Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Money Chronicles: A Story Initiative

Principal Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
October 12, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Short Édition website and in Principal Foundation’s Short Story Dispensers (located in six cities across the United States) will be given annually for a short story or essay “on themes related to money and personal finance.” Mateo Askaripour, Paco de Leon, David Drury, Bourree Lam, and Daniel Lefferts will judge. Using only the online submission, submit a manuscript of up to 7,500 characters of prose by October 12. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

John Updike Tucson Casitas Fellowship

John Updike Society
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
November 1, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and a two-week residency at the Mission Hill Casitas that John Updike owned and worked out of in Tucson is given annually for a group of poems or a work of fiction or nonfiction. The fellowship selection committee will judge. Submit five pages of poetry or prose (excerpts from a longer work are accepted), a brief bio, and a project description in a single PDF by November 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Helena Whitehill Award

Tupelo Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
November 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Tupelo Press is given annually for a full- or chapbook-length poetry collection or a book of creative nonfiction (including memoir, essays, and hybrid work). The winner will also receive a one-week residency at Gentle House in Port Angeles, Washington. Jane Wong will judge. Submit a manuscript of poetry or prose of any length with a $30 entry fee by October 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Prize in Creative Nonfiction

Lascaux Review
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
September 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Lascaux Review website is given annually for an essay. Previously published and unpublished essays are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit an essay of up to 10,000 words with a $15 entry fee by September 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

McKnight Fellowships for Writers

Loft Literary Center
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
November 15, 2025
Four prizes of $25,000 each are given annually to Minnesota poets, prose writers, and spoken word artists. Fellows will also receive an all-expenses-paid, one- or two-week residency in partnership with Artist Communities Alliance and have the opportunity to attend one-on-one career consultations, workshops, and networking events run by the nonprofit organization Springboard for the Arts. The prizes are offered in poetry/spoken word and prose in alternating years; the 2026 fellowships will be awarded in poetry and spoken word. Writers who have been residents of Minnesota for the year prior to the deadline and who will reside in Minnesota for the duration of the fellowship are eligible; writers must also have published at least one book, have had work appear in several journals, or have been booked to perform their work. Using only the online submission system, submit 15 to 18 pages of poetry by November 15. Spoken-word poets can also submit 8 to 10 minutes of recorded poetry. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Open Season Awards

Malahat Review
Entry Fee: 
$22
Deadline: 
November 1, 2025
Three prizes of $2,000 Canadian (approximately $1,455) each and publication in Malahat Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of no more than 100 lines each or a short story or essay of up to 2,500 words with a $30 Canadian (approximately $22) entry fee by the early-bird deadline of September 30 or a $45 Canadian (approximately $33) entry fee by November 1. All entry fees include a subscription to Malahat Review. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Cullman Center Fellowships

New York Public Library
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
September 26, 2025
Fifteen fellowships are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators, whose work will benefit directly from access to the research collections at the New York Public Library. The fellows each receive $90,000, an office at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library’s main branch in the Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan, and full access to the library’s collections from September 2026 through May 2027. Fellows are required to work on their projects at the Cullman Center for the duration of the fellowship. Writers currently enrolled in a graduate degree-granting program are ineligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a writing sample of up to 4,500 words, a project proposal of no more than 1,500 words, a curriculum vitae, and three reference letters by September 26. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 

Book Prize

Permafrost
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
October 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Alaska Press is given in alternating years for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The 2025 prize will be given in creative nonfiction. Alison Hawthorne Deming will judge. Submit an essay collection or book-length creative nonfiction manuscript, including memoir and literary journalism, of 150 to 300 pages and a brief bio with a $25 entry fee by October 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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.

Banned Artists

In a recently published article in T Magazine, artists, including John Waters, Andres Serrano, Karen Finley, Khaled Hosseini, Geraldine Brooks, Art Spiegelman, Kate Bornstein, and Dread Scott, were interviewed about how censorship changed their work and lives. “The censorship does the opposite of what it wants to do,” said playwright and director Moisés Kaufman. “It makes people really think: ‘What are the issues in the play? Whose stories get to be told?’” This week write a personal essay that focuses on either a work of art, literature, or performance that has endured censorship at some point. Describe the work and the themes within the work that provoked censorship. How did this banning affect your ideas of the role of an artist?

Pages

Subscribe to Creative Nonfiction