These are prizes/grants/fellowships for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translation, journalism, as well as playwriting. They range from $100 up to $184,000. They are, very loosely, divided geographically. A couple of the deadlines are in August. — S. Kalekar
INTERNATIONAL CONTESTS
Fondation Jan Michalski Residencies for Writers
These are residencies at the foot of the Jura mountains in Montricher, Switzerland, and they are open to all types of writers engaged in literary creation. While they give priority to writers and translators, they are also open to any other discipline as long as writing is at the heart of the project. “A percentage of the residencies are dedicated to nature writing, a form of fiction or creative non-fiction that raises awareness of nature, prepares for a sustainable future, and helps to better understand socio-environmental interconnections and the impact of human actions on nature.” There are no age or nationality restrictions. Writers working on a project with a collaborator can apply in pairs. Applications can be in English or French. Excerpts from your writing, both current and previous, can be in any language, not necessarily English or French.
Value: Round-trip travel, CHF400 per week
Deadline: 26 August 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Awards
This American-Scandinavian Foundation annually awards translation prizes for outstanding translations of poetry, fiction, drama, or literary prose written by a Scandinavian author born after 1900. The Leif and Inger Sjöberg Award is for those whose translations from a Nordic language have not been previously published. There is also the Nadia Christensen Prize, the Wigeland Prize (this is for the best translation by a Norwegian), and the Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize, which recognizes the best Danish translation. The application includes 25-50 pages of prose or 15-25 pages of poetry.
Value: $2,500 (Nadia Christensen Prize); $2,000 (Leif and Inger Sjöberg Award); $2,000 (Wigeland Prize), $2,000 (The Inger and Jens Bruun Translation Prize)
Deadline: 1 September 2024
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
The Academy for Teachers: Stories Out of School Flash Fiction Contest
They want honest, unsentimental stories, of 6 to 499 words, about teachers and schools. The contest is open to all writers, whether or not they are a teacher. The story’s protagonist or narrator must be a K-12 teacher. Sentimentality is discouraged and education jargon is forbidden.
Value: $1,000, and publication in A Public Space
Deadline: 1 September 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
Yale Drama Series: David Charles Horn Prize
This international contest is for an full-length play in English, of at least 65 pages, and is meant for emerging playwrights. Translations, musicals, adaptations, and children’s plays are not accepted. Apart from a cash prize, there will be publication of their manuscript by Yale University Press, and a celebratory event.
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 8 September 2024
Open for: Emerging playwrights
Details here and here.
Princeton Arts Fellowship
This is for artists in many disciplines, including literary, whose achievements have been recognized as demonstrating extraordinary promise in any area of artistic practice and teaching. This is a two-year program and there is a teaching duty attached. Writers do not have to be US citizens to apply. You can apply for this fellowship twice in a lifetime.
Value: $92,000 per year ($184,000 for the two-year fellowship), residency at Princeton
Deadline: 10 September 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Princeton: Hodder Fellowship
Potential Hodder Fellows are composers, choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers, translators or other kinds of artists or humanists who have “much more than ordinary intellectual and literary gifts”; they are selected more “for promise than for performance.” Most writers have had their first book published. The Hodder is designed to provide Fellows with the “studious leisure” to undertake significant new work. There are no formal teaching duties attached. Fellows have access to shared spaces on campus at Princeton, for the duration of their fellowship.
One does not have to be a US citizen to apply for this fellowship. A Hodder Fellow must be based in the U.S. during the Fellowship, and
Fellows have access to shared spaces on campus for the duration of their fellowship (see FAQ, scroll down to Hodder Fellowship).
Value: $92,000, additional $5,000 for research
Deadline: 10 September 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Harvard University: Radcliffe Institute Fellowships
These are for various disciplines, including creative arts – which include, but are not limited to, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, as well as journalism, and playwriting. Their guidelines also say, “Applicants may apply as individuals or in a group of two to three people working on the same project. We seek diversity along many dimensions, including discipline, career stage, race and ethnicity, country of origin, gender and sexual orientation, and ideological perspective. Although our fellows come from many different backgrounds, they are united by their demonstrated excellence, collegiality, and creativity.” The fellowship pays $78,000, and an additional $5,000 for project expenses; fellows also get an office at Harvard University, additional funds for moving expenses, childcare and housing, etc. The deadline for some disciplines, including creative arts, is in September.
Value: $78,000; additional funds for project expenses, and other things
Deadline: 12 September 2024
Open for: Published writers and journalists
Details here, here, here, and here.
(And journalists wanting to apply for the Nieman Fellowships at Harvard should keep an eye on their website; applications will open in early October, according to their website. Fellows get $85,000 over a nine-month fellowship and other expenses, see the FAQ here. The deadlines to apply are 1 December for international journalists, and 31 January for U.S. journalists; there are also the Nieman Visiting Fellowships for short-term research projects designed to advance journalism.)
The Forge Competition
The Forge literary magazine holds a flash fiction and non-fiction contest. Send a piece of up to 1,000 words. They have both fee-free and fee-based submissions, both of which will open for submissions on 1st September; fee-free submissions will close once they reach a cap. The tip-jar submissions too may close earlier than the deadline, if they reach their Submittable limit.
Value: $1,000
Reading period: 1-14 September 2024, or until filled
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship
This is for published fiction and non-fiction writers who were born in Africa or whose parents were born in Africa (see ‘Do I need to prove my African birth place?’ in FAQ). The money is paid monthly over a course of a year. For non-fiction writers, additional funds can be made available, and given over a period of 18 months. A published writing sample is part of the application (see guidelines). One of the scholarship requirements is, writers have to submit 10,000 words of writing every month (see guidelines). They also say, “The Foundation will not review or comment on the monthly submissions as they come in. However, each Scholar will be offered the opportunity to be mentored by an established author or publisher. In most cases the mentorship will begin after the book has been finished and the Scholarship period has ended.” And, “Scholars are also asked to donate to the MMF 20% of whatever they subsequently receive from the book they write during the period of their Scholarship. … These funds will be used to support other promising writers. The 20% return obligation should be considered a debt of honour rather than a legally binding obligation.”
Value: £18,000 for fiction writers, possible additional funds for non-fiction writers, mentorship
Deadline: 20 September 2024 (see ‘Important Dates’ in the entry requirements here.)
Open for: African writers
Details here (entry requirements) and here (application form).
New York Public Library: Cullman Centre Fellowship
This is for writers whose project draws on the collection housed in The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, formerly the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Visual artists can also apply (see guidelines).
Value: $85,000 and residency
Deadline: 27 September 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
Speculative Literature Foundation: Working Class Writers Grant
This is an international grant is to help writers of speculative literature, and will open to applications on 1st September. This grant is awarded annually to assist working class, blue-collar, poor, and homeless writers, and writers from these backgrounds, who have been historically underrepresented in speculative fiction due to financial barriers. One of the submission requirements is a writing sample of poetry, drama, fiction, or creative non-fiction (see guidelines); the submitted work must be speculative. Unlike their other grants, writers may receive this grant anonymously or pseudonymously. They also have other grant submission periods coming up.
Value: $1,000
Submission period: 1st to 30th September 2024
Open for: All writers from working class background
Details here (Working Class Writers Grant) and here (schedule for all grants).
The Writers College – Short Story Competition for Emerging Writers
This is an international fiction contest, open to writers ages 16 and over; send stories of up to 2,000 words. Regarding eligibility they say, “We aim to support beginner writers only. We accept stories from writers who have never been published, or who have been published fewer than four times in any genre.” (See guidelines). The contest theme is, ‘It didn’t have to be this way’. Also, “We accept stories in any genre (literary/horror/sci-fi/fantasy/spec fic). However, literary fiction tends to fare best with our judges.”
Value: NZ$1,000, NZ$500, and NZ$250
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Open for: Beginner/emerging writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
They want a short story on any theme. Stories should ideally be up to 3,000 words, though those up to 4,000 words are considered. Readers of the magazine are interested in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Their newsletter subscribers include publishers, artists, musicians, and fellow writers. Their guidelines say, “While your writing should appeal to a reader with these interests and in these creative professions, all story themes are considered.”
Value: $150
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
International Human Rights Arts Festival: Rhonda Gail Williford Award for Poetry
Their guidelines say, “Please submit one poem that incorporates themes of justice, dignity, and resistance”.
Value: $150, $100, $50
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Details here.
International Human Rights Arts Festival: Art of Unity Creative Award
They accept essays and short stories (under 2,500 words for prose) and poetry on the theme, “Never again: Remembering to heal and overcome. The most important hallmark of Holocaust remembrance and education is the phrase ‘never again.’ Unfortunately, tribal divisions, ethnic cleansing and genocides continue in the 21st Century. We are looking for submissions in any creative media (which can be exhibited online), and which highlight aspects of human unity, and positive cross-pollination between groups, ethnicities, religions and/or nations.”
Value: $150, $100, $50
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Details here.
(Click on ‘Artist Opportunities’ on this page to see all their calls, including for Youth, for African spoken word, and a poetry contest for Gen Z Kenyans.)
Last Stanza Poetry Journal: Oops!
They award one prize to an outstanding poem, from general submissions to their journal. The theme for this issue is, Oops! “A single $100 award will be given for an outstanding poem. There is never a reading fee. An interview with the prize winner will be published in the same issue (optional).”
Poems can be any style, but preferably non-rhyming, of up to 64 lines.
Value: $100
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Open for: All poets
Details here.
The Camargo Core Program
This residency at Cassis, France is for artists (including writers, playwrights and translators) and scholars/thinkers, to think, create and connect. Applicants should have a publication and/or grant track record. They welcome spouses/partners and dependent minor children. Fellowships span 10 weeks.
Value: €350 per week (€3,500 for 10 weeks), basic coach class travel booked in advance (see guidelines)
Deadline: 1 October 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
Horror Writers Association Scholarships
These scholarships offer various amounts for assisting authors in professional development as horror writers. There are various amounts and requirements. The Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly scholarship, worth $2,500, is for writers who identify as women, and the Horror Writers Association scholarship, worth $2,500, is for all writers (no membership necessary). They also have Diversity Grants, worth $500 each, which “will be open to underrepresented, diverse people who have an interest in the horror writing genre, including, but not limited to writers, editors, reviewers, and library workers. … the Diversity Grants have adopted the broadest definition of the word diversity to include, but not limited to, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabled, and neurodiverse.” There is also the Dark Poetry Scholarship, the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for Nonfiction Writing, the Dennis Etchison Young Writers Scholarship, and Young Adults Write Now endowment program for libraries. The funds can be used for various things like course fees, resources like textbooks and guides, subscriptions for appropriate periodicals, and registration fees for relevant literary festivals. Barring the Scholarship from Hell (for StokerCon), all the grants opened for application on 1 August 2024.
Value: Various
Deadline: 1 October 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
(The HWA is also open for the Bram Stoker Award for published works in various categories, including anthology, collection, first novel, graphic novel, long fiction and nonfiction, novel, poetry collection, screenplay, and more. The deadline is 31 December 2024 – see guidelines).
Getty Scholar Grants
These are for researchers of all nationalities who are working in the arts, humanities, or social sciences, for established scholars and writers who have achieved distinction in their fields. Recipients can pursue their own projects free from academic obligations and make use of Getty collections. There are three-, six-, and nine-month residencies. The annual theme for this cycle is Repair. Also see the African American Art History Initiative Fellowship on the program page. Also see their FAQ.
Value: $21,500-65,000, residency
Deadline: 1 October 2024
Open for: Established scholars and writers
Details here and here.
BONUS: The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award
These awards offer publication for two short story collections. Manuscripts must be at least 150 pages. They offer a standard publishing contract. Both winning manuscripts get publication under a standard University of Iowa Press contract. The prize is open for writers who have not published a volume of prose fiction. The deadline is 30 September 2024. Details here.
(A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— One Story: Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship: This is for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an advanced degree program – see guidelines. “We are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that centers, celebrates, or reclaims being marginalized through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment.” Apart from the $2,000 stipend and tuition to attend One Story’s week-long summer writers’ conference, it offers free tuition for all One Story online classes and programming; a full manuscript review & consultation with One Story Executive Editor Hannah Tinti (story collection or novel in progress up to 150 pages/35,000 words). A fiction writing sample of 3,000-5,000 words is part of the submission requirement. The deadline is 9 October 2024. Details here. And, One Story will open to fiction submissions in the Fall; see here.
— The Commonwealth Short Story Prize: This is a contest for writers from the Commonwealth, see the list of eligible countries here – send a piece of unpublished short fiction, in any genre, of 2,000-5,000 words. They take entries in several languages apart from English, as well as translated stories. The top prize is £5,000, regional prizes are £2,500. The submission period opens on 1 September, and the deadline is 1 November 2024. Details here.)
WRITERS IN THE US / CANADA
(Writers in the US might be interested in the New York Public Library: Cullman Centre Fellowship; and writers in Canada could also see the Commonwealth Short Story prize.)
Blue Stoop: The Jennifer Weiner Fellowship
This is an initiative for woman-identified emerging prose (fiction and/or non-fiction) writers in the US. A prose writing sample (3-5 pages) is part of the application requirement. The funds can be used to cover living expenses, child care, travel, educational or professional opportunities, or anything that supports writing, ideation, or creative exploration. Apart from the cash grant, the winner also gets one-on-one mentorship from Jennifer Weiner, and access to a catalog of Blue Stoop resources, including classes and workshops, and other benefits.
Value: $5,000
Deadline: 26 August 2024
Open for: Women-identified emerging prose writers in the US (see guidelines)
Details here and here.
The Debra E. Bernhardt Labor Journalism Prize
This award is given for a published or soon-to-be-published article that furthers the understanding of the history of working people. “We welcome articles that put current issues like work, housing, organizing, health, or education in a historical context AND also articles about historical events. The work must be published in print or online between August 31, 2023 and August 31, 2024. The prize is given to insightful work that contributes to the understanding of labor history; shows creativity; demonstrates excellence in writing; can reach a broad audience; and adheres to the highest journalistic standards of accuracy.” The article must be published in print or online between August 31, 2023 and August 31, 2024. Publications and subject matter should target the United States and Canada.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 6 September 2024
Open for: Unspecified; but publications and subject matter should target the US and Canada
Details here.
Fund for Investigative Journalism Grants
Their regular grants are for articles by US journalists that break new ground and expose wrongdoing – such as corruption, malfeasance, or abuse of power – in the public and private sectors. FIJ encourages proposals written for ethnic media as well as those submitted by journalists of color. “The Fund provides grants for print and online articles, television and radio stories, documentaries, podcasts, and books.” Also, “foreign-based story proposals must come from US-based reporters or have a strong US angle involving American citizens, government, or business; all stories must be published in English, in a media outlet in the United States.”
Value: Up to $10,000
Deadline: 9 September 2024
Open for:U.S.-based journalists or those working on a story with a strong U.S. angle
Details here.
(And, Fund for Investigative Journalism is also accepting applications for “seed” grants for early reporting of $1,000 to $2,500, the deadline is 20 September 2024; journalists must be U.S.-based or working on a story with a strong U.S. angle; details here.)
Academy of American Poets: Ambroggio Prize
This is an opportunity for US poets. They want a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. Poets may translate their own work or collaborate with a translator who may or may not be a poet; the poet and translator must share the prize. The original manuscript in Spanish must be between 48 and 100 pages. Their website also says, established in 2017, the Ambroggio Prize is the only annual award of its kind in the United States that honors American poets whose first language is Spanish. Apart from a cash prize, the manuscript also gets publication.
Value: $1,000 and publication
Deadline: 15 September 2024
Open for: US poets
Details here and here.
(The Academy of American Poets has other awards as well, both fee-free and fee-based – see all of their prizes here, and see their Submittable for all open calls.)
Fulbright Scholarships
This is a program for US citizens. Their website says, “The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers over 400 awards in more than 135 countries for U.S. citizens to teach, conduct research and carry out professional projects around the world.” There are opportunities for higher education faculty and administrators, professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, and independent scholars outside of the academy. Applicants can opt for teaching, research, teaching/research, and professional projects, in various countries. The opportunities range from a few months to a year. The awards for the 2025-26 cycle can be found here.
Value: Various
Deadline: 16 September 2024
Open for: US Citizens
Details here.
Guggenheim Fellowships
These are now open for applications. The Guggenheim Fellowships are for US and Canadian citizens in various disciplines, including literature, who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. No special conditions are attached to the fellowships. Also see their FAQ.
Value: Varies
Deadline: 17 September 2024 – see here for timeline and here for deadline and how to apply
Open for: US and Canadian citizens
Details here (timeline), here (how to apply), here (application resources), and here (submission materials).
American Academy in Berlin Fellowship
This is for US-based people (including collaborators) who wish to engage in independent study (generally, for an academic semester). Academy fellows are established and emerging scholars, writers, and professionals who wish to engage in independent study. Applicants working in most other fields—such as journalism, filmmaking, or public policy—must have a significant record of publication or production. Writers of fiction and nonfiction must have published at least one book with a reputable press at the time of application (composers, artists, and poets are by invitation only). Candidates should explain how their projects will benefit from a residency in Berlin, but they need not be working on German topics. Past recipients have included historians, economists, filmmakers, art historians, journalists, legal scholars, musicologists, public-policy experts, former government officials, NGO leaders, and writers. Most accommodations are also suitable for couples; they also offer accommodations for a limited number of families with children. You have to sign into SlideRoom to apply; see the help centre here.
Value: Round-trip airfare, $5,000 per month, residency near Berlin
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Open for: Those permanently based in the US
Details here and here.
Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing
These awards are for works that evoke the American South. For fiction and non-fiction, the awards are for published/soon-to-be-published books; for poetry, send a poem of up to 60 lines on the theme. “Books must be published during the submission year and cannot be self-published. Advanced reader copies or proofs for books that will be published in October, November or December of 2024 are eligible.” And, “Winners also receive an expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Miss., where we celebrate the winning writers as part of the Oxford Conference for the Book.”
Value: $12,000 for prose; $3,000 for poetry
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Changes Book Prize
The Changes Book Prize gives a cash award and publication for a poet’s first or second poetry manuscript of 48-96 pages – it is open to US residents who have not published (or committed to publishing) more than one book-length collection of poetry with a registered ISBN. The prize will open for submissions on 1st September, and their Submittable link will be active then.
Value: $10,000
Submission period: 1 September to 1 October 2024
Open for: US residents, for a first or second poetry book
Details here.
PEN America: US Writers Aid Initiative
This is intended to assist fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. To be eligible, applicants must be based in the United States, be professional writers, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping them to address an emergency situation. They have various deadlines through the year; the next one is in October. The opportunity will likely appear on their Submittable closer to the date. Writers do not have to be PEN members to apply.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline:1 October 2024
Open for: US writers
Details here.
(Some of PEN America’s other initiatives are open now, see their Submittable for details.)
WRITERS IN THE UK/IRELAND
(Also see the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, above.)
The Ilfeld Prize
The is a new competition; and for their first cycle, it is open to emerging playwrights resident in the UK. The script must be at least 8,500 words, with a projected running time of at least 55 minutes. The play can also be co-written (see guidelines). Winners will receive a cash award, along with the option of participating in their mentoring program, a workshopped table read, and having their playscript published. They plan on giving several grants, depending on the quality of submissions (scroll down to see the FAQ).
Value: £5,000
Deadline: 1 September 2024
Open for: Emerging playwrights in the UK
Details here and here.
Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter Literary Festival Flash Fiction Competition
This is for writers living in Ireland. Send a piece of flash fiction of up to 300 words.
Value: €150, €100
Deadline: 1 September 2024
Open for: Writers in Ireland
Details here.
Penguin UK: Merkey Books New Writers’ Prize
This is an annual prize, and is open to young (ages 18-35), underrepresented and unpublished writers from across the UK and Ireland. Writers also have to be unagented. It is for a work of literary and commercial fiction; send a synopsis of 200 words and an excerpt of 1,200 words. The winner receives a publishing contract with Merkey Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, which also includes an advance (see FAQ). And, shortlisted writers will also be invited to their Writers’ Camp.
Value: Advance, publication
Deadline: 2 September 2024
Open for: Writers ages 18-35 in UK and Ireland
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
