Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Prizes in Books

Pulitzer Prizes
Entry Fee: 
$75
Deadline: 
October 15, 2025
Six prizes of $15,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, general nonfiction, U.S. history, biography, and memoir first published in the United States during the current year. Eligible authors include U.S. citizens and permanent residents or those who have made the United States their longtime primary home. Using only the online submission system, submit a digital copy of a book published in 2025 with a $75 entry fee by October 15. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Book Prize

River Teeth
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
October 31, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of New Mexico Press is given annually for a book of creative nonfiction. Ander Monson will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 150 to 350 pages with a $27 entry fee, which includes a subscription to River Teeth, by October 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers

Boulevard
Entry Fee: 
$18
Deadline: 
September 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for an essay by a writer who has not published a full-length book in any genre with a nationally distributed press. Submit an essay of up to 8,000 words with an $18 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Boulevard, by September 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Nature Writing Prize

The Moth
Entry Fee: 
$17
Deadline: 
September 30, 2025
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,158) and online publication in Irish Times is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay that features “an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world.” The winner also receives a weeklong stay at the Moth Retreat in County Cavan, Ireland. Mark Cocker will judge. Submit a poem or a work of prose of up to 4,000 words with an entry fee of €15 (approximately $17) by September 30. Visit the website for the required entry form for submissions by post and complete guidelines.

Editors’ Poetry & Prose Prize

Action, Spectacle
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
October 1, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Action, Spectacle is given annually for a poem, a short work of fiction, or a short work of creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission system, submit any number of poems totaling up to 10 pages or a short story, essay, or excerpt from a longer work of no more than 8,500 words with a $20 entry fee by October 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Solas Awards

Travelers’ Tales
Entry Fee: 
$35
Deadline: 
September 21, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Travelers’ Tales website is given annually for a travel essay. Writers from Arizona and Vermont are eligible for publication but not the cash prize, due to the laws governing pay-to-enter competitions in those states. Scott Dominic Carpenter will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit an essay of 750 to 5,500 words with a $35 entry fee by September 21. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Rome Prize

American Academy in Rome
Entry Fee: 
$50
Deadline: 
November 1, 2025
Half-term and full-term fellowships of $16,000 and $30,000 respectively are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, to support the development of a project. In addition to a stipend, the fellows are each provided with meals, a private workspace, and a bedroom with a private bathroom as they join the Academy’s residential community on the Janiculum Hill in Rome, alongside other fellows and visiting artists and scholars. All applicants, except those applying for the National Endowment for the Humanities postdoctoral fellowships, must be U.S. citizens at the time of their application. Writers who in the past six years have published a book in their respective genre are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 20 pages of poetry or prose, a résumé, a project proposal, and contact information for three references with a $50 entry fee by November 1 (or an $80 entry fee by November 15). Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Literary Awards

Tucson Festival of Books
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
October 31, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The winners will also receive scholarships to attend a workshop at the University of Arizona campus in Tucson in March 2026. Using only the online submission system, submit five poems of any length or a short story, essay, or excerpt from a novel or memoir of up to 5,000 words with a $20 entry fee by October 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize

Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
November 15, 2025
A prize of $500 and publication on the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website is given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the borough’s “rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences in Brooklyn” as well as their representations of place and/or its residents. Submit an essay of up to 2,500 words by November 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Humor Story Contest

TulipTree Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
October 17, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in the Fall/Winter issue of TulipTree Review is given annually for a humorous poem, story, or essay. Submit a poem of up to five pages or a work of prose of no more than 10,000 words with a $20 entry fee by October 17. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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