These contests, grants and residencies are for writers of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. They range from $250 to CAD60,000. Some
Deadlines are approaching quickly. – S. Kalekar

Ann Arbor District Library: ‘It’s All Write!’ Teen Writing Contest This international contest is for teen writers of poetry, flash fiction and short stories. Prizes are for three categories/age groups in each: Grades 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12. This time around, there is an additional $50 prize for renaming their Library Songsters program.
Value: $250, $150, $100 in each category for short stories; $125, $75, $50 in each category for flash fiction; $100, $50, $25 for poetry
Deadline: 3 March 2019
Open for: Teen writers
Details here.

National Endowment for the Arts These literature fellowships are for prose, to buy creative writers time for writing. Applicants must have had at least five different short stories, works of short fiction, excerpts from novels or memoirs, or creative essays (or any combination thereof) in two or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include fiction and/or creative non-fiction as a portion of their format within a specific period (see guidelines); or a volume of short fiction or a collection of short stories; or a novel or novella; or a volume of creative non-fiction. These grants alternate between poetry and prose each year; several grants are made at a time.
Value: $25,000
Deadline: 6 March 2019
Open for: US writers
Details here.

BBC Radio 4: BBC National Short Story Award This prestigious award, by BBC and the Cambridge University, is for British nationals and UK residents, for a short story of up to 8,000 words. Writers must have a prior record of publication in the UK.
Value: £15,000, four awards of £600 each
Deadline: 11 March 2019
Open for: British nationals and UK residents
Details here.

Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction This is for a literary nonfiction book, published or contracted (see guidelines), by Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Translations are eligible.
Value: CAD60,000; CAD5,000 for 3-5 shortlisted works
Deadline: 13 March 2019
Open for: Canadian writers
Details here.

Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize This is for a novel or short story collection, contracted or published, by Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Translations are eligible.
Value: CAD50,000; CAD5,000 for 3-5 finalists
Deadline: 13 March 2019
Open for: Canadian writers
Details here.

Hodson Trust – John Carter Brown Library Fellowship This fellowship at Providence and Chestertown supports work by academics, independent scholars and writers working on significant projects relating to the literature, history, culture, or art of the Americas before 1830. Candidates with a US history topic are strongly encouraged to concentrate on the period prior to 1801. The fellowship is also open to filmmakers, novelists, creative and performing artists, and others working on projects that draw on this period of history. Candidates are encouraged to consult the John Carter Brown Library’s collections online prior to submitting an application.
Value: $5,000/month (total $20,000), housing and university privileges
Deadline: 15 March 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.

Cave Canem Residency This is a residency for African American poets in Chestertown, Maryland. Cave Canem’s mission is to serve as “a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets.” It provides poets with the uninterrupted time and space to focus solely on their writing projects for a full month. The Fellow is awarded the use of a private, single-family residence for the entire month of June.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 15 March 2019 (postmarked)
Open for: African American poets
Details here.

Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award This contest, by West Chester University, is for undergraduate poets enrolled in a US college or university for poems composed in the traditional modes of meter, rhyme and received forms.
Value: $1,500, $500
Deadline: 15 March 2019
Open for: Undergraduate poets in the US
Details here.

Myong Cha Son Haiku Award This contest, by West Chester University, is for undergraduate poets enrolled in a US college or university for unpublished, original haiku.
Value: $1,500, $500
Deadline: 15 March 2019
Open for: Undergraduate poets in the US
Details here.

Rhina P. Espaillat Award This contest, by West Chester University, is for undergraduate poets enrolled in a US college or university for original poems written in Spanish, and translations of English poems to Spanish.
Value: $500
Deadline: 15 March 2019
Open for: Undergraduate poets in the US
Details here.

The New York Times Modern Love College Essay Contest This is a contest for US college students to write an essay that tells the plain truth about what love and relationships are like for them today. Their guidelines say, “In previous contests, which attracted thousands of entries from students at hundreds of colleges and universities, the winning essays explored ambivalence about hooking up, technology’s effects on the ways we find and lose love, how an aversion to labels can impact relationships, and the challenges of navigating one’s gender identity.” Essays are to be of 1,500-1,700 words. Stories must be true and writers may not change names or
Details.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 24 March 2019
Open for: US college students
Details here.

Mythic Beast Studios: The Medusa Contest They want a short story, of 5,000 words or fewer, on any aspect of the theme of the Medusa myth (see guidelines). Writers can focus on Medusa or Perseus or another figure, as long as Medusa features in some way. The story can be set in Ancient Greece, a modern office building, or on a spaceship. The guidelines say, “You can make it a Western or a steampunk or do the Jane Austen version.” Writers can submit up to three stories, and reprints. Some of the entries could be turned into screenplays by their team – check out the FAQ.
Value: $300
Deadline: 31 March 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.

Hugo House Writer-in-Residence This residency in Seattle is for practicing, published poets and writing teachers who are experienced working with writers of all levels in a traditional workshop setting, and on a one-on-one basis as a mentor. Poets should have a specific artistic project they are working on during their residency (e.g., developing a manuscript for publication) and should have a special interest in helping writers become better writers and fostering an appreciation of the craft.
Value: $500 per month stipend for nine months, additional compensation for Hugo Classes
Deadline: 31 March 2019
Open for: Published poets
Details here.

America Media: The Foley Poetry Award This is a contest for poetry, of 40 lines or fewer.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 31 March 2019
Open for: All poets
Details here.

Speculative Literature Foundation: Older Writers Grant This is for a writer who is 50 years of age or older at the time of grant application, and is intended to assist such writers who are just starting to work at a professional level. The writing application sample could be of poetry, fiction, drama, or creative non-fiction.
Value: Two grants of $500 each
Deadline: 31 March 2019
Open for: All speculative fiction writers above 50
Details here.

Speculative Literature Foundation: A. C. Bose Grant for South Asian Speculative Literature This grant is to a South Asian / South Asian Diaspora writer developing speculative fiction. It supports adult fiction, but work that is also accessible to older children and teens will be given preference in the jury process. The donors hope that this grant will help develop work that will let young people imagine different worlds and possibilities.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 31 March 2019
Open for: South Asian and South Asian Diaspora writers
Details here.

Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize: Identity This international prize is awarded for the best piece of writing on ‘Identity’ (up to 2,500 words in any genre), which is the theme of the 2019 Alpine Fellowship Annual Symposium. The winner and two runners-up are invited to attend the Fjällnäs (Sweden) symposium. The award will be presented by poet John Burnside, who is also the head judge. There is a significant increase in the prize purse over last year.
Value: £10,000, £3,000, £2,000
Deadline: 1 April 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here.

Waterston Desert Writing Prize This prize is for a proposed book of literary non-fiction that illustrates artistic excellence, sensitivity to place, and desert literacy – with the desert both as subject and setting. The writing sample can be published, unpublished or work in progress – samples about deserts and natural settings are more likely to be reviewed favorably. Those that are in other genres such as poetry, fiction or juvenile literature will be disqualified.
Value: $2,500 and a four-week residency at Summer Lake, Oregon
Deadline: 1 April 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here.

The Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship for Writers The fellowships are to afford writers uninterrupted time to focus on their work at an apartment in Carson McCuller’s childhood home in Columbus, Georgia, free from the distractions of daily life and other professional responsibilities. A spouse or companion is welcome; children or pets aren’t allowed.
Value: $5,000, Residency
Deadline: 1 April 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest This prize is for humor poetry. Submit a poem of up to 250 lines.
Value: $1,000 (plus a subscription to Duotrope), $250, and 10 prizes of $100 each
Deadline: 1 April 2019
Open for: All poets
Details here.

Elizabeth So Fellowship This fellowship offers writers the time and solitude to help finish a book that is already in progress. Writers must have a novel, collection of stories, memoir, or other prose work (fiction, non-fiction, or hybrid) in progress (100 pages minimum) or poetry collection in progress (30 pages minimum). There are two fellowships, one for writers who are immigrants in the US, either documented or undocumented, and another is for Native American writers. The prize includes stay at Missoula, Montana.
Value: $500 food stipend, $400 airfare, Residency
Deadline: 5 April 2019
Open for: US immigrant writers, Native American writers
Details here.