These are contest calls and fellowships for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, journalism, and playwriting with prizes up to $100,000. They are, very loosely, divided geographically. A couple of the calls are for December. – S. Kalekar
INTERNATIONAL CALLS
The Writers College: My Writing Journey Competition
This contest is open internationally. They want a 600-word essay on the theme, The best writing tip I’ve ever received.
Value: NZ$200 (R2000 or £100)
Deadline: 31 December 2024
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Kinsman Quarterly: Stories of Inspiration
They want essays of 500-1,200 words. “Submissions should highlight the struggle and resilience of the human spirit, a cultural figure and/or tradition, or celebrate an art form especially related to cultures of marginalized communities. … A successful entry will be awarded each quarter and included within Kinsman Quarterly’s online journal and magazine. They prefer works by BIPOC writers or those from an underrepresented community. The deadline for this quarter is end-December, and this contest will run quarterly through 2025, as well.
Value: $150
Deadline: 31 December 2024
Open for: BIPOC or underrepresented writers preferred
Details here.
(See all of Kinsman Quarterly’s opportunities / awards on this page. They also have a seasonal internship program for those eligible to work in the US.)
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.
Value: $300
Deadline: 1 January 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here
table//FEAST Literary Magazine: The Fifty & Up Writer Awards
This contest is fee-free and only open to writers aged fifty and up. There will be one winner for poetry (send up to 2 pages), fiction, and creative non-fiction (prose of 500-2,000 words). Each winner will receive $50 plus a dollar per year if beyond the fifty years mark.
Value: $50 (see guidelines)
Deadline: 1 January 2025
Open for: Those ages 50 and up
Details here. (They have other contests too, which have submission fees.)
The Welkin Mini
An international contest, “The Welkin Mini is a competition to celebrate micro fiction and creative non-fiction up to 100 words. Like the main Welkin Prize, it is free to enter and aims to be a welcoming space for all writers.”
Value: First prize £50 – please see guidelines
Deadline: 2 January 2025
Open for: All writers
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. A writing sample is part of the application. Fellows are expected to give one public reading from their work and will be required to reside within the counties of the San Francisco Bay Area, adjacent counties of the California central coast or central valley during most of the academic year.
Value: Up to 6 fellowships of $15,000 each
Deadline: 5 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here
Colgate University: Olive B. O’Connor Creative Writing Fellowship
For the current application period, they offer one fellowship for fiction, and one for poetry. One of the application requirements is a writing sample – up to 30 pages of prose, either a complete work or an excerpt; up to 20 pages of poetry. Writers who have recently completed an MFA, MA, or PhD in creative writing, and who need a year to complete their first book, are encouraged to apply. It also includes residency at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. There are teaching duties attached. “All applications should speak directly to the candidate’s ability to work effectively with students across a wide range of identities and backgrounds.”
Value: $57,100 + other benefits, residency
Deadline: 6 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Shepton Snowdrops: Treasures of Nature
Their website says, “The Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Project is a not for profit Community Interest Company run entirely by volunteers. We run and support the annual Snowdrop Festival each February and plant snowdrop bulbs each autumn across the town.” They’re also open for a poetry contest. There is an entry fee for over-18s, and poets under 18 years can send one poem, on the ‘Treasures of Nature’ theme, of up to 30 lines, for free. Your entry should have a unique title and your initials in the filename.
Value: £50-100 for under-18s
Deadline: 6 January 2025
Open for: Free for under-18s
Details here.
The Leon Levy Centre for Biography: Biography Fellowships
These are four resident fellowships at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, to nonfiction writers working on biographies. preference in the award of fellowships is given to those who have not yet published a biography or received fellowships for the writing of a biography. They also welcome applications from published and accomplished writers who are undertaking their first biography. The Leon Levy Center for Biography does not award fellowships for memoirs, essays, plays, films, or fiction. One of the application requirements is a sample of the proposed biography, a maximum of 2,500 words. (Also see the Sloan Fellowship, given annually to a writer working on a biography of a figure in the field of science or technology.)
Value: $72,000, residency
Deadline: 6 January 2025
Open for: Writers working on biographies
Details here and here.
The 2025 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting
This prize, for an hour-long play, is split across four categories. They are:
— The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – £20,000
— The Judges Award – £10,000
(Both the above prizes are open to playwrights in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, British Overseas Territory, or to those having a British Forces Post Office address)
— The Bruntwood Prize International Award – £10,000 (open to international playwrights who can apply through Bruntwood’s partner theatres in Australia, US, and Canada – see guidelines)
— The North West Original New Voice Award and Residency – £10,000 + an additional £10,000 fund dedicated to their professional development at the Royal Exchange Theatre during a bespoke one-year residency, for an emerging playwright (see guidelines) based in the North West of England.
Value: £10,000-£20,000
Deadline: 9 January 2024
Open for: See above
Details here and here.
Teachers & Writers Magazine: The Bechtel Prize
Teachers & Writers Magazine provides lesson plans, interviews, and personal essays to support teaching creative writing. Their website says, “Each year the Teachers & Writers Magazine editorial board awards the Bechtel Prize and a $1,000 honorarium for an essay describing a creative writing teaching experience, project, or activity that demonstrates innovation in creative writing instruction.” They want essays up to 2,500 words, and have detailed guidelines about the kind of essays they want on their website.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 10 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
(Teachers & Writers is also open for article submissions for the magazine; please be sure to submit in the correct category.)
Knight Science Journalism Fellowships
They’re open for two fellowships:
— The Knight Science Academic Year Fellowship at MIT, which is open internationally to 10 science journalists a year; applicants must be full-time journalists, whether on staff or freelance, and have at least three consecutive years of experience covering science, health, technology and environmental reporting. While in Cambridge, fellows will pursue a research project that uniquely leverages the resources and connections available to them at MIT and in the surrounding greater Boston area. The research project must be journalism related. Fellows are awarded $85,000 and other benefits.
— The Africa and Middle East Fellowship for science journalists in Africa and the Middle East. The Fellowship for Advancing Science Journalism in Africa and the Middle East is a one-semester fellowship for science journalists in Africa and the Middle East is held in the fall of the academic year and hosted by KSJ at MIT. It is for journalists with at least three years’ experience reporting on science, health or environmental issues in the region. Applicants may be reporters, writers, editors, producers, illustrators, filmmakers, or photojournalists. Fellows are awarded $40,000 and other benefits.
Value: See above
Deadline: 15 January 2024 for both fellowships (see here.)
Open for: Academic Year Fellowships open internationally, Africa and Middle Eastern Fellowships open for eligible journalists in the region
Details here and here.
(See all Knight Science Journalism fellowships here.)
Patrick Henry Fellowship
This fellowship is from the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. It is for those working on American history and/or legacy. The residential fellowship supports work on the subject by both scholars and non-academics in many genres. Applicants should have a significant project currently in progress — a book, film, oral history archive, podcast series, museum exhibition, or similar work. The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the U.S. founding era and/or the nation’s founding ideas. The fellowship pays $45,000, health benefits, book allowance, faculty privileges, and residency. There is teaching duty attached.
Value: $45,000
Deadline: 15 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Fourteen Hills: Stacey Doris Memorial Poetry Award
This is a poetry contest – send one poem of 3 to 10 pages. Their guidelines say, “Stacy Doris was a poet, translator, and an Associate Professor in San Francisco State University’s Department of Creative Writing, where she taught for ten years. … Doris created new worlds with her unexpected poetics. Following upon her spirit of creative invention, engaging wit and ingenious playfulness, discovery in construction, and radical appropriations based on classical forms, pastiche, etc., and love, the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award is given to a poet with a truly inventive spirit.” Works that don’t win will be considered for publication in Fourteen Hills.
Value: $500
Deadline: 15 January 2025
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
(They also have another fee-based award, as well as a fee-free one for San Francisco State University students/graduates.)
Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History
This prize is for an essay on early American history (up to 1826), not previously published, with preference being given to New England subjects. Essays should be 40-60 pages, and can be emailed (as both PDF and Word attachments) or mailed.
Value: $2,500
Deadline: 15 January 2025 (postmarked)
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
The Hillman Prize for Journalism
This is for journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good. Recipients exemplify reportorial excellence, storytelling skill, and social justice impact. The categories are: Book (bound volumes and ebooks), Newspaper Journalism (story or series/in print or online), Magazine Journalism (story or series/in print or online), Broadcast Journalism (story/series/documentary that has aired on television or radio), and Opinion & Analysis Journalism (any medium) – includes all types of advocacy, opinion, commentary and analysis, normally short-form and/or frequent, regardless of medium; open to newspaper and magazine columnists, TV and radio presenters, podcasters, blogs, and bloggers. The US prize is open to all journalists and subjects globally but the work must have been primarily accessible to a US audience; the Canadian prize, too, is open to all journalists and subjects globally but the work must have been primarily accessible to a Canadian audience, and must have been published in Canada.
And, The foundation will continue the SEIU Award for Reporting on Racial and Economic Justice. All Hillman Prize entries will be automatically considered for this award as well.
Value: $5,000 each
Deadline: 15 January for Canadian, 30 January 2025 for US entries
Open for: Journalists
Details here and here
(They also have Labor and Workforce Reporting Grants – they accept pitches on a rolling basis, and grants are up to $5,000.)
Golden Haiku Poetry Contest
Poets around the world can submit up to two haiku. It is open to poets of all ages, and there are also regional/DC prizes for adults as well as schoolchildren. The theme for 2025 is ‘Bridges of Belonging’.
Value: $500, $200, $100 for adults; $150 for high school winner; $75 for elementary/middle school winner
Deadline: 19 January 2025
Open for: All poets
Details here.
The Nine Dots Prize: Is Data Failing Us?
Their website says, “The Nine Dots Prize rewards original thinking in response to contemporary societal issues. Each Prize cycle lasts two years, with a new question being announced every other October.” The 2024/25 question is, Is Data Failing Us? There is a three-part application which has to be uploaded on their website by the deadline: a summary response to the set question of up to 3,000 words and should you win, you will be required to develop this summary into a short book of between 25,000 and 40,000 words in a set timeframe (see guidelines); an outline structure of this short book, including provisional chapter headings, of up to 1,000 words; and a justification statement of your ability to complete the book in the time given, of up to 1,000 words. This is the fifth cycle of the prize. The prize is sponsored by the Kadas Prize Foundation with support from CRASSH at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Press.Value: $100,000
Deadline: 27 January 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Speculative Literature Foundation: A. C. Bose Grant
This grant supports South Asian or South Asian diaspora writers developing speculative fiction. Work that is accessible to older children and teens will be given preference. “This grant, as with all SLF grants, is intended to help writers working with speculative literature. Speculative literature spans the breadth of fantastic writing, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, including ghost stories, horror, folk and fairy tales, slipstream, magical realism, and more. Any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element would fall under our aegis.” A writing sample of up to 5,000 words is part of the application. Applicants need not have prior publishing credits to apply.
Value: $1,000
Reading period: 1-31 January 2025
Open for: South Asian or Desi/South Asian or Desi diaspora writers
Details here; the schedule for their other upcoming grants is here.
Harbor Editions Prizes
They are running two prizes – the Laureate Prize for Poetry, for which they accept fee-free submissions from BIPOC writers and previous finalists for poetry manuscripts, the prize is $500 and publication; they also have the Harbor Review Editor Prize, which is for a micro poetry chapbook manuscript, and for which, also, submissions for BIPOC writers and previous finalists are free, and prize is $200; entries for other poets have a submission fee. (Details of both prizes are in their Submittable; please be sure to submit in the correct category.)
Value: $500 for Laureate Prize, $200 for Editor Prize
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Open for: Fee-free for BIPOC writers and previous finalists
Details here.
Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
The magazine runs a short story contest thrice a year. Readers of this magazine are interested in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. While the writing should appeal to a reader with these interests, stories can be on any theme. Stories should be up to 3,000 words, but up to 4,000 words will be considered.
Value: $150
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting
TRACE is a non-profit international business association dedicated to anti-bribery, compliance and good governance; you can read more about it here. This international prize recognizes journalism that uncovers business-related bribery and financial crime with the goal of increasing commercial transparency and good governance. Nominees may be print, broadcast or online reporters from any country who have investigated commercial bribery schemes, business activities that create serious conflicts of interest or similar commercial misconduct. Team entries and multiple submissions per author are permitted. Book-length entries are not accepted. A panel of independent judges will review the submissions and select up to two winners, who will each receive a cash prize of US$10,000. Reporter(s) will be invited to an award ceremony hosted by TRACE. The judges may also name up to two honorable mentions, who will each receive US$1,000.
Value: Up to two cash prizes of $10,000 each, up to two honorable mentions of $1,000 each
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Open for: All financial investigative journalists
Details here.
Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award
They want a short story, of up to 8,000 words, that shows the near future (no more than about 50-60 years out) of manned space exploration. They want to see Moon bases, Mars colonies, orbital habitats, space elevators, asteroid mining, artificial intelligence, nano-technology, realistic spacecraft, heroics, sacrifice, adventure. They do not want stories that show technology or space travel as evil or bad, galactic empires, paranormal elements, UFO abductions, zombie stories, thinly veiled copies of previous winners, non-standalone novel excerpts, or screenplays.
Value: 8c/word, and various non-cash awards
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here (click on ‘Contest rules’).
(They also have a fantasy short story contest, the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, which pays $0.08/word for stories of up to 8,000 words in all fantasy genres, and will open for submissions from 15th January to 30th April 2025. Stories sent outside these dates will be deleted unread.)
Biographers International Organization: The Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship
They offer two fellowships, open to all biographers anywhere in the world who are writing in English, who are working on a biography of an African American figure or figures whose story provides a significant contribution to our understanding of the Black experience, and who are at any stage in the writing of a book-length biography. A publishing contract is not required for eligibility. Memoirs are not eligible. The application includes an excerpt of up to 20 pages. The Biographers International Organization also has other awards, some of which are open for all writers, as well as other resources. Value: Two fellowships of $5,000 each
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: See above
Details here.
St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition
This is a contest for young writers, they want a themed essay of 2,100 words, on ‘Global power is shifting. What’s your innovative idea to address a related risk or opportunity?’ – see guidelines for details. To be eligible, writers must be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate programme (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university, and be born in 1994 or later.
Value: CHF20,000, split between three winners; they’ll also cover travel, accommodation, and admission to the symposium in Switzerland.
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: Young writers (see above)
Details here.
(A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— The CAAPP Book Prize: This is “a publishing partnership between the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and Autumn House Press with the goal of publishing and promoting a writer of African descent. The prize is awarded annually to a first or second book by a writer of African descent and is open to the full range of writers embodying African American, African, or African diasporic experiences. The book can be of any genre that is, or intersects with, poetry, including poetry, hybrid work, speculative prose, and/or translation. The winning manuscript will be published by Autumn House Press and its author will be awarded $3,000.” The deadline is 15 February 2025. Send a manuscript of 48-168 pages. Details here.
— Deep Wild Graduate Student Prose Contest is an international contest from Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry magazine – they want students currently enrolled in graduate studies to submit work for their Graduate Student Contest. “The contest theme is “Waking to the Wild.” We seek work in any genre that conveys the awe, the gratitude, the passion to protect, and/or any other feelings and thoughts that arise when you awaken to the wild world. … Submit up to four pages of poetry or up to 3,000 words of prose. Mixed-genre submissions are welcome.” This magazine publishes work “that conjures the experiences, observations, and insights of backcountry journeys. By “backcountry,” we mean away from roads, on journeys undertaken by foot, skis, snowshoes, kayak, canoe, horse, or any other non-motorized means of conveyance.” Prizes are $200, $100, and $50, and the deadline is 1 March 2025, details here and here.
— And, The Academy of American Poets has some prizes that are closing mid-February, see here.)
PRIZES FOR US / CANADA
(Also see the Patrick Henry Fellowship, Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History, Hillman Prize for Journalism, Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship, the CAAPP Book Prize and the Academy of American Poets’ prizes, in the section above)
Jack Hazard Fellowship
Their website says, “Jack Hazard Fellows are fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir writers who teach full time in an accredited high school in the United States. We provide a $5,000 award that enables these creative writers who teach to focus on their writing for a summer.”
Value: $5,000
Deadline: 3 January 2025
Open for: Those teaching full time at an accredited school in the US (see guidelines)
Details here, here, and here.
National Endowment for the Arts: Translation Project Fellowship
These are for published translators. The fellowship is for the translation of works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English. They encourage translations of writers and of work that are not well represented in English translation. The proposed projects must be for creative translations of literary material into English.
Value: $10,000-$25,000 (see here)
Deadline: 16 January 2025
Open for: Published translators who are citizens or permanent residents of the US (see guidelines)
Details here.
(They also have Creative Writing Fellowships; for this cycle they are accepting prose, award $50,000, deadline 12 March 2025, details here.)
The John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest
This is for US high school students in grades 9 through 12. Essays must describe an act of political courage by a US elected official who served during or after 1917, the year John F Kennedy was born. The official may have addressed an issue at the local, state, or national level. Essays should be 700-1,000 words and must quote at least five sources.
Value: $10,000, $3,000, $1,000 each for finalists, $100 each for semi-finalists
Deadline: 17 January 2025
Open for: US high school students
Details here (also click on tabs on the page for various details)
Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize
They want poetry from US poets whose poem best evokes a connection to place. “The prize interprets “place” in many ways: A place may possess historical, cultural, political, or personal importance, and may be literal, imaginary, or metaphorical.” Please read the conditions at the bottom of the page carefully.
Value: $1,000, $100 for honorable mentions
Deadline: 24 January 2025
Open for: US poets
Details here.
Nieman Fellowships
These are fellowships at Harvard for both international US-based journalists. While the deadline for international journalists has passed, it is still open for applicants who are US citizens. “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: 31 January 2025 for US journalists
Details here.
(There are also the Nieman Visiting Fellowships for short-term research projects designed to advance journalism, closed currently.)
Bucknell University: Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing
This residency is offered by Bucknell University, and provides writing time of up to four months. It’s for writers of any literary genre: any creative genre in the literary arts, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work, graphic novel, etc. Writers should be working on a first or second book. There are two residencies, in fall and spring semesters. Some record of publication is desirable.
Value: $5,000 and residency
Deadline: 1 February 2025
Open for: US writers
Details here.
(See the full list of their programs and residencies here.)
PRIZES FOR UK / IRELAND
(Also see Shepton Snowdrops: Treasures of Nature and the 2025 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in the international section, above)
Discoveries 2025
It is for UK- and Ireland-based unpublished and unrepresented women writers, for a novel-in-progress (adult fiction) – send the first 10,000 words and a synopsis. This prize is run by The Women’s Prize Trust, Audible, Curtis Brown Literary Agency, and Curtis Brown Creative writing school. Apart from a cash prize, the winner also gets literary representation. There are also non-cash prizes for shortlisted and longlisted writers (see T&C).
Value: £5,000
Deadline: 13 January 2025
Open for: UK- and Ireland-based unpublished and unrepresented women writers
Details here and here.
The Northern Writers’ Awards: The Hachette Children’s Novel Awards
The Hachette Children’s Novel Awards are open to debut writers of middle-grade children’s fiction and early teen fiction living in the North of England. Please submit your initial 3,000-6,000 words and synopsis by the award deadline of 13 January 2025; authors longlisted for the award will be contacted by 20 February 2025 and asked to deliver a complete draft of their manuscript by 5 March 2025. “We accept all kinds of debut children’s and early teen fiction, including but not limited to, romance, comedy, historical fiction, crime, mystery and fantasy. Please do not submit collections of short stories or individual short stories. Middle-grade fiction is for children aged approximately 8-11, and teen fiction is for readers aged 11/12+ and excludes high-end or explicit content including swearing, sex and drugs. We do not accept young adult fiction for this award.” There will be two winners of this award, getting £3,000 each; and a programme of mentoring and other opportunities (see guidelines).
Value: £3,000 each for two winners, various non-cash prizes
Deadline: 13 January 2025 for the initial round
Open for: Writers in the north of England
Details here.
(See all the Northern Writers’ Awards that are currently open here; there are awards for fiction, nonfiction, YA, poetry, and for young writers; the deadlines for those are 6 February 2025.)
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.