The Writers' Workshop is the administrative home to two annual literary prizes. 

The Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin is awarded annually by the University of Iowa on behalf of the estate of Truman Capote. Stipulated in the author’s will and established in 1994 by the Truman Capote Literary Trust, the $30,000 prize is the largest annual cash prize for English-language literary criticism. Winners are nominated and selected each year by a panel of distinguished judges; an awards ceremony is held annually in Iowa City.

The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award are annual prizes given to two collections of stories by emerging short fiction writers, which are then published by the University of Iowa Press. Manuscript submissions are managed and juried through the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Submissions are accepted between August 1 and September 30. Announcement of the winners will be made early in the following year on the Iowa Press' Instagram page and Twitter account.