The 2026 Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction
Ends on
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* We only consider previously unpublished work.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!