Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize
Sponsor – Hunger Mountain
Deadline Date – 01-May-2025
Funding – $500.00 USD
Program Information – View Details
Hunger Mountain offers an annual prize for the best writing in the field of creative nonfiction. Prize winners in each category receive $500. Publication in Hunger Mountain is awarded for first-place winners and runner-ups.
Entrants can submit original unpublished pieces of creative nonfiction, no more than 6,000 words. Current students and faculty in the MFA in Writing Program at VCFA cannot submit to the magazine. Alumnx must wait two years after the date of graduation to submit.
Prize winners in each category receive $500. Publication in Hunger Mountain is awarded for first-place winners and runner-ups.
Bacopa Literary Free Verse Poetry Contest
Sponsor – Writers Alliance of Gainesville (WAG)
Deadline Date – 05-May-2025
Funding – $200.00 USD
Program Information – View Details
The Bacopa Literary Review offers a Free Verse Poetry contest. There will be a $200 award and a $100 honorable mention.
Free verse, visionary poems, the strange and unusual. Absurd, thoughtful, experimental, political, romantic, funny, entertaining. Writers are invited to submit their best work, unfettered, unrestrained, free from forms–or make up their own form. All voices are welcome, and Bacopa Literary Review is interested in reading poems on all themes and subjects.
Authors may submit to only one category. WAG membership is not required.
There will be a $200 award and a $100 honorable mention.
Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction
Sponsor – Lambda Literary Foundation
Deadline Date – 16-May-2025
Funding – $2,500.00 USD
Program Information – View Details
Lambda Literary’s Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, in memory of the beloved activist and author, honors lesbian/queer-identified women and trans/gender non-conforming nonfiction authors. The award will go to a writer committed to nonfiction work that captures the depth and complexity of lesbian/queer life, culture, and/or history.
The award is for a writer, not a book. The application must therefore focus on prior and ongoing writings, showing the author’s commitment to lesbian/queer nonfiction (including, but not limited to: memoir, biography, history, philosophy, and social justice genres and themes). Applicants must submit a sample from an already published book of no more than 20 pages, as well as a sample from (or outline of) ongoing work. (Maximum 10 pages.)
To be considered for the award, the applicant must:
- self-identify as lesbian/queer or trans/gender non-conforming;
- have written and published at least one book of nonfiction that captures the depth and complexity of lesbian/queer life, culture, and/or history;
- be of demonstrated ability and show promise for continued growth; and
- show meaningful engagement with LGBTQ literary communities.
The award includes a cash prize of $2,500.
Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction
Sponsor – Lambda Literary Foundation
Deadline Date – 16-May-2025
Funding – 3,000.00 USD
Program Information – View Details
The Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction, in memory of the celebrated author Randall Kenan, honors Black LGBTQ writers of fiction. The award will go to a Black LGBTQ writer whose fiction explores themes of Black LGBTQ life, culture, and/or history. To be eligible, the winner of the prize must have published at least one book and show promise in continuing to produce groundbreaking work. The award includes a cash prize of $3,000.
The applicant’s contributions to the LGBTQ literary field beyond their writings and publications will also be considered. For example: reviewing LGBTQ literature, conducting relevant research, participating in LGBTQ literary events, contributing to LGBTQ journals and reviews, membership in online LGBTQ literary forums, etc.
To be considered for the award, the applicant must:
- self-identify as LGBTQ and Black;
- have written and published (self-published or traditionally published) at least one book of fiction that captures the depth and complexity of Black LGBTQ life, culture, and/or history;
- be of demonstrated ability and show promise for continued growth; and
- show meaningful engagement with LGBTQ literary communities.
The winner will receive a cash prize of $3,000.
Kate Tufts Discovery Award
Sponsor – Claremont Graduate University
Deadline Date – 01-Jul-2025
Funding – $10,000.00 USD
Program Information – View Details
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award is presented to a first book by a poet of genuine promise.
The work submitted must be a first book of poetry published between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. Manuscripts, CDs, and chapbooks are not accepted. The work may be submitted by its author or, with the poet’s consent, by a publisher, agent, or other representative.
Work must be original poetry written originally in English by a poet who is a citizen or legal resident alien of the United States.
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award offers a hefty prize of $10,000. Winners must attend the awards presentation in April 2026.
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
Sponsor – Claremont Graduate University
Deadline Date – 01-Jul-2025
Funding – $100,000.00 USD
Program Information – View Details
The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award was created to both honor the poet and provide the resources that allow artists to continue working towards the pinnacle of their craft.
The work submitted must be a book published between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. Manuscripts, CDs, and chapbooks are not accepted. The work may be submitted by its author or, with the poet’s consent, by a publisher, agent, or other representative.
Work must be original poetry written originally in English by a poet who is a citizen or legal resident alien of the United States. Previous winners of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award are not eligible.
The award is for $100,000. The winners is required to attend the awards presentation in April 2026. The winners will also spend, within six months of the award presentation, one week in residence at Claremont Graduate University for lectures, workshops, and poetry readings in Claremont and Greater Los Angeles.
