These are prizes, residencies, and fellowships for writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, as well as writers in other genres; the prizes range to $72,000. One of the prizes has an end-November deadline. They are, very roughly, divided by geography. – S. Kalekar
Minotaur Books: Two contests
They are open for two international contests; the deadline for one is end-November and for the other, in December. Minotaur is an imprint of St Martin’s Press, which is part of Macmillan.
— 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, including self-published works or ebooks. “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 approximately 65,000 words.
Value: $10,000 advance against royalties
Deadline: 30 November 2022
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here (scroll down)
— Minotaur Books / Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition: This is an international contest for crime novel manuscripts, for writers who have never been the author of any published novel in any genre and are uncontracted. The writing should be no less than approximately 65,000 words. Authors of self-published works only may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work.
Value: $10,000 advance against royalties
Deadline: 16 December 2022
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here and here
The African Poetry Book Fund: Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry
The African Poetry Book Fund (APBF) runs writing contests, and one of them is open for submissions now. The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry 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. In the case that the winning work is translated, a percentage of the prize money would be 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 2022
Open for: See above
Details here (guidelines) and here (Submittable).
Cove Park Residencies
These 2-12-week residencies are to provide artists, including individuals, those working collaboratively, and those attending with children, with the time and support required to focus on their practice. These are for UK-based as well as international artists in many disciplines, including prose writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, and translators. See guidelines for work sample requirements that are part of the application.
Value: £450-550 per week, accommodation at Cove Park, overlooking Loch Long on Scotland’s west coast, and some travel fees, ranging from £75 to £1,000, depending on the applicant’s location
Deadline: 5 December 2022
Open for: All writers and translators, including UK-based ones
Details here (Twitter call), here (download guidelines)
Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards
Two 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-based publisher. There is no fee for the work-in-progress award. The prizes are run by Columbia Journalism School – they also have other awards, which charge entry fees.
Value: $25,000
Deadline: 8 December 2022
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here
Washington College: Patrick Henry Fellowship
Those working on American history and/or legacy may be interested in the Patrick Henry Fellowship, which supports outstanding work on the subject by both scholars and non-academics in many genres – a book, film, oral history archive, podcast series, museum exhibition, or similar work.
Value: $45,000, and residency
Deadline: 15 December 2022
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Table//Feast Literary Magazine: Two contests
They have two contests: one is for women/ womxn writers, and the other is for BIPOC writers.
— Rise & Shine Mini Contest: This is for women/ womxn writers only.
Submit one piece of prose or one poem; your submission can also be a micro story, essay, or poem.
Value: $75 for poetry, $75 for prose
Deadline: 15 December 2022
Open for: Women/ womxn writers
— Blossom Contest: This contest is only for those who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Entrants may submit up to three poems (2 pages each) in the Poetry Category or one piece of fiction or creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words) to the Prose Category.
Deadline: 1 January 2023
Value: $200 for poetry, $200 for prose
Open for: BIPOC writers
Details for both contests are here.
Omega Sci-Fi Awards: Two awards
They have four awards, two of which are open internationally for emerging writers ages 17 and older, with a December deadline. The other two, the Tomorrow Prize and Green Feather Award, are for Los Angeles County high school students, and have a later deadline.
— The Roswell Award: This is an international short science fiction story competition; send a story of 500-1,500 words. “For The Roswell Award, we are seeking stories on diverse topics that explore and connect themes such as social justice, feminism, identity, inequity, environmental sustainability, ethics, and technology.” Apart from a cash prize, the first-place winner also gets UCLA Extension Writers’ Program sponsored 10-week or shorter online course.
— The New Suns Climate Fiction Award: This too is an international short science fiction story competition; send a story of 500-1,500 words. “The New Suns Climate Fiction Award encourages emerging science fiction writers to reimagine new ways of living and depict humanity exploring and overcoming today’s climate and biodiversity crises through an original short science fiction story.”
Value: $500, $250, $100 for the Roswell Award; $500 for the New Suns Award
Deadline: 19 December 2022 for the Roswell and New Suns awards
Open for: All writers
Details here (can download theme details and guidelines).
The Philosophy Essay Prize: Emotions
The Philosophy Essay Prize is run by the Royal Institute of Philosophy. The theme this year is Emotions. “We intend this topic to be understood very broadly, so as to include related issues in any area of philosophy and from any philosophical tradition.” Send an essay of up to 8,000 words.
Value: £2,500 and publication in Philosophy magazine; in exceptional circumstances, the prize may be awarded jointly, in which case the financial component will be divided
Deadline: 20 December 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The Writers College: My Writing Journey Competition
They want a 600-word piece on ‘The best writing tip I’ve ever received’. The contest is open to writers all over the world.
Value: AUD200/£100
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here
Poetry Society of America: The Four Quartets Prize
This is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book in 2022. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were published in 2022 and that brought together, they form a complete sequence. The minimum requirement is 14 pages of published poems unified by subject, form, and style. Entire books composed of a unified sequence, however long, are also welcome. Submissions will have to be mailed. Self-published work is not eligible. They have other upcoming awards also, though these have an entry fee.
Value: $1,000 for three finalists, an additional $20,000 for the winner
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
Blue Mountain Arts: Poetry Card Contest
This biannual contest is for poetry for the greeting card company. Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming, though they find non-rhyming poetry reads better. Poets can enter the contest as often as they like.
Value: $350, $200, $100
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: All poets
Details here
Lilith Magazine Fiction Contest
This magazine publishes work of interest to Jewish women. They like work with both feminist and Jewish content. Submit fiction up to 3,000 words.
Value: $300
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here
Story Unlikely Short Story Contest
This is for short stories, and also other genres, of up to 4,500 words – “There are no restrictions on genre: fantasy, sci fi, memoir, fiction/nonfiction, etc – we don’t care as long as it’s a good story.” Read the terms carefully – writers have to subscribe to their newsletter, otherwise they will be disqualified (see ‘Anything I missed?’ at the end of the page).
Value: $500; $300, $200
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: All writers
Details here
Two Dollar Radio: Sator New Works Award
This is a prize for writers who identify as trans or nonbinary. They want a manuscript, fiction or nonfiction, of at least 30,000 words.
Value: $3,000 advance
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: Trans and nonbinary writers
Details here and here
The European Society of Literature – The European Writing Prize: Anxiety
This is a prize for writers all over the world. They want a piece of 1,500-3,500 words, and the theme is Anxiety. Apart from a cash prize for the winner, there will be potential talks with literary agents — they may scout the shortlist and winners.
Value: €50
Deadline: 1 January 2023
Open for: All writers
Details here
Defenestration.net Lengthy Poem Contest
They are reading entries for a lengthy poem, of at least three 120 lines, or roughly chapbook-length (see guidelines). Poem cycles are accepted. They do not want prose poems. It is best to divide it into parts or sections, though this is not a strict requirement.
Value: $300
Deadline: 1 January 2022
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies: Steinbeck Fellowships
These are fellowships to help writers complete a book project. Up to six Steinbeck Fellows are selected each year from disciplines including fiction, creative non-fiction, biography, drama, and Steinbeck studies. Applications in poetry will not be accepted.
Value: $15,000, residency at San José State University
Deadline: 3 January 2023
Open for: Unspecified
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: 4 January 2023
Open for: Writers working on biographies
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 2023
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
— International Young Theatre Playwriting Contest: This prize is for bold and powerful plays for young audiences (no plays for children or adult audiences, or musicals), written in any official European language. Performance time for Category A is 60-120 minutes and for Category B, 30-60 minutes. They accept plays co-authored by more than one writer. The play must be a new and original piece of work. Writers of any age or nationality can enter the contest. The prizes are €2,400 for Category A, €1,000 for Category B, €400 for Category C, and other non-cash prizes; the prize is open to all playwrights, and the deadline is 31 January 2023. Details here.
— St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition: This is an international contest for young writers; they want a themed essay of 2,100 words, on the best or worst legacy from previous generations: How to preserve or replace it? – see guidelines for details of the two themes writers can submit essays on. 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 1993 or later. The prize is CHF20,000, split between three winners; they’ll also cover travel, accommodation, and admission to the symposium in Switzerland. The deadline is 1 February 2023. Details here.
— Homebound Publications – The Prism Prize for Climate Literature: This prize is for UK- and US-based authors. It is for a work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry manuscript in the genre of climate literature. The final manuscript of up to 75,000 words (for fiction and non-fiction) and a market assessment and/or statement of marketing intentions are part of the submission requirement. The prize is $1,000, and a publication contract, and the deadline is 28 February 2023. Details here and here; they also have other opportunities, both fee-free and fee-based.
WRITERS IN THE US & CANADA
(Also see the Prism Prize for Climate Literature, above.)
Grist Fellowships
These are opportunities for US-based early-career journalists with a demonstrated interest in environmental issues – Environment Justice, Indigenous Affairs, News & Politics, Food & Agriculture, Climate Solutions, and Data and fellowships. It is a paid writing opportunity for 12 months – see guidelines for writing samples and other submission requirements for each fellowship. Applicants should have a four-year degree, or equivalent professional experience, and strong understanding of Grist’s brand. Writers can work remotely from anywhere in the US; they must have a US address, and be eligible to work in the US (see guidelines).
Value: $50,000 annual base pay, other benefits, and mentorship
Deadline: 19 December 2022
Open for: Early-career US journalists
Details here.
The Lyric Magazine: College Poetry Contest
This is a contest open to undergraduates enrolled full time in an American or Canadian college or university. Poems must be original and unpublished, 39 lines or less, written in English in traditional forms, preferably with regular scansion and rhyme. Students can send up to three poems.
Value: $500, $150, $100
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: Undergraduates in an American or Canadian college or university
Details here
The AIIRA Writing Contest: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Agriculture, and the Future of Food in 2050
They want fiction or creative nonfiction (in the form of a letter describing a meal, menu, or recipe – see guidelines), of up to 3,500 words. They want “writing that imagines the world in the year 2050 and explores the relationship between humans, technology, and their food: what will food look, taste, and feel like; where will it come from; who will produce and transport it; and how will we access and consume it? The world you bring to light should be believable and probe the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of agriculture.”
Value: $2,000, $1,500, $1,000
Deadline: 31 December 2022
Open for: Undergraduate students enrolled in a US academic institution
Details here.
PEN America: US Writers Aid Initiative
This is intended to assist fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. To be eligible, applicants must be based in the United States, be professional writers, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping them to address a short-term emergency situation; there are other eligibility requirements, too. This grant is not for subsidizing writing-related expenses. Writers do not have to be PEN members to apply. Various deadlines are listed (subject to change): in January, April, July, and October 2023.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 1 January 2023
Open for: US writers
Details here.
WRITERS IN THE UK & IRELAND
(Also see the Cove Park Residencies and Prism Prize for Climate Literature, above.)
Discoveries 2023
This prize is run by The Women’s Prize Trust, Audible, Curtis Brown Literary Agency, and Curtis Brown Creative writing school. It is for UK- and Ireland-based women writers, for a novel-in-progress (adult fiction) – send the first 10,000 words and a synopsis. Apart from a cash prize, the winner also gets literary representation. There are also non-cash prizes for shortlisted and longlisted writers.
Value: £5,000
Deadline: 15 January 2023
Open for: UK- and Ireland-based women writers
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
