The 2025 Orison Prizes are open for submissions from December 1, 2024 – April 1, 2025. Tessa Fontaine will judge in fiction and Phillip B. Williams will judge in poetry; the winner in each genre will receive $1,500 and publication of their book. Find complete guidelines here. Early submissions are encouraged, as they help us spread out the screening process!
ABOUT THE JUDGES
Tessa Fontaine is the author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts, named a New York Times Editors' Choice, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and "best book of the year" by Southern Living, Refinery29, Amazon Editors, and The New York Post. The Red Grove, her debut novel, was named a "best book" by Amazon Editors and People Magazine, and is currently longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her writing can be found in Outside, The New York Times, Glamour, AGNI, The Believer, People, LitHub, Creative Nonfiction, and more.
Phillip B. Williams is the author of two poetry collections, Thief in the Interior, winner of The Kate Tufts Discovery Award and a Lambda Literary Award, and Mutiny, winner of a 2022 American Book Award and a finalist for The PEN/Voelcker Award. His latest book is a novel, Ours, chosen as a "most anticipated book of 2024" by Oprah’s Book Club, Elle, Reader’s Digest, The Rumpus, Kirkus Reviews, The Millions, Lit Hub, and more. Williams is the recipient of a Whiting Award and fellowships from The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and The National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches in the MFA in creative writing program at New York University and is a founding faculty member of the Randolph College low-residency MFA program.