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