Contests can offer a great incentive to pull out a piece of work you love and revise and polish it until it shines. They also give you the chance to win recognition and gain exposure and confidence; sometimes professional critiques are provided, which can offer you helpful feedback. Here is a quick roundup of some upcoming competitions you might want to sharpen your pencils or fire up your computer to enter:

The 83rd Writer’s Digest Writing Competition: Early bird deadline is May 5. Among the benefits: An announcement of the winner on the cover of Writer’s Digest, the chance to win $3,000 in cash, gain one-on-one attention with four editors or agents, and national exposure for your work. You can submit in 10 different categories, including: Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious); Memoirs/Personal Essay; Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.), and Children’s/Young Adult Fiction. For submission details and fees, check the Writer’s Digest Web site.

New Letters Literary Awards: Offers three annual awards, each with a $1,500 prize and a deadline of May 18 — 1) The Dorothy Churchill Cappon Creative Nonfiction Award for the best previously unpublished creative nonfiction (up to 8,000 words); 2) the New Letters Prize for Poetry, and the Alexander Patterson Cappon Prize for Fiction. For details, visit: newletters.org/awards.

David Nathan Meyerson Prize for Fiction: Offered annually by his family to honor David Meyerson, a therapist and talented writer. Deadline: May 1. The prize is open to writers who have not yet published a book of fiction, either a novel or collection of stories. To enter, submit previously unpublished short fiction (up to 8,000 words). Top prize is $1,000 and publication in the Southwest Review. For details, check prize Web site.

Remixing the World’s Problems Challenge: Deadline: May 15. This 1-time challenge has a $500 top prize for the best “remix” of a poem (or poems) from the poetry collection Solving the World’s Problems. for details, visit: remixingtheworldsproblems.com.

Why not explore these contests, just to see what’s out there — and write on!