New Writing


The Letter Review Prize – Now Open

The Prize is awarded every three months in the categories of Short Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Unpublished Books. We offer a yearly Prize pool of $16,000 USD, and publication for our winners.

Letter Review Prize for Short Stories

The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction

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

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 Poetry
Letter Review Prize for Flash Fiction

The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction

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The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books

Letter Review is offering $1000 USD total Prize pool in a competition for unpublished books including Novels, Novellas, Short Story Collections, Poetry Collections, and Nonfiction Books.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 Paul W. B. Marsden, Winner of The Letter Review Prize

    Writers’ Insight: Interview with Paul W. B. Marsden, Winner of The Letter Review Prize

    Sincere thanks to Paul for taking part in our interview series Writers’ Insight, and for being so candid about the techniques he uses to craft prize winning prose. In this interview Paul addresses a wide number of helpful areas including: Where his ideas come from, how he captures them, how to start writing, conducting research,…

  • Writer Interview: Marina Kraiskaya, Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction

    Writer Interview: Marina Kraiskaya, Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction

    Marina Kraiskaya is a Ukrainian-American writer and editor of the journal Bicoastal Review. In 2024, she won the Markham Prize for Poetry and The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction (Nov – Dec 2023), placed second in the Joy Bale Boone Prize, and was a finalist in the Mississippi Review and Driftwood poetry prizes. Find her…

  • 7 Questions With Author E.J. Mellow: The Letter Review Interview

    7 Questions With Author E.J. Mellow: The Letter Review Interview

    E.J. Mellow is an award-winning and Top 20 Amazon bestselling author of magical mayhem. Her work has been translated into multiple languages, appeared on “Best Of” lists such as BuzzFeed and Gizmodo and has reached #1 in multiple Amazon categories, as well as received medals from eLit Book Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards.…

  • 9 Questions With Ghostwriter & Author Lynne Barrett-Lee: The Letter Review Interview

    9 Questions With Ghostwriter & Author Lynne Barrett-Lee: The Letter Review Interview

    Lynne is the author of ten novels, including her acclaimed debut Julia Gets a Life, and the award nominated Barefoot in the Dark. She has written two psychological thrillers under pen-name Lynne Lee: Can You See Me? and False Hope. Lynne has collaborated widely, as well as penning standalone memoirs as diverse as the antics…


Community Comments

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)