Red Hen Press is an independent, nonprofit press that publishes about twenty books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry every year. We’re looking for novels, memoir, creative nonfiction, hybrid works, and story, essay, and poetry collections of exceptional literary merit that demonstrate a high level of mastery.
Red Hen publications are diverse in style and subject, but tend to have in common a certain wildness. Please familiarize yourself with our catalog before submitting. Representative fiction writers include Aimee Liu, Martha Cooley, Donna Hemans, Judy Grahn, Yuvi Zalkow, and Andrew Lam. Representative poets include Chris Abani, Katharine Coles, Camille Dungy, Eloise Klein Healy, Brynn Saito, Peggy Shumaker, Doug Manuel, and Francesca Bell.
With your submission, be sure to include:
- A cover letter that includes the author's name, contact information, and a brief synopsis of the work. For award submissions, this should be the only information included in your Cover Letter. For General Submissions, please include the above information and describe the author's background, list any publication credits if applicable, and explain why the work is a fit for Red Hen Press.
- The work itself. For General Submissions, writers may submit either the full manuscript or a sample of between 20 and 30 pages. Please keep in mind that full manuscripts take longer to review. All manuscripts should include page numbers on every page.
Given the high volume of submissions we receive, please expect a response time of three to twelve months. We appreciate your patience. Phone calls, emails, and letters will not speed up the process, and are strongly discouraged.
Founded in 2020 in partnership with Red Hen Press and the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance, the Ann Petry Award seeks to publish prose literature by Black authors.
The Ann Petry Award is for a work of previously unpublished prose (including self-published works), either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a minimum of 150 pages, by a Black writer.
The awarded manuscript is selected through an annual submission process.
The Ann Petry Award will consist of $3000 and publication of the awarded manuscript by Red Hen Press.
Please use double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman font. Title only on the cover sheet, with no other identifying information on the manuscript itself. The entry should be a minimum of 150 pages.
Eligibility Guidelines:
The Ann Petry Award is open to all Black writers, with the following exceptions:
A) Authors who have had a full-length work published by Red Hen Press, or a full-length work currently under consideration by Red Hen Press;
B) Current employees, interns, or contractors of Red Hen Press;
C) Relatives of employees or members of the Red Hen Press executive board of directors
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, contact information, and a short biographical statement in the cover letter field of Submittable.
The Ann Petry Award of Red Hen Press and the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance 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.
https://redhen.org/awards/ann-petry-award
Entries will be accepted via Submittable only
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, 2025. The final judge for 2025 is Alyssa Graybeal.
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.
To honor the life and enduring legacy of beloved novelist Cai Emmons, who published three novels through Red Hen Press (Weather Woman, Sinking Islands, and Livid) and who passed away with dignity on January 2, 2023 after a hard-fought battle with ALS, Red Hen Press is proud to announce the Cai Emmons Fiction Award.
We are so grateful to Cai and her family for choosing to endow this award to keep Cai’s spirit and love of life-changing fiction alive.
We are looking for a fresh and original story of fiction with a minimum of 150 pages. The awarded fiction manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.
Award details
$5000
Book publication by Red Hen Press
Inaugural Judge: E.P. Tuazon
Deadline: January 15, 2025
Notes: Entry fee is $25.00. Name on cover sheet only, with a 25,000-word minimum (approximately 150 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font). Entries will be accepted via Submittable only.
Guidelines
The award is open to all writers with the following exceptions:
- Authors who have had a full-length work published by Red Hen Press, or a full-length work currently under consideration by Red Hen Press;
- Employees, interns, or contractors of Red Hen Press;
- Relatives of employees or members of the executive board of directors;
- 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.
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.
For questions or to withdraw a submitted entry, please contact editorial@redhen.org.
With your submission, be sure to include:
A cover letter that briefly describes the work and the author’s background, lists any publication credits if applicable, and explains why the work is a fit for Red Hen Press.
A brief synopsis of the work (“this happens, then this happens…”), no more than two pages in length.
The work itself. Writers may submit either the full manuscript or a sample of between 20 and 30 pages. Please keep in mind that full manuscripts take longer to review. All manuscripts should include page numbers on every page.
Please include all parts of your submission in one single PDF.
Given the high volume of submissions we receive, please expect a response time of three to twelve months. We appreciate your patience. Phone calls, emails, and letters will not speed up the process, and are strongly discouraged.