We Want to Hear From You
2026 Uplift Voices Book Award
(Hybrid/Experimental)
Ends on Tue, Mar 31, 2026 9:00 PM
Do you have a book a blend of prose and poetry, perhaps with a few artworks tossed in for good measure? What about that manuscript you deeply believe in, something you’ve labored over but doesn’t check any neat boxes? We are putting out a call for writing that pushes against the conventions of form or style, for no-holds barred works—visceral, brave, loud, honest, confounding—that tackle a personal or universal truth and compels us to see our world from a unique perspective. That said, in alignment with our mission statement, we are seeking works that deal with themes related to social justice, persecution, feminism, or reveal something about what it’s like to struggle through this world—with all the related losses and triumphs and unanswered questions that entails! If this sounds like your book baby, we want to read it! If you’re unsure, we still want to read it!
For this contest, we are looking for hybrid/experimental poetry and prose, including but certainly not limited to essays bleeding into short stories, poetry in communication with original art, and novels told in reverse. All qualifying entries will be first read by screeners, and finalists will be sent to Melissa Febos, our esteemed judge and bestselling author of Abandon Me, Body Work, and others.
Melissa Febos is the author of five books, including the national bestselling essay collection, GIRLHOOD, which has been translated into ten languages and won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Her craft book, BODY WORK (2022), was also a national bestseller and an LA Times Bestseller. A new memoir, The Dry Season, was published by Alfred. A. Knopf in June 2025.
The recipient of fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts, the British Library, MacDowell, the Bogliasco Foundation, the Black Mountain Institute, LAMBDA Literary, the American Library in Paris, and others, Melissa’s work has appeared in publications including The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Best American Essays, The Best American Food and Travel Writing, Granta, The Believer, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Elle, and Vogue.
She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and is the Roy J. Carver Professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches in the Nonfiction Writing Program. She lives in Iowa City with her wife, the poet Donika Kelly.
- The grand prize is $1,500 plus a competitive publishing contract, but we will consider all submissions for publication potential.
- Authors retain all rights to their work.
- The reading fee is $20.
- There is a pay-it-forward option, 100% of which will be used to cover the entry fee for authors who are not able to afford the fee. If you are unable to pay the entry fee, please contact us.
- Manuscripts should be a minimum of 45,000 words and a maximum of 80,000 words
- Manuscripts should be submitted in Times New Roman, 12 point font, double spaced, with page numbers on every page. Manuscripts are expected to be polished, and works needing extensive developmental work or riddled with inconsistencies and grammatical errors may be rejected.
- No personally identifying information should appear on the manuscript itself.
- All unpublished work written in English by one author living in the United States is eligible. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us if publication is offered elsewhere.
