Choeofpleirn Press holds several annual creative contests. The contest fees we collect help us pay the winners. Click on each link for the Submission Guidelines for each creative genre. The PayPal portal for paying the contest fees is at the bottom of each genre's Submission Guidelines page.

For works published in our magazines, we have the following:

1. The Ben Nyberg Fiction Contest (for stories published in Coneflower Cafe) We both took Prof. Nyberg's short fiction creative writing classes while at Kansas State University, where Prof. Nyberg taught creative writing for thirty-two years and edited the Kansas Quarterly for twenty-six years. Ben was the epitome of respect during workshops, never allowing his creative writing workshops to devolve into personality wars between writers, which was often the case in other creative writing workshops we experienced. We both value Ben's insights into writing short fiction, and have personal copies of his book, One Great Way to Write Short Fiction. He reminds us that "no formulaic method [of writing] could ever be used to craft respectable stories" (2), so that "once you have written your 'formula' story, use your imagination to expand the concepts."

2. The Phil Heldrich Nonfiction Contest (for essays published in Glacial Hills Review) Phil was a good friend we met while working on our doctorates at Oklahoma State University. A prolific writer by most standards, Phil wrote short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, going on to edit the Flint Hills Review and Bluestem Press at Emporia State University before moving west to the Seattle area. His collection of nonfiction is titled Out Here in the Out There: Essays in a Region of Superlatives. See the following link for more details: redmooncafe.blogspot.com/2011/02/phil-heldrich-good-friend.html 

3. The Susan Hansell Drama Contest (for one-act plays and short screenplays published in Rushing Thru the Dark) Susan is also someone we were fortunate to meet and make friends with at Oklahoma State University. Her list of plays and awards is impressive. She went on to found the online journal, Spot Lit(erary) Magazine.

4. The Derick Burleson Poetry Contest (for any poem published in CC, GHR, or RTD) Derick served as one of James' best men at our wedding. He was a fellow poet and graduate student we met at Kansas State University, who went on to write poetry about his experiences in Rwanda just before that nation's horrific genocidal attacks, which killed people Derick knew. Derick captured these experiences in Ejo: Poems, Rwanda, 1991-1994. For more details, refer to the following link: redmooncafe.blogspot.com/2017/04/derick-burleson-memory.html 

5. The Mary Cassatt Art Contest (for any photo or work of art published in CC, GHR, or RTD)  Mary was one of the first Americans to work with and to paint in Impressionist style. While we both greatly admire most of the Impressionist painters, Cassatt has long been a favorite. Her insights into art guide our choices because she believed: "everyone may be as honest and as true to nature from their convictions; [even Cezanne] doesn't believe that everyone should see alike."

Beginning in 2024, we will ask every contributor to vote on ONLY the works whose creators paid the modest contest fees by sending out a survey listing those works that have been entered. In the past, we have allowed our readers and select contributors to vote on whichever works they liked best, but, inevitably, many voted for works whose creators had NOT paid the contest fees.

Please realize that the contest fees allow us to pay the winners. Currently, the winning amount is only $100, but we would like to increase that, if we can, but we need the funding to do that.

Choeofpleirn Press also hosts two book contests annually:

• The Jonathan Holden Poetry Chapbook Contest for small collections of poems by poets who have not previously published a book of poetry

• The Kenneth Johnston Nonfiction Book Contest which celebrates the wide variety of nonfiction books written today.

As with the other creative contests, we use the money raised by the contest fees to pay the winning writers.

We are currently considering hosting a novel contest, as well, so keep an eye out for that new contest.

You can help support (and possibly increase) the creative contests sponsored by Choeofpleirn Press by donating money to our press through our Donate webpage.

Thank you for having an interest in our small Kansas press! With your continued support, we can create a press that could rival the coastal publication houses.