Please read guidelines before submitting: 

Bellingham Review's annual writing contests are open from February 1st to March 15th.

$1,000 first-place prizes and $500 second-place prizes will be awarded in poetry (49th Parallel Award), fiction (Tobias Wolff Award), and creative nonfiction (Annie Dillard Award).

Through Submittable, please submit 3 pieces of flash nonfiction of up to 1,500 words each OR an essay of up to 4,000 words. All entries will be considered for publication in the journal. 

$15 entry fee. 

Important notes: 

* The author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Manuscripts including identifying information will be disqualified. 

* We only consider previously unpublished work.

* Simultaneous submissions are encouraged; please let us know if you work has been accepted elsewhere by withdrawing your submission. 

Our guest judge for 2026 is AJ Romriell 

AJ Romriell is a queer, neurodivergent, and HIV+ writer from Salt Lake City, Utah. Author of the award-winning memoir, Wolf Act (2025), his essays, stories, and poems have appeared in Electric Literature, Black Warrior Review, The Missouri Review, Brevity, and elsewhere. He has been the recipient of the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Vandewater Poetry Prize, the Citino Poetry Award, multiple grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and a Presidential Fellowship from The Ohio State University, where he earned his MFA. He now lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his partner and their feline companion. Catch him at ajromriell.com.  

Thank you and we look forward to reading!

Please read guidelines before submitting: 

Bellingham Review's annual writing contests are open from February 1st to March 15th.

$1,000 first-place prizes and $500 second-place prizes will be awarded in poetry (49th Parallel Award), fiction (Tobias Wolff Award), and creative nonfiction (Annie Dillard Award).

Through Submittable, please submit 1-3 poems. All entries will be considered for publication in the journal. 

$15 entry fee. 

Important notes: 

* The author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Manuscripts including identifying information will be disqualified. 

* We only consider previously unpublished work.

* Simultaneous submissions are encouraged; please let us know if you work has been accepted elsewhere by withdrawing your submission. 

Our guest judge for 2026 is Anastacia-Reneé

Anastacia-Reneé is an award-winning writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, TEDx speaker, playwright, and podcaster. She is the author of the debut fiction-hybrid book, Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere, and two books of poetry, Side Notes from the Archivist and (v.). Her mixed media art has been exhibited at the Frye Art Museum and her installation, "(Don’t Be Absurd): Alice in Parts," was selected by NBC News as part of the list of “Queer Artist of Color Dominate 2021’s Must See LGBTQ Art Shows.” She has received fellowships and residencies from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, VONA, The White Center, Mineral School, Ragdale, 4Culture, and The New Orleans Writers Residency. Reneé’s poetry, fiction and nonfiction has been anthologized and published widely.

Thank you and we look forward to reading!

Please read guidelines before submitting: 

Bellingham Review's annual writing contests are open from February 1st to March 15th.

$1,000 first-place prizes and $500 second-place prizes will be awarded in poetry (49th Parallel Award), fiction (Tobias Wolff Award), and creative nonfiction (Annie Dillard Award).

Through Submittable, please submit 3 pieces of flash fiction of up to 1,500 words each OR a story of up to 4,000 words. All entries will be considered for publication in the journal. 

$15 entry fee. 

Important notes: 

* The author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Manuscripts including identifying information will be disqualified. 

* We only consider previously unpublished work.

* Simultaneous submissions are encouraged; please let us know if you work has been accepted elsewhere by withdrawing your submission. 

Our guest judge for 2026 is Kim Fu

Kim Fu is the author of five books, including the story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, winner of the Washington State Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Book Award, and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, as well as a finalist for the Giller Prize, the Ignyte Awards, the Shirley Jackson Awards, and the Saroyan International Prize. Stories in this collection were selected for Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and Best of the Net, featured on Levar Burton Reads and Selected Shorts, and optioned for television and film. Their next novel, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, will be released in March 2026. Fu lives in Seattle.     

Thank you and we look forward to reading!