The Women's Prose Prize is for a previously unpublished (including self-published works), original work of prose. Novels, short story collections, memoirs, essay collections, and all other forms of prose writing are eligible for consideration. Awarded manuscript is selected through an annual competition which is open to all writers who identify as women.

Award is $1000 and publication by Red Hen Press.
Entry fee is $25.00.
25,000 word minimum, 80,000 word maximum.
Entries will be accepted via Submittable only.
The deadline for entries is February 28, 2024. The final judge for 2024 is Aimee Liu.

Guidelines

Eligibility: The award is open to all women writers with the following exceptions:

A) Authors who have had a full length work published by Red Hen Press;
B) Employees, interns, or contractors of Red Hen Press;
C) Relatives of employees or members of the executive board of directors;
D) Relatives or individuals having a personal or professional relationship with any of the final judges where they have taken any part whatsoever in shaping the manuscript, or where, for whatever reason, selecting a particular manuscript might have the appearance of impropriety.

Procedures and Ethical Considerations

To be certain that every manuscript finalist receives the fairest evaluation, all manuscripts shall be submitted to the judges without any identifying material. Bios, acknowledgments, and other identifying material shall be removed from judged manuscripts until the conclusion of the competition. 

Please remove all names, bios, acknowledgments, and other identifying material from the submitted manuscript, and include only your name and contact information in the cover letter field of Submittable.  

Red Hen Press is committed to maintaining the utmost integrity of our awards. Judges shall recuse themselves from considering any manuscript where they recognize the work. In the event of recusal, a manuscript score previously assigned by the managing editor of the press will be substituted.

Entries will be accepted via Submittable only.