The Northwind Writing Award

DUE TO UNFORESEEN AND ONGOING ISSUES, THE AWARD HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL 2026.

The Northwind Writing Award is sponsored by Raw Earth Ink and facilitated by tara caribou to shine light on little-known exceptional writers. Overall we are looking for writing which stirs our emotions, paints vivid imagery, is high-caliber or underappreciated, and is memorable.

Categories include Prose Poetry, Poetry, Short Fiction, and Non-fiction/Essay/Memoir.

Submissions for the award are open May 1st through July 31st. E-mail and mail-in submissions are accepted. CURRENTLY CLOSED UNTIL 2026.

NO FEE. Up to four submissions per author.

Must be 16+ years old.

Writers must reside in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or Australia to participate.

All winners and honorable mentions will be published in the annual Northwind Treasury.

First place winners in each category receive $100, a copy of the current year Northwind Treasury, a promotional interview with one of our editors, and other special prizes.

All entrants will receive a response on their submission by the 15th of October.

What to include:

A cover sheet including
- Your pen name exactly how you want it published
- Return mailing address
- Email address (this is how we will notify you of your status)
- Category
- Approximate word count (Fiction and Non-Fiction categories only)
- Submission title
- If the piece has been previously published, where it first appeared (*please make sure you have rights to republish elsewhere if this is the case)
- A short 3-5 sentence bio, if you’d like one included in the book
Your submission
- Include only the Title of your work and the Category in the header
- Do NOT include your name anywhere on the actual work or it will be rejected
- Please use Times New Roman Font size 12 only
- Do not double-space fiction or non-fiction, single-space is required.
- Please check for spelling and grammar, as this is taken into consideration by the judges

Category Definitions:

Prose Poetry (up to 1,000 word count) is defined as poetry which uses everyday language and may have grammatical structure employing sentences and paragraphs. The thoughts generally follow natural speech patterns but still incorporate beautiful, elevated ideas and messages.
Poetry is defined as writing which uses figurative language, sometimes with structure or rhythm, often with cadence or deliberate patterns, often with line breaks and visual appeal using white space on the page. It incorporates beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
Short fiction (750 – 3,500 word count) is defined as a work of prose fiction which can be read in 20-60 minutes. We are looking for stories with an awesome hook, great characters, and a distinctive voice.
Non-fiction/Essay/Memoir (up to 3,000 word count allowed) is defined as prose writing based on facts, real events, or real people.

Mail submissions to: Raw Earth Ink, Northwind Writing Award, PO Box 2, Humboldt, IA 50548.

Email submissions to: raw.earth.ink@gmail.com with the subject line “Northwind Writing Award” and both your cover sheet and submission(s) attached as .docx files only. Do not include either your cover sheet or submission in the body of the email, or it will be rejected.

All inquiries regarding the process may be made to raw.earth.ink@gmail.com. If you would like to share this competition with other writers, you may link this page on social media. You may also choose to use Duotrope to report your submissions to us, if you’d like.

To see a list of the 2024 winners, please visit our page here.

To see a list of the 2023 winners, please visit our page here.

To see the 2024 shortlist, please visit our page here.

Entries are judged in five separate areas:

Quality – high caliber, well-written, this includes spelling/grammar
Emotion – stirs the emotions, may cause a reaction by the reader
Style – paints vivid imagery, easily visualized, unique voice, does not tell you how to feel shows you the emotion creatively
Capture Attention – brings surprise to the reader, underappreciated writing, causes the reader to want more or helps the reader continue to visualize more than just the words on the page
Uniqueness – message or style which stands out, will stick with the reader later, is not: woke/repetitive/bland/filled with tropes/sophomoric/overly simple without reason