New Writing
The Letter Review Prize – Now Open
The Prize is awarded every three months in the categories of Short Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Books. We offer a yearly Prize pool of $16,000 USD, and publication for our winners.
The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction
The Letter Review is offering $1000 USD Prize pool in a competition for short fiction up to 5000 words. No genre or theme restrictions: all stories welcome. Open to writers who live anywhere in the world. 2-4 Winners are announced who are published and share in the Prize money. Up to twenty writers are shortlisted. All entries are considered for publication, submission to the Pushcart Prize, and for further anthologies. The Prize is judged blind to ensure fairness. See our Previous Winners Page here, and our Comments / Testimonials Page here. Enter via Submittable using the button below.
The Letter Review Prize for Poetry
The Letter Review is offering $1000 USD total Prize pool in a competition for poems of not more than 70 lines. No subject or style restrictions: all poems welcome. Open to writers who live anywhere in the world. 2-4 Winners are announced who are published and share in the Prize money. Up to twenty writers are shortlisted. All entries are considered for publication, submission to the Pushcart Prize, and for further anthologies. The Prize is judged blind to ensure fairness. See our Previous Winners Page here, and our Comments / Testimonials Page here. Enter via Submittable using the button below.
The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction
The Letter Review is offering $1000 USD total Prize pool in a competition for nonfiction up to 5000 words in length. The Prize is open to writers who live anywhere in the world. 2-4 Winners are announced who are published and share in the Prize money. Up to twenty writers are shortlisted. All entries are considered for publication, submission to the Pushcart Prize, and for further anthologies. The Prize is judged blind to ensure fairness. See our Previous Winners Page here, and our Comments / Testimonials Page here. Enter via Submittable using the button below.
The Letter Review Prize for Books
The Letter Review is offering $1000 USD total Prize pool in a competition for unpublished books including novels, novellas, short story collections, poetry collections, and nonfiction books. Open to writers who live anywhere in the world. 2-4 Winners are announced who share in the Prize money. Winners can choose whether to publish an extract, or not. Up to twenty writers are shortlisted. The Prize is judged blind to ensure fairness. See our Previous Winners Page here, and our Comments / Testimonials Page here. Enter via Submittable using the button below.
New Articles
Writers’ Insight: Interviews
Writers’ Insight: Interview with Constantine Singer, Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books
Our thanks to Constantine for taking the time to share this wisdom. We especially enjoyed his insightful comment ‘Every ascent to a new level isn’t the top of a mountain, just another plateau.’ Also, ‘We are entertainers, but we are also shapers of thought.’ Would you please tell us a little about your writing process? …
Writers’ Insight: Interview with Roger Craik, Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry
Sincere thanks to Roger for the energy and passion he shares in this inspiring interview. Would you please tell us a little about your writing process? By all means. A line comes into my head, and I write it down, but before that I doodle with a block of soft graphite lead on a sheet…
Writers’ Insight: Interview with Damen O’Brien, Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry
Damen here generously shares valuable pieces of advice. We thank him for his candour. Would you please tell us a little about your writing process? Typically, I write once or twice a week, usually on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I go to my local café and write while sipping a latte. I can usually…
Writers’ Insight: Interview with Alison Luterman, Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction
Sincere thanks to Alison for allowing us into her world, and for reaffirming the importance of making ‘good trouble’. Would you please tell us a little about your writing process? I read a lot of poetry in order to “flip the switch” in my brain from prose to poetry. I also try to write behind…
Community Comments
I just wanted to thank The Letter Review Prize for short listing my unpublished book Unimaginable Hardship. The recognition contributed to having my chapbook Hidden, A sequence of poems addressing the war in Ukraine, recently published by Bottlecap Press. Thank you!
J. A. (John) deSouza (Shortlist of The Prize for Books)
Thank you so much for your positive and thorough notes. After implementing some easy changes and taking wonderful advice where needed, my novel will be published in May, 2024. I will keep The Letter Review posted with the book’s progress. Thank you again for all you do for writers! Update: Feral Maril & Her Little Brother Carol just won a Literary Titan Award, and placed as Finalist in the Chanticleer International Book Awards as well as the Santa Fe Literary Competition! You can purchase it here: https://www.amazon.com/Feral-Maril-Little-Brother-Carol-ebook/dp/B0CZJ8DP4F?ref
Leslie Manning (Longlist of The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books & Feedback Recipient)
The Letter Review emerges as a hallowed space where words bleed, mend, and soar. Within its pages, we find not just tales, but the delicate pulse of memories, interwoven with the age-old craft of storytelling and vulnerability. To have my voice cradled in such a sacred place is a serenade to the moonlit hours where prose meets poetry. A profound honor.
Frederick Joseph: two-time New York Times bestselling author, activist, philanthropist, and poet (First Place in Letter Review Prize for Poetry)