These are contests, grants and fellowships for writers, poets, translators and playwrights. The amounts range from $100 to $10,000. — S. Kalekar
Tarleton State University: Langdon Review Writer-in-Residence Program
This is a residency program and cash award for writers, poets, as well as artists, photographers and “everything else”. Writers and poets need to submit a proposal as to how the experience will benefit them and the Granbury community, as well as writing samples (see guidelines).
Value: $500, two weeks free lodging
Deadline: 15 July 2018
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
The 5th Crystal Ruth Bell Residency
This is a call for a funded two-month residency in Beijing in winter. They want proposals from creative persons whose work involves food in some way, including poets, writers, and journalists, for projects to pursue in Beijing around the theme of ‘Nourish’. They are looking for projects that “nourish communities in ways that push back against, work through, and build upon our food complex systems through a commitment to creative inquiry”.
Value: $1,071 research stipend, living/working space, travel and Visa costs, $500 material stipend
Deadline: 17 July 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Frieze Writer’s Prize 2018
This prize is for discovering and promoting new art critics. Send one unpublished review of a recent contemporary art exhibition (700 words; translations must be acknowledged). Applicants should have published no more than three pieces of writing on art.
Value: £2,000, writing commission
Deadline: 18 July 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants
The grant is to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation. Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion. The works must be translated into English. Projects may have up to two translators. There are various submission requirements, including a 10-12 page translation sample.
Value: $2,000-$4,000
Deadline: 20 July 2018
Open for: All translators
Details here.
The H G Wells Short Story Competition
There are two contests, for writers under 21, and those over 21. There is no fee for the former. Submit a short story (1,500-5,000) on the theme of Peace. Those over 21 have to pay a fee, and the prize purse is lower.
Value: £1,000 for the Junior Award (under 21)
Deadline: 23 July 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Deathscribe: The International Festival of Horror Radio Plays
They want 10-minute audio drama scripts that are scary, imaginative, chilling, suspenseful or grotesque. Writers may submit up to two scripts.
Value: $100, performance before a live audience
Deadline: 31 July 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Betjeman Poetry Prize
This is a prize for 10-13-year-olds in the UK or Ireland. Submit a poem on the theme of ‘Place’.
Value: £500, and £5,000 for the English department of their school; two prizes of £200 each; four Eurostar tickets each for the three winners to Paris, Brussels or Lille
Deadline: 31 July 2018
Open for: Young UK poets
Details here.
Speculative Literature Foundation’s Diverse Writers and Diverse World Grants
There are two grants for writers of speculative fiction. The Diverse Writers grant is intended to support new and emerging writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups, such as writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, working-class writers, etc. The Diverse Worlds grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background. Writers may apply for either or both grants. The project does not need to center on identity issues. The grants are for fostering new, in-progress work and preference will be given to full-length works (novels or collections of short stories).
Value: $500 each for Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds
Deadline: 31 July 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The Lincoln Forum: Platt Family Scholarship Prize Essay Contest
This contest is for full-time undergraduates at an American college or university. The topic for the 2018 essay (1,500-5,000 words) is Frederick Douglass, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln. Their website says, “2018 marks the 160th anniversary of the famous debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. It will also be the bicentennial of the birth of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Although Lincoln had major policy disagreements with both of these men, they also greatly influenced his political philosophy. What is the historical impact of Lincoln’s relationships with Stephen Douglas and Frederick Douglass?”
Value: $1,500, $750, $500
Deadline: 31 July 2018
Open for: Students in a US college or university
Details here.
Polar Expressions Publishing: 11th Annual National Poetry and Short Story Competitions
These competitions, for poetry and short stories, are open for Canadian residents and citizens. Poems must be up to 48 lines and short stories, up to 750 words.
Value: CA$500, CA$250, CA$100 each in poetry and short story for those aged 16 or over; CA$200, CA$100 and CA$50 each in poetry and short stories for those aged 15 and under; publication
Deadline: 31 July 2018
Open for: Canadian writers
Details here.
Texas Short Story Contest
They want a short story (up to 5,000 words) on the theme, Highway 90. “All stories must make reference to the theme in some way, shape, or form. In order to qualify, the plot of the story does not need to revolve around the theme.” Authors can send up to two stories and can enter under a pen name. For any winners under 18, the monetary prize will be processed as a scholarship for academic purposes.
Value: $1,000; second and third prizes of Bethune & Son store credit
Deadline: 1 August 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
Transitions Abroad Expatriate and Work Abroad Writing Contest
They want inspiring articles or practical mini-guides (1,200-3,000 words) that also provide in-depth descriptions of writers’ experience moving, living, and working abroad (including any form of work such as teaching English, internships, volunteering, short-term jobs). Writers should also include resources, a discussion, and revealing anecdotes about their social interactions with locals, food and markets, culture, housing, immigration and visas, personal and family life abroad, and other issues of note.
Value: $500, $150, $100, $50
Deadline: 1 August 2018
Open for: All professional and freelance writers
Details 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 is for female writers, and the Horror Writers Association scholarship is for all writers (no membership necessary). There is also the Dark Poetry Scholarship, and the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for Nonfiction Writing. 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.
Value: Various
Deadline: 1 August 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The Costa Short Story Award
This prestigious short story prize is for writers based in the UK or Ireland. There is no set theme and stories can be up to 4,000 words.
Value: £3,500, £1,000, £500
Deadline: 3 August 2018
Open for: Writers in UK or Ireland
Details here and here.
David Charles Horn Prize
This is a prize for a full-length play, and supports emerging playwrights. Translations, musicals, adaptations, and children’s plays are not accepted. The play may not be under option, commissioned, or scheduled for professional production or publication at the time of submission.
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 15 August 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History
This is for a literary unpublished non-fiction work-in-progress that uses oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. Scholarly/academic writing is ineligible. The grant is to help maintain or complete the ongoing project. There are various submission requirements, including a writing sample (20-40 pages) and transcripts of the project interviews (6-10 pages).
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 15 August 2018
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
