Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Lambda Literary Announces New Lesbian Nonfiction Prize

G&A: The Contest Blog
1.10.18

Lambda Literary has announced the new Córdova Prize for Lesbian Nonfiction, a $2,500 award that will be given annually to a lesbian-identified nonfiction writer whose ongoing work “captures the depth and complexity of lesbian life, culture, and/or history.” Submissions are now open.

Lesbian-identified writers who have published at least one book of nonfiction are eligible. Submit up to 20 pages from a previously published book and up to 10 pages from an ongoing work by February 23. There is no entry fee.

The award is named for author, activist, and publisher Jeanne Córdova, a prominent figure of the West Coast LGBTQ movement in the 1970s. In addition to contributing to numerous anthologies and news columns, Córdova published a memoir, When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution, in 2011. She died in 2016 at age sixty-seven.

In addition to the Córdova Prize, submissions are currently open for Lambda’s 2018 Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers. Two awards of $1,000 each are given annually to LGBTQ-identified writers who have published at least one but no more than two books of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. The 2017 winners were H. Melt and Victor Yates. Submit up to 10 pages of poetry or up to 20 pages of prose by February 23.

The Lambda Literary Foundation champions the work of LGBTQ writers through its cash awards, writers in schools program, writers retreat, literary festival, and more. Visit the website for more information and complete submission guidelines.

(Photo: Jeanne Córdova Credit: Los Angeles Times)

Upcoming Contest Deadlines in Fiction and Nonfiction

G&A: The Contest Blog
1.5.18

Prose writers: If your 2018 resolutions involve submitting to more contests, you’re in luck! Below is a selection of fiction and nonfiction contests with a deadline of January 15. Each contest offers a prize of at least $1,000 and publication.

Hidden River Arts Sandy Run Novella Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Hidden River Arts will be given annually for a novella. The editors will judge. Entry Fee: $24

Literal Latté K. Margaret Grossman Fiction Award: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Literal Latté is given annually for a short story. Entry Fee: $10

Breakwater Review Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Breakwater Review is given annually for a story. Joan Wickersham will judge. Entry Fee: $10

Third Coast Fiction Contest: An award of $1,000 each and publication in Third Coast is given annually for a short story. Danielle Evans will judge. Entry Fee: $18

Masters Review Short Story Award for New Writers: A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given twice yearly for a short story by a writer who has not published a novel. Writers who have published story collections are eligible. The winning story will also be sent to a participating literary agency. Entry Fee: $20

Moment Magazine–Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Moment Magazine is given annually for a story that relates to Judaism or Jewish culture or history. The editors will judge. Entry Fee: $25

Australian Book Review Calibre Essay Prize: A prize of AUD $5,000 (approximately $3,800) and publication in Australian Book Review is given annually for an essay. A second-place prize of AUD $2,500 (approximately $1,900) is also given. Andrea Goldsmith, Phillipa McGuinness, and Peter Rose will judge. Entry Fee: $25

Ellen Meloy Fund Desert Writers Award: A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy's writing” to spend creative time in a desert environment. No entry fee.

North Carolina Writers’ Network Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition: A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay that “is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The winning essay will also be considered for publication in Ecotone. Benjamin Rachlin will judge. Entry Fee: $12

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out our Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more upcoming contests in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

Instant Message

The Time Is Now
1.4.18

As writers, we tend to put up a wall between our creative writing (poems, stories, essays) and our more ordinary writing (to-do lists, e-mails). This week, try poking a hole in that wall. Think back and reflect upon an e-mail you received recently that startled you, that brought you unexpected happiness or unexpected pain. Or reflect on a recent to-do list you’ve written for yourself. Write an essay that feels as immediate as these messages or lists. Think about where you were physically and emotionally when you read or wrote these words. What does this say about you in this moment in time? 

Submissions Open for Graywolf Nonfiction Prize

G&A: The Contest Blog
1.3.18

Submissions are open for the 2018 Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, given biennially for a nonfiction manuscript-in-progress by a writer not yet established in the genre. The winner will receive $12,000 and will work with the Graywolf editorial team to complete the project for publication.

Writers who reside in the United States are eligible; no prior publication is required. Submissions to the prize may include memoir, essay, biography, and history. Using the online submission system, submit a one-page cover letter, a two- to ten-page overview of the project, and at least 100 pages of the manuscript by January 31. There is no entry fee.

The editors will judge. “The [prize] emphasizes innovation in form, and we want to see projects that test the boundaries of literary nonfiction,” write the editors. “We are less interested in straightforward memoirs.”

Esmé Weijun Wang won the prize in 2016 for The Collected Schizophrenias, an essay collection that addresses the social, historical, medical, and spiritual aspects of schizophrenia. Angela Palm won in 2014 for her book about growing up in a small river town in rural Indiana, Riverine: A Memoir From Anywhere But Here. Margaret Lazarus Dean won in 2012 for Leaving Orbit: Notes From the Last Days of American Spaceflight, and Leslie Jamison won in 2010 for The Empathy Exams.

Founded in 1974, Graywolf Press is considered one of the leading nonprofit literary publishers in the country. The press is “committed to the discovery and energetic publication of contemporary American and international literature.” Visit the website for more information.

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