Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Q&A With Jennifer Acker of the Common

Caption: 

Jennifer Acker, founder and editor in chief of the Common, answers questions about the journal’s mission, slush piles, and her editorial process in this virtual event with Becky Tuch for the Lit Mag News Roundup. An interview with Acker about the Common’s fifteenth anniversary is featured in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Grants for Artist Projects

Artist Trust
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 23, 2025
Grants of $1,500 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who are residents of Washington State. Students enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a writing sample of up to 10 pages of poetry, prose, or hybrid-genre work with a project description, a statement about how funding will contribute to the progress of the applicant’s work, and a brief bio by June 23. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

FSG Writer’s Fellowship

Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
July 18, 2025
A prize of $15,000 will be given annually to an emerging poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer from an underrepresented community who has not published and is not under contract to publish a book in any genre. Writers who are U.S. permanent residents or U.S. citizens are eligible. The winner also receives mentorship with a Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) author; a line edit and structural feedback from two FSG in-house editors; meet-and-greets with representatives at FSG from other departments, including Publicity/Marketing, Art, Subsidiary Rights, and Managing Editorial; and support with networking beyond FSG. Using only the online submission system, submit 8 to 12 pages of poetry or 40 to 50 pages of prose and a statement of purpose of up to 500 words by July 9. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Prizes in Poetry and Prose

Bellevue Literary Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
July 1, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellevue Literary Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay about health, healing, illness, the body, or the mind. Patricia Spears Jones will judge in poetry, Joan Silber will judge in fiction, and Nicole Chung will judge in creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems totaling no more than five pages or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by July 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Bridge Book Award

Bridge Book Award
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
Two prizes of up to $5,000 each will be given annually for a book of fiction and a book of creative nonfiction by U.S. citizens or permanent residents published in the previous year; the prize money will be used exclusively to pay for the cost of translating the book into Italian. The winners also receive travel and lodging to attend an awards ceremony at the American Academy in Rome. Books by authors who do not have more than one book of fiction or creative nonfiction translated into Italian are accepted. Publishers may submit 20 copies (digital PDF copies may be accepted in special circumstances and upon request) of a book of fiction or nonfiction in English published between January 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, by May 31. Books must be submitted to the Bridge Book Award office in Rome at the publisher’s expense. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Literary Awards

Los Angeles Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
July 31, 2025
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Los Angeles Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, a work of flash fiction, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each, a short story or an essay of up to 2,500 words, or a work of flash fiction of no more than 1,000 words with a $20 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New Writers Awards

Great Lakes Colleges Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 25, 2025
Three prizes are given annually for first books by a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer. The winners each receive an all-expenses-paid trip to several of the 13 GLCA colleges, each of which pays an honorarium of at least $500 to give readings, meet with students, and lead discussions and classes. Books published in 2024 and 2025 are eligible. Faculty members of the colleges will judge. Publishers may submit four copies of one book in each category by May 25. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

African Diaspora Award

Kinsman Quarterly
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
August 31, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Kinsman Quarterly is given annually for a group of poems, a short story, or an essay on a theme related to African culture or subculture. The winner will also have their work featured in the 2026 anthology Mosaic: Threads of African Prose & Poetry. Using only the online submission system, submit up to six poems totaling no more than 10 pages, a short story of 500 to 5,000 words, or an essay of up to 1,000 words with a $25 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Pages

Subscribe to Creative Nonfiction