Up to 10 grants of $40,000 each are given annually for creative nonfiction works-in-progress to enable writers to complete their books. Creative nonfiction writers under...
read moreWriting Contests, Grants & Awards
The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.
Whiting Foundation
Cash Prize: $40,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 4/23/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Tadpole Press
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,000 is given biannually for a work of flash poetry or prose. Submit a work of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction of up to 100 words with a $15 entry fee by April 30....
read moreAutumn House Press
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 4/30/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given annually for a book of nonfiction. The winner also receives a $1,500 travel and publicity grant. May-lee Chai...
read moreHigh Desert Museum
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/1/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a work of nonfiction that recognizes “the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and the human narrative.” The winner is...
read moreInterlochen Center for the Arts
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/1/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $25,000 and a two- to three-day residency at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan, is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction...
read moreWinning Writers
Cash Prize: $3,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/1/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $3,500 each, two gift certificates for two-year memberships to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually...
read moreWriter’s Digest
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 5/5/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000, an interview in Writer’s Digest, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference is given annually for a single poem, a short...
read morePloughshares
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 5/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Each winner also receives a...
read moreTrio House Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/15/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a book of nonfiction by a writer living in the United States. The editors will...
read moreLeeway Foundation
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Awards of $15,000 each are given annually to women, transgender, and/or gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Philadelphia area...
read moreNew Letters
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $24
Application Deadline: 5/19/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,500 each and publication in New Letters are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up...
read moreGreat Lakes Colleges Association
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/25/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreMichigan Quarterly Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 5/31/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction, Cross-Genre
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review is given annually for an essay or a work of nonfiction in hybrid form. Using only the online submission...
read moreJohn D. Voelker Foundation
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/31/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Fly Fisher as well as on the John D. Voelker Foundation and the American Museum of Fly Fishing websites is given annually...
read moreBridge Book Award
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/31/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two grants of $5,000 each are given annually for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction works-in-progress “by immigrant and refugee writers, recognizing that the literature of...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/1/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Two grants of $15,000 each are given annually for nonfiction works-in-progress that “use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement.” Using only the...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Ten grants of $4,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously appeared in...
read moreNational Book Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $135
Application Deadline: 6/6/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and young people’s literature written by U.S. writers and published in the United...
read moreTowson University
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction by a current resident of Maryland who has lived in the state for at least three years...
read moreTusculum Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Tusculum Review is given annually for a collection of poems, a short story, or an essay in alternating years. The winner’s work is...
read moreArtist Trust
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/23/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreLos Angeles Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreKinsman Quarterly
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreVine Leaves Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/1/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Vine Leaves Press will be given for a book of nonfiction, including biography, memoir, and hybrid work. Using only the online submission...
read more