2026 Raz-Shumaker Book Prize Now Open for Submissions

Submissions for the 2026 Prairie Schooner Raz-Shumaker Book Prize for fiction and poetry are now open! The deadline for the contest is March 15, 2026, and writers can submit their entries through Submittable.

The Prairie Schooner Raz-Shumaker Book Prize Series annually names two prize-winning manuscripts, one in poetry and one in short fiction, selected by series editor Timothy Schaffert with the help of a guest committee. This year’s guest committee is Hilda Raz and Peggy Shumaker for poetry and Venita Blackburn and Christopher Castellani for fiction. Winners in each category will receive a prize of $3000 and publication by the University of Nebraska Press.

Previous winners of the book prize include Adam O. Davis for his poetry manuscript Pyrrhic Symphony and Micah Dean Hicks for his short story collection Vulture Gold, both of which will be published this fall. The University of Nebraska Press also recently published Gbenga Adesina’s Death Does Not End At The Sea (longlisted for the National Book Award) and Mi Jin Kim’s Invitation: Stories. Explore our catalog of past winners for more.

For the full entry requirements and submission details, see our contest guidelines.