These are awards/fellowships for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and journalism, for up to $85,000. One of the deadlines is in October. They are, very loosely, divided geographically. – S. Kalekar
INTERNATIONAL CONTESTS
True Story Award
This is a global journalism award for previously published work which seeks “to make reporters’ voices known beyond the borders of their home countries, and in doing so to increase the diversity of perspectives offered in the media. The True Story Award will be conferred by an independent foundation and honours reporters writing in 10 languages, who have distinguished themselves by the depth of their research, the quality of their journalism and its social relevance. 45 jury members from 29 countries will select the 36 best texts of the year and then select the three winners. They will receive 20,000 US$ each in prize money, while all the 36 nominees (one per text) will be invited to the True Story Festival in Bern, Switzerland.” Works can be submitted in the following 10 languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Works written in other languages can be submitted in 3 categories: Europe, World I, and World II (World II also in Hindi). Submissions in the original language must include a summary in English of at least 400 words. The texts’ length (published in print or online) should be 3,000-17,000 words. The award is in these three categories: True Story Award Research, True Story Award Storytelling, and True Story Award Impact. Texts published in print or online between 1st October 2024 and 30th September 2024 are eligible. They may have been published in daily or weekly newspapers, magazines or on websites. Re-published texts, books and manuscripts are ineligible. Texts must be submitted by their authors.
Value: $20,000 each in three categories
Deadline: 22 October 2024
Open for: Journalists worldwide
Details here.
Quarterly West Poetry and Prose Contests
Submissions for this poetry and prose (all prose: fiction, non-fiction, hybrid work, and texts that defy categorization) contest are charged; they have a fee-free submission option for writers of color. “More recently, Quarterly West has shifted away from the traditional bifurcation of fiction and nonfiction. For this contest, we’re interested in fiction, nonfiction, experimentation, hybridity, and texts that somehow defy categorization. That being said, we do ask that you identify your text’s genre–or lack thereof– in your cover letter.” Length guidelines are, up to 6,000 words for prose, and up to 3 poems. They will accept prose submissions until 1st November, or until their submission cap is reached. There is a first and a second prize for both poetry and prose categories. “
Value: $500 and $200 each, for poetry and prose
Deadline: 1 November, or until filled, for prose; 1 November 2024 for poetry (see guidelines)
Open for: Fee-free submissions open for writers of color
Details here and here.
(Quarterly West Magazine is also open to submissions of new media, translations, and book reviews year round – there is no cash payment for these.)
The African Poetry Book Fund: Evaristo Prize for African Poetry
The African Poetry Book Fund (APBF) runs writing contests, and the deadline for the Evaristo Prize is in November. The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry was formerly called the Brunel International African Poetry Prize. It is for poets born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African, and who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published (self-published poetry books, chapbooks, and pamphlets are exempt). These poems, though, may have already been published. Writers need to submit 10 poems exactly, of up to 40 lines each. Only poems written in English can be considered, but they accept poems in translation too. In the case that the winning work is translated, a percentage of the prize money would be awarded to the translator. The submission category for this contest will open on Submittable during the submission period.
Value: £1,500
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: African poets
Details here and here.
(See all the African Poetry Book Fund contests 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. There are regional prizes, and an overall winner.
Value: £5,000, regional prizes are £2,500 each
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: Writers in Commonwealth countries
Details here.
Black Mountain Institute: Shearing Fellowship
This is a residential fellowship for emerging and distinguished writers who have published at least one book with a trade or literary press. Apart from the cash stipend, this fellowship includes: a semester-long letter of appointment; eligibility for health coverage; office space in the BMI offices on the campus of UNLV; free housing (fellows cover some utilities) in a unique and vibrant arts complex in the bustling district of downtown Las Vegas. While there are no formal teaching requirements, this is a working fellowship (see guidelines).
(They are associated with the International Cities of Refuge network, which serves as an umbrella organization and information clearinghouse for local asylum programs worldwide, which has a great resources page for artists at risk.)
Value: $46,500 over 9 months, residency
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
PEN/Robert J Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers
This is an award for 12 emerging fiction writers for their debut short story published during a given calendar year in a literary magazine or cultural website. Submitted stories must be published in the calendar year prior to the corresponding awards ceremony (see FAQ – scroll down on the guidelines page).
Value: $2,000 each
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: Debut published short stories
Details here and here.
Bennington College Young Writers Award
This is an international contest for young writers, and the categories are poetry (a group of three poems), fiction – a short story (1,500 words or fewer) or one-act play (run no more than 30 minutes of playing time), and nonfiction – a personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer). There are first, second, and third prizes in each of the three categories. Young Writers Award finalists and winners are also eligible for undergraduate scholarships at Bennington, ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 each year (see guidelines).
Value: $1,000, $500, $250 each in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry categories, and scholarships
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: Students in 9th to 12th grades or secondary school (for international students)
Details here and here.
Epiphany: The Fresh Voices Fellowship
This fellowship, from Epiphany journal, supports one emerging Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other writer of color of prose or poetry who does not have an MFA in creative writing nor an advanced English degree (MA, PhD), and is not currently enrolled in a degree-granting program. Apart from a stipend, the winner gets publication, the opportunity to participate in the editorial and publication process of a small non-profit literary magazine, and other benefits. A work sample is part of the application process (see guidelines). And, they also offer everyone who applies to the Fresh Voices Fellowship a free digital subscription to Epiphany.
Value: $2,000
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: Emerging writers of color (see guidelines)
Details here and here.
(Epiphany is open for submissions in other categories too, for which there is a submission fee.)
International Center for Journalists: Boost – Reporting Grants for Journalists
International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is offering reporting grants for journalists. This new program is designed to expand ICFJ’s offering to its global network by introducing individual reporting grants for projects that might not fit under existing programs. The first call for applications is focused on climate and climate change. They are looking for high-quality reporting that explores this topic in the Global South. Grants ranging from US$2,000 to US$3,000 will be awarded to at least two winning proposals.
Value: $2,000-$3,000
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: All journalists
Details here and here.
John Updike Tucson Casitas Fellowship
This is a cash award and a two-week residency at the Mission Hill Casitas in Tucson, Arizona. Writers with any type of literary project are welcome to apply, as are scholars working on Updike criticism. Multimedia projects will also be considered. A proposal and writing sample are part of the application (see guidelines).
Value: $1,000, residency
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here (scroll down for the Tucson Casitas Fellowship – the page also has details of all grants, scholarships, and awards by the John Updike Society.)
Diann Blakely National Poetry Competition
This contest is affiliated with the University of Georgia. Submissions will open on 1st November, and the deadline was unspecified at the time of writing; in the past, this contest has run for a month. Send a single poem, of 50 lines or fewer. Apart from a cash prize, the winner also receives 25 broadsides of their poem.
Value: $500
Opens on: 1 November 2024
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Cave Canem: Derricotte/Eady Prize
Their website says, “Since 2015, Cave Canem has collaborated with O, Miami to spotlight exceptional chapbook-length manuscripts by Black poets. The winner of the prize receives a $1000 award, publication of their manuscript by O, Miami Books, 10 copies of the chapbook, a residency in The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel in Miami, and a featured reading at the O, Miami Poetry Festival in April.”
Value: $1,000, residency
Open for: Black poets
Deadline: 6 November 2024
Details here and here.
(Cave Canem runs other prizes too, see here.)
Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize
This poetry prize recognizes outstanding work by student writers in the 11th grade in the US or abroad. Entrants can also send published poetry for this contest, as well as unpublished. Contest judges are poets on the Princeton University Creative Writing faculty. They will open for submissions soon; submission is via a form, which will be active on the website during the submission period.
Value: $1,500, $750, $500
Submission period: 21 October to 10 November 2024
Open for: Student writers in the 11th grade
Details here.
Global Press: Shifting Democracies Fellowships
This is for journalists who identify as women, have at least 5 years of journalism experience, and live in one of the 15 eligible countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. The eligible countries are Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, India, Philippines, and Indonesia. This is a remote fellowship, applicants must be from andcurrently live full-time in their coverage country for the duration of the 2-year fellowship. Global Press’ Shifting Democracies fellows will examine changing governance structures in countries around the world, and how those shifts are interconnected. One of the application requirements is a 1,000 word cover letter stating the gaps they see in coverage of how democracy is shifting in their country, and what role their journalism would play in filling those gaps. Reporting fellows are expected to work full-time at 40 hours per week. This fellowship is designed to bolster expertise in understanding changing governments, investigating and explaining those changes in the context of your own country and other global trends.
Value: Up to $30,000 per calendar year (up to $60,000 for a two-year fellowship) – see here for the yearly breakdown by continent
Deadline: 8 November 2024
Open for: Women journalists from 15 countries (see guidelines)
Details here.
Defenestrationism: 2024 Flash Suite Contest
This is a contest for at least three flash fiction pieces (up to 1,000 words each) that co-relate in some way. A single piece of the suite may have been published before, otherwise, no previously published material. Finalists will be published daily on the site, followed by at least two weeks of Fan Voting – winners will be selected by a judging panel, with Fan Voting counting as an additional judge vote.
Value: $75, $60
Deadline: 10 November 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival: Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize
This prize will be awarded to a Brooklyn- focused non-fiction essay which is set in Brooklyn and is about Brooklyn and/or Brooklyn people/characters. “We are seeking compelling Brooklyn stories from writers with a broad range of backgrounds and ages (minimum age 18 years old) who can render Brooklyn’s rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences in Brooklyn.” Essays have to be 4-10 pages (up to 2,500 words). Value: $500
Deadline: 15 November 2024
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
T Paulo Urcanse Prize for Literary Excellence
T Paulo Urcanse was a Portuguese writer and activist, most famous for his short novel, The Pucker Fish. He spent a lot of money entering prizes for his short fiction and poetry, but never won. In his honor, the High Horse Magazine is issuing a prize for literary excellence – it is open to “poets, writers, and essayists of all colors and stripes. Whether you be a lonely writer looking for community and wanting to make your literary debut, or a similarly eggheaded and celebrated writer in the vein of the namesake of this prize, we welcome your submissions with open arms, without fees or prerequisites”. The prize will soon open for submissions.
Value: $250, $100, $50
Submission period: 31 October to 30 November 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Speculative Literature Foundation’s Gulliver Travel Grant
This grant is to help writers of speculative literature (in fiction, poetry, drama, or creative non-fiction) in their non-academic research. It is to be used to cover airfare, lodging, and/or other travel expenses. Writing samples (speculative literature) are part of the application requirement (see guidelines). This grant is awarded on the basis of interest and merit. Applicants need not have prior publishing credits to apply. The application portal for this grant will open during the submission period. They also have other grant submission periods coming up.
Value: $1,000
Submission period: 1-30 November 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here (Gulliver Travel Grant) and here (schedule for all grants).
ServiceScape Short Story Award
For this award, any genre or theme of short story is accepted. All applicants should submit a work of short fiction or non-fiction, 5,000 words or fewer. Read the guidelines carefully – they reserve the right to modify or terminate the contest at any time without prior notice.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition
This is an international contest for novel manuscripts in the malice domestic genre, for writers who have never been the author of any published mystery novel. “Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story. Whatever violence is necessarily involved should be neither excessive nor gratuitously detailed, nor is there to be explicit sex. The suspects and the victims should know each other. There are a limited number of suspects, each of whom has a credible motive and reasonable opportunity to have committed the crime. The person who solves the crime is the central character. The “detective” is an amateur, or, if a professional (private investigator, police officer) is not hardboiled and is as fully developed as the other characters. The detective may find him or herself in serious peril, but he or she does not get beaten up to any serious extent. All of the cast represent themselves as individuals, rather than large impersonal institutions like a national government, the mafia, the CIA, etc.” The work must be at least 65,000 words. Minotaur is an imprint of Macmillan.
Value: $10,000 advance against royalties
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Open for: All writers, for a debut mystery novel
Details here.
(Minotaur is also running a First Crime Novel Competition, which has a 15th December 2024 deadline.)
Dappled Things: The J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction
Dappled Things is a space for emerging writers to engage the literary world from a Catholic perspective. For this contest, they want stories of up to 8,000 words “with vivid characters who encounter grace in everyday settings—we want to see who, in the age we live in, might have one foot in this world and one in the next.”
Value: $700, $300
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The Society of Authors: The Betty Trask Prize
This is for UK, Ireland, or Commonwealth (see guidelines) based writers under 35, for a debut novel. Writers can enter a published or self-published book or an unpublished manuscript which must be in a traditional or romantic, and not experimental, style.
Value: £10,000 for the winner, and a fund of £16,200 will be divided equally between shortlisted authorsDeadline: 30 November 2024
Open for: UK, North Ireland, Commonwealth writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
The African Poetry Book Fund: Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry
It is for poets born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African, and who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published (this includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible). Manuscripts have to be at least 50 pages long. Only poems written in English can be considered, but they accept poems in translation too. If the winning work is translated, a percentage of the prize money is awarded to the translator. Apart from a cash prize, the winner also gets publication from the University of Nebraska Press.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2024
Open for: African poets, for a debut poetry book (see guidelines)
Details here and here.
(See all the African Poetry Book Fund contests here.)
Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest
This is an annual contest, they want flash fiction or narrative poetry about weird Christmas. There are three prompts the writers can choose to write on: stocking stuffer (any weird Christmas story), weird cards (use a weird Christmas card the editor has posted, as a prompt), and weird Christmas specials (“Weird Unreal Cultural Celebration” – Create a new holiday. But it also has to be from a new culture), – see guidelines for details. Writers can send multiple entries. Stories have to be up to 350 words.
Value: $50 prize for a winner in each prompt, and $35 for every honorable mention (10-12)
Deadline: 1 December 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Nieman Fellowships
These are fellowships at Harvard for both US-based and international journalists. “All applicants for academic-year Nieman Fellowships, including freelancers, must be working journalists with at least five years of full-time media experience.”
Value: $85,000 over a nine-month fellowship and other expenses, see the FAQ here
Deadline: 1 December 2024 for international journalists, and 31 January 2025 for U.S. journalists
Details here.
(There are also the Nieman Visiting Fellowships for short-term research projects designed to advance journalism.)
One Teen Story Contest
This is a fiction contest for writers ages 13-19 by One Story Magazine; there are three categories divided age-wise for this contest; 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19. “We are interested in great short stories of any genre about the teen experience—literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, horror, etc. What’s in a great short story? Interesting teen characters, strong writing, and a beginning, middle, and end.” Stories have to be 2,000-4,500 words.
Value: $500 for each category
Deadline: 2 December 2024
Details here and here.
(A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— The London Society – Dreams for London: This is an international themed contest about London. “Tell us why you love this city. Write a Love Letter to London…. Entries are to be around the theme of “Dreams for London”. What are your passions, hopes and dreams for this incredible city? Just let your imagination run wild. It can be reportage, an historical essay, a ‘think piece’, a spot of futurology, a work of fiction, a poem. We are open to all forms and styles.” Entries can be up to 500 words, and poems can be up to 40 lines. There are 4 categories: Aged 11 and under; 12-18 year olds; Open – all other entrants; and Poetry. They also accept certain previously published works (see guidelines). The prizes are £500, £250, and £100 each for Open and Poetry categories; £500, and 4 runners up prizes of £150 each for 11 and under, and 12-18 categories, and the deadline is 20 December 2024. Details here.
— Defenestration.net Lengthy Poem Contest: They are reading entries for a lengthy poem, of at least 120 lines and up to chapbook-length (see guidelines). It is best to divide it into parts or sections, though this is not a strict requirement. Poem cycles will be considered. Please note, the shortlisted poems will be posted on the website, which will be followed by fan voting. The prize is $300, and the deadline is 1 January 2025. Details here.
— San José State University: Center for Steinbeck Studies – The Steinbeck Fellows Program: This awards writers of any age and background a $15,000 fellowship to finish a significant writing project. Fellowships are currently offered in Creative Writing (excluding poetry) and Steinbeck Studies; Fellows may be appointed in many fields, including fiction, drama, creative non-fiction, and biography. The creative writing fellowship does not require that there be any direct connection between your work and Steinbeck’s. The emphasis of the program is on helping writers who have had some success but have not published extensively, and whose promising work would be aided by the financial support and sponsorship of the Center and the University’s creative writing program. There are up to 6 fellowships of $15,000 each, and the deadline is 5 January 2025. Details here and here.)
FOR US AND CANADA
(Canadian writers may also be interested in the Commonwealth Prize and Betty Trask Prize; and US-based writers, in the Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize, John Updike Tucson Casitas Fellowship, Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize, Patrick Henry Fellowship, and Nieman Fellowships in the international section.)
Academy of American Poets: Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize
This prize is given to honor exceptional poems that help make real for readers the gravity of the vulnerable state of our environment at present; poets may submit one poem. It is for US writers (see guidelines). In addition to the prize money, all three poems will be published in the popular Poem-a-day series.
Value: $1,000, $750, $500
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Open for: US poets (see guidelines)
Details here and here (Submittable)
(The Academy of American Poets also has other prizes, including the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award, a $1,000 award recognizing a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year, deadline 15 February 2025, details here; the Academy also runs the Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards, and the $10,000 Raiziss/de Palchi Book Prize will be given in 2025for the translation into English of a significant work of modern Italian poetry by a US poet, deadline 15 February 2025, details here; see all the Academy of American Poets’ prizes here.)
Polar Expressions: Student Contests for Short Story and Poetry
Polar Expressions runs annual short story and poetry contests for Canadian students, from kindergarten to grade 12. Poems should be up to 32 lines and stories up to 450 words, on any topic.
Value: First prizes of CAD60-100 for students of various grades, as well as second and third prizes; additional cash prizes for schools
Deadlines: 23 November 2024 for short stories, 30 November 2024 for poetry
Open for: Canadian students
Details here.
FOR UK & IRELAND
(Also see the Commonwealth Prize and Betty Trask Award, in the international section.)
Benjamin Franklin House Literary Prize
This prize is for young UK-based writers. They want fiction or non-fiction of 1,000-1,500 words on the relevance of Benjamin Franklin’s relevance in our time. The quote for this year’s competition is “Truth will be Truth tho’ it sometimes prove[s]… distasteful.”A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. (1725). Writers are asked to interpret this quote for its significance today.
Value: £750, £500
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Open for: UK writers aged 18-35
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
