Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Italian Prose in Translation Award

American Literary Translators Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 17, 2025
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction translated from Italian into English and published in the previous year. Publishers or translators may submit a book published in 2024 by March 17. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Creative Nonfiction Grants

Whiting Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
April 23, 2025
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 contract with a publisher in Canada, the United Kingdom, or the United States as of April 23 are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 25,000 words of a book-in-progress; the original proposal to publishers that led to the contract (if applicable); a signed contract; a statement of work yet to be completed; a plan for the use of funds; a list of grants, fellowships, or other funding received for the book-in-progress; a résumé; and a letter of support from the book’s editor or publisher by April 23. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

National Translation Awards

American Literary Translators Association
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
March 17, 2025
Two prizes of $4,000 each are given annually for a book of poetry and a book of prose translated from any language into English and published in the previous year. For the poetry prize, poetry collections in translation are accepted; for the prose prize, short story collections, essay collections, novels, memoirs, and hybrid prose works in translation are accepted. Publishers may submit a book published in 2024 by March 17. The entry fee is $30 for presses that publish 10 or fewer titles each year and $50 for presses that publish more than 10 titles each year. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Winning Writers
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
May 1, 2025
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 for a short story and an essay. Unpublished and previously published works are eligible. Sarah Halper and Mina Manchester will judge in fiction and creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission system, submit a short story or essay of up to 6,000 words with a $25 entry fee by May 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Spain-USA Foundation Translation Award

American Literary Translators Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 17, 2025
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction written by an author of Spanish nationality and published in the previous year. Publishers or translators may submit a book translated from Basque, Catalan, Galician, or Spanish into English and published in the United States in 2024 by March 17. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Annual Writing Competition

Writer’s Digest
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
May 5, 2025
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 story, or an essay (among other categories). Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication on the Writer’s Digest website are also given for a rhyming poem, a non-rhyming poem, a short story, and a personal essay. Using only the online submission system, submit a poem of up to 40 lines, a story of no more than 4,000 words, or an essay of up to 2,000 words by the early bird deadline of May 5. The entry fee for poetry is $20 ($15 for each additional poem); the entry fee for prose is $30 ($25 for each additional entry). Visit the website for complete guidelines.

La Baldi Residency

The La Baldi Residency, sponsored by Cultivate, offers two-week and one-month residencies from April through October to poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators, in Montegiovi, Italy. Residents are provided with private lodging in apartments, a house, or a palazzo with a fully equipped kitchen and outdoor sitting area. Individual writers and collaborative teams may apply.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
no
Event Date: 
April 1, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
no
Application Deadline: 
January 2, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

La Baldi Residency, 15504 Moravia Court, Derwood, MD 20855. Susan Main, Cultivate Director.

Susan Main
Cultivate Director
Contact City: 
Montegiovi
Country: 
IT

Iceland Writers Retreat

The 2025 Iceland Writers Retreat was from April 23 to April 27 at the Fosshotel in Reykjavík. The retreat features workshops, panels, lectures, receptions, and time to write for fiction and nonfiction writers, as well as literary tours of Iceland. The faculty included fiction writers Kevin Chong, Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia, Meng Jin, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, and Curtis Sittenfeld; fiction and nonfiction writers Jann Arden, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Helen Macdonald, and Danny Ramadan; and nonfiction writers Thordis Elva and Rick Jervis. The cost of the retreat was 310,000 ISK (approximately $2,202).

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
November 24, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Iceland Writers Retreat, P.O. Box 76, 212 Gardabaer, Iceland. Erica Jacobs Green and Eliza Reid, Cofounders. 

Erica Jacobs Green and Eliza Reid
Cofounders
Contact City: 
Reykjavík
Country: 
IS

Squam Writes Retreat

Squam Writes offered a retreat from June 5 to June 8 to fiction and creative nonfiction writers at Rockywold Deephaven Camps, a historic resort campsite on the shores of Squam Lake in Holderness, New Hampshire. Residents were provided lodging in cottages, cabins, and lodge rooms along the shores of the lake; time to write; and the opportunity to join optional craft-focused workshops led by the codirectors as well as optional peer critique groups. Professional feedback on your writing was available for an additional $75. The faculty included novelists Jilly Gagnon and Melissa Hed.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
November 24, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Squam Writes Retreat, 18 Bacon Road, Holderness, NH 03245. Jilly Gagnon and Melissa Hed, Codirectors.

Jilly Gagnon and Melissa Hed
Codirectors
Contact City: 
Holderness
Contact State: 
NH
Country: 
US

Fiction Meets Science Residency

The Fiction Meets Science Residency offers up to two residencies of three to ten months annually to fiction and nonfiction writers at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst, Germany. Residents are provided with a private apartment and office space at the institute, where they will connect with an interdisciplinary community of guest scientists. Residents are expected to give one lecture or reading and to attend the weekly lectures given by the scientist fellows at the institute.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
November 24, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 24, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Fiction Meets Science Residency, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Lehmkuhlenbusch 4, 27753 Delmenhorst, Germany. Susan M. Gaines, Project Director. 

Susan M. Gaines
Project Director
Contact City: 
Delmenhorst
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
27753
Country: 
DE

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