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These are contests, awards, fellowships and grants for writers of fiction and non-fiction, poets, translators and playwrights. Prizes range from $100 to above $50,000. — S. Kalekar
The Haven Foundation Grants
This foundation, established by Stephen King, gives financial assistance to help established freelance artists and writers who have suffered disabilities or a career-threatening illness, accident, natural disaster or personal catastrophe.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 10 November 2018
Open for: Legal US residents
Details here.
This foundation, established by Stephen King, gives financial assistance to help established freelance artists and writers who have suffered disabilities or a career-threatening illness, accident, natural disaster or personal catastrophe.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 10 November 2018
Open for: Legal US residents
Details here.
One Teen Story Contest
They want a short story by writers aged 13-19, about the teenage experience — issues of identity, friendship, family, and coming-of-age. Stories should be 2,000-4,500 words and can be in any genre.
Value: $500 each for 4 writers
Deadline: 15 November 2018
Open for: Teenaged writers
Details here.
They want a short story by writers aged 13-19, about the teenage experience — issues of identity, friendship, family, and coming-of-age. Stories should be 2,000-4,500 words and can be in any genre.
Value: $500 each for 4 writers
Deadline: 15 November 2018
Open for: Teenaged writers
Details here.
Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation and Post-MFA FellowshipsThis is for US writers from underrepresented populations, who must be PhD or recent MFA graduates. Their guidelines say, “Fellows devote the bulk of the first year to the completion of dissertation work — or in the case of MFA applicants, building their professional portfolios — while also teaching one course as a faculty member in one of the College’s academic departments or programs. The second year of residency (ideally with degree in hand) is spent on academic career development while again teaching just one course.”
Value: Residency at Williams College, $50,000, additional $4,000 for research, other benefits
Deadline: 15 November 2018
Open for: US writers
Details here.
Value: Residency at Williams College, $50,000, additional $4,000 for research, other benefits
Deadline: 15 November 2018
Open for: US writers
Details here.
PEN Ukraine translation grants
PEN Ukraine is offering three grants for translation of Oleg Sentsov’s book of stories into three foreign languages – i.e., English, German, and Polish, to attract the attention of the international community on the works of the Ukranian writer sentenced by the Russian court.
Value: € 2,000
Deadline: 19 November 2018
Open for: Those who have translated and published at least one book
Details here.
PEN Ukraine is offering three grants for translation of Oleg Sentsov’s book of stories into three foreign languages – i.e., English, German, and Polish, to attract the attention of the international community on the works of the Ukranian writer sentenced by the Russian court.
Value: € 2,000
Deadline: 19 November 2018
Open for: Those who have translated and published at least one book
Details here.
Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize
They want an essay which is set in Brooklyn, is about Brooklyn, and/or Brooklyn people/characters. They want work from writers all backgrounds and ages, “who can render Brooklyn’s rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences in Brooklyn.”
Value: $500
Deadline: 23 November 2018
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
They want an essay which is set in Brooklyn, is about Brooklyn, and/or Brooklyn people/characters. They want work from writers all backgrounds and ages, “who can render Brooklyn’s rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences in Brooklyn.”
Value: $500
Deadline: 23 November 2018
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
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: $500, $250
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
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: $500, $250
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
ServiceScape Short Story Award
They accept any genre or theme of fiction or non-fiction, up to 5,000 words, for this award. Read the terms carefully: they retain the right to modify or terminate the contest at any time, without prior notice.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
They accept any genre or theme of fiction or non-fiction, up to 5,000 words, for this award. Read the terms carefully: they retain the right to modify or terminate the contest at any time, without prior notice.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The Society of Authors: The Betty Trask Prize and The Betty Trask Awards
This is for UK- or Commonwealth-based writers under 35, for a debut novel. Writers can enter a published book or an unpublished manuscript, and the prize money must be used for foreign travel.
Value: Total prize money “from £20,000”
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: UK- or Commonwealth-based writers
Details here.
This is for UK- or Commonwealth-based writers under 35, for a debut novel. Writers can enter a published book or an unpublished manuscript, and the prize money must be used for foreign travel.
Value: Total prize money “from £20,000”
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: UK- or Commonwealth-based writers
Details here.
Everything With Words: Urban YA competition
This is for UK-based writers, for a debut YA novel set in today’s multi-cultural Britain. Their guidelines say, “Sharp dialogue, a story that’s got the feel of here and now, the street and the city today. Atmosphere is important, both physical and psychological. It can be any city in the UK but it must be a real city. No fantasy.” They want work that is 40,000-70,000 words, and it must be the author’s debut novel for young adults.
Value: £1,000
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: UK-based writers
Details here.
This is for UK-based writers, for a debut YA novel set in today’s multi-cultural Britain. Their guidelines say, “Sharp dialogue, a story that’s got the feel of here and now, the street and the city today. Atmosphere is important, both physical and psychological. It can be any city in the UK but it must be a real city. No fantasy.” They want work that is 40,000-70,000 words, and it must be the author’s debut novel for young adults.
Value: £1,000
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: UK-based writers
Details here.
From LGBTQ+ With Love: The Writers’ HQ Fight Back Flash Fiction Competition
They want a flash fiction (up to 500 words) which have the following: an LGBTQ+ theme, swearing and/or profanity, and which are stories about love, acceptance, charity and grace. The rules and the contest are fighting back another fiction contest where the rules were “Not just exclusionary, but implying members of the LGBTQ+ community are somehow comparable to scenes of graphic violence or torture.”
Value: £100, £50, two prizes of £25 each; winners also get free retreats and other prizes – see guidelines
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
They want a flash fiction (up to 500 words) which have the following: an LGBTQ+ theme, swearing and/or profanity, and which are stories about love, acceptance, charity and grace. The rules and the contest are fighting back another fiction contest where the rules were “Not just exclusionary, but implying members of the LGBTQ+ community are somehow comparable to scenes of graphic violence or torture.”
Value: £100, £50, two prizes of £25 each; winners also get free retreats and other prizes – see guidelines
Deadline: 30 November 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon
Writers have to submit a 50-paragraph story, of which the 1st and 25th paragraphs are provided — writers have to log into their Submittable account from the contest site to access these paragraphs. Each paragraph needs to be at least 40 words.Value: $3,000, $2,000, $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Writers have to submit a 50-paragraph story, of which the 1st and 25th paragraphs are provided — writers have to log into their Submittable account from the contest site to access these paragraphs. Each paragraph needs to be at least 40 words.Value: $3,000, $2,000, $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Thomas Jefferson University: 2100 — A Health Odyssey: Science Fiction Writing Competition
They want a 3,000 word science fiction story on this theme: on how health and health care could impact lives in the year 2100. They want stories that challenge today’s assumptions about the future of healthcare in the US. Their guidelines say, “With Jefferson’s passion for creative expression through writing, we will use your science fiction contribution as the lens through which we explore creativity in health and health care — in novel and impactful ways — to propel innovation and inform future perspectives.” There are further details in the guidelines, including a video on how science fiction offers a unique perspective for the future of healthcare. It may be co-authored with a maximum of two authors.
Value: $10,000, $5,000, other prizes for runners-up
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
They want a 3,000 word science fiction story on this theme: on how health and health care could impact lives in the year 2100. They want stories that challenge today’s assumptions about the future of healthcare in the US. Their guidelines say, “With Jefferson’s passion for creative expression through writing, we will use your science fiction contribution as the lens through which we explore creativity in health and health care — in novel and impactful ways — to propel innovation and inform future perspectives.” There are further details in the guidelines, including a video on how science fiction offers a unique perspective for the future of healthcare. It may be co-authored with a maximum of two authors.
Value: $10,000, $5,000, other prizes for runners-up
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
This is a poetry contest for African writers (see guidelines). Manuscripts must be at least 50 pages long.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: African writers
Details here.
This is a poetry contest for African writers (see guidelines). Manuscripts must be at least 50 pages long.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: African writers
Details here.
Headway Quarterly Writing Contest
For their inaugural writing contest, they want writing on the theme of “mutants and mutation”.
Value: $100
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
For their inaugural writing contest, they want writing on the theme of “mutants and mutation”.
Value: $100
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Better than Starbucks Sonnet Contest
This contest accepts metrical sonnets. Their guidelines say, “Your sonnet can be shakespearean, petrarchan, spenserian, rhymed, or slant-rhymed. Blank verse is fine, as long as the sonnet form is clearly identifiable. We’ll consider tetrameter, hexameter, etc. as well as pentameter. Some metrical variation is fine, but don’t forget the volta!”
Value: $100
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All poets
Details here.
This contest accepts metrical sonnets. Their guidelines say, “Your sonnet can be shakespearean, petrarchan, spenserian, rhymed, or slant-rhymed. Blank verse is fine, as long as the sonnet form is clearly identifiable. We’ll consider tetrameter, hexameter, etc. as well as pentameter. Some metrical variation is fine, but don’t forget the volta!”
Value: $100
Deadline: 1 December 2018
Open for: All poets
Details 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: $12,500 or $25,000
Deadline: 5 December 2018
Open for: Published translators who are citizens or permanent residents of the US
Details here.
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: $12,500 or $25,000
Deadline: 5 December 2018
Open for: Published translators who are citizens or permanent residents of the US
Details here.
Royal Society of Literature: Literature Matters Awards
These are grants for UK-based writers. They are open to submissions of proposals for writing, literary events or projects. “An RSL Literature Matters Award must result in new, original writing or other literary activity of an excellent artistic standard, which will reach a substantial readership or audience.” This could be a piece or pieces of writing, a publication, an event, a production on any subject or form, including prose fiction or non-fiction, short stories, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, graphic fiction, biography or travel writing. They welcome collaborations between disciplines. The award may be used to fund all or part of the activity, but cannot be used for writing or any other activity which has already been completed.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 5 December 2018
Open for: UK-based writers
Details here and here.
These are grants for UK-based writers. They are open to submissions of proposals for writing, literary events or projects. “An RSL Literature Matters Award must result in new, original writing or other literary activity of an excellent artistic standard, which will reach a substantial readership or audience.” This could be a piece or pieces of writing, a publication, an event, a production on any subject or form, including prose fiction or non-fiction, short stories, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, graphic fiction, biography or travel writing. They welcome collaborations between disciplines. The award may be used to fund all or part of the activity, but cannot be used for writing or any other activity which has already been completed.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 5 December 2018
Open for: UK-based writers
Details here and here.
Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress AwardsTwo awards are given for non-fiction works in progress which deal with a topic of American political or social concern, to aid their completion. Writers must already have a contract with a US publisher.
Value: $25,000
Deadline: 10 December 2018
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Value: $25,000
Deadline: 10 December 2018
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
