Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Waterston Desert Writing Prize

High Desert Museum
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 1, 2025
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 also provided with money for travel and lodging to attend a reception and award ceremony at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, in September. Works-in-progress as well as published or unpublished prose are accepted. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 10 pages of nonfiction, a brief bio, and a one-page project description by May 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Creative Nonfiction Prize

Indiana Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
March 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review is given annually for an essay. Submit a work of prose of up to 6,000 words with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Indiana Review, by March 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Paul Engle Prize

Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 31, 2025
A prize of $25,000 is given annually to a writer “who, like Paul Engle, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or teaching, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts.” Poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers are eligible. Submit a nomination, including the writer’s curriculum vitae and a statement about how the writer embodies the spirit of the prize, by March 31. Self-nominations are not accepted. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Winter Story Contest

Narrative
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
March 31, 2025
A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a work of flash fiction, an essay, a memoir, or an excerpt from a longer work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also awarded. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 15,000 words of prose with a $27 entry fee by March 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

La Baldi Residency

November/December 2025

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 14, 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
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Translation

Iceland Writers Retreat

March/April 2025

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 14, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 14, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 14, 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
Genre: 
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Tags: 
writing retreats

Squam Writes Retreat

March/April 2025

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 14, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 14, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 14, 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
Genre: 
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Fiction Meets Science Residency

March/April 2025

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 14, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 14, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 14, 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
Genre: 
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair

March/April 2025

The 2025 AWP Conference and Bookfair was held from March 26 to March 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and also included a virtual component comprising prerecorded and live streamed events. The conference featured panel discussions, readings, discussion rooms, and a bookfair. Prior to March 25, the cost of the conference for in-person preregistration, including all virtual programming and content, was $375 for nonmembers, $255 for members, $105 for seniors, and $70 for students.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
November 14, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
November 14, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
November 14, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair, 440 Monticello Avenue, Suite 1802, PMB 73708, Norfolk, VA 23510. (240) 696-8273.

Contact City: 
Los Angeles
Contact State: 
CA
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
90015
Country: 
US
Add Image: 
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Tags: 
conferences

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