Each year, descant offers four awards:
- the $500 Frank O’Connor Award for fiction (for the best short story in an issue)
- the $250 Gary Wilson Award (for an outstanding story in an issue)
- the $500 Betsy Colquitt Award for poetry (for the best poem or series of poems by a single author in an issue)
- the $250 Baskerville Publishers Award (for an outstanding poem or poems by a single author in an issue
There is no application process or reading fee. All published submissions are eligible for prize consideration. Simply submit your work.
2021 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500)
“That Could Be Us Someday” by Sean Littlefield Chumley
Gary Wilson Short Fiction Award ($250)
“Acting the Fool” by Jacqueline Guidry
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500)
“My Wife Never Ate Asparagus” by Sean Thomas Dougherty
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250)
“Waiting for Water” by Warren Woessner
2020 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500)
“Griswold” by Patricia Horvath
Gary Wilson Short Fiction Award ($250)
“Down from the Mountain” by Heath Dollar
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500)
“Meltwater” by Claire Wahmanholm
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250)
“In the Nave of the New World” by Elton Glaser
2019 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500):
Midge Raymond for “[Indistinct Conversation]”
Gary Wilson Short Story Award ($250):
Patty Houston for “Corporation Alley”
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500):
Crystal Yeung for “My Mother in a Sea Captain Outfit by a Lake with a Girl in a Dress, Taishan, 1984”
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250):
Nathan Stabenfeldt for “Redshift”
2018 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500):
Gregory Wolos for “Balance”
Gary Wilson Short Story Award ($250):
Dan Pope for “Cape Cod, 1979”
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500):
Ken Haas for “The Path of Totality”
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250):
Todd Copeland for “Crabbing”
2017 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500):
“The Aquarium” by Brad Eddy
Gary Wilson Short Fiction Award ($250):
“Ever After” by Toni Jensen
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500):
“Anniversary” by Kelly Nelson
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250):
“For You (when you find your hair on my floor)” by Alexis Trevino
2016 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500):
Tom Bennitt for “Nor’easter”
Gary Wilson Short Story Award ($250):
Kim Magowan for “Like Salt”
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500):
Christopher Davis for “Against Pride”
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250):
Adam Day for “Nothing’s Branch”
2015 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500):
Ann Glaviano for “New Hampshire”
Gary Wilson Short Story Award ($250):
Hasanthika Sirisena for “Treble Seven, Double Naught”
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500):
Sean Thomas Dougherty for “You Are Beautiful as the Absence of Air”
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250):
Nancy Reddy for “Little, Red”
2014 Contest Winners:
Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction ($500):
Tyrone Jaeger for “To Thy Speed Add Wings”
Gary Wilson Short Story Award ($250):
Jennifer Moffett for “A Peculiar Apocalypse Behind the Gates”
Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award ($500):
Ada Limón for “Day of Song, Day of Silence”
Baskerville Publishers Poetry Award ($250):
Henry Israeli for “The Great Soviet Space Dog Experiment”