FICTION / NONFICTION — FEBRUARY 2024

The Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize

Graywolf Press

SUBMISSION PERIOD: February 1 - 29, 2024

INFO: A $20,000 advance and publication by Graywolf Press will be awarded to the most promising and innovative literary nonfiction project by a writer not yet established in the genre. The winning author will also receive a $2,000 stipend intended to support the completion of their project.

The Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize emphasizes innovation in form and content, and we want to see projects that push the boundaries of literary nonfiction. The Graywolf editors are particularly interested in new approaches to the personal essay, cultural and literary criticism, creative scholarship, and books exploring complex ideas from unexpected angles. We hope to be moved, challenged, and surprised. Please note that we are not interested in straightforward memoirs or journalistic reporting. Before submitting your manuscript for the prize, please look at the books previously published as winners of the prize or other Graywolf nonfiction titles for examples of the type of work that we are seeking.

The prize will be awarded to a manuscript in progress. We request that authors send a long sample from their manuscript, as well as a description of the work, as detailed below. We expect that we will work with the winner of the prize and provide editorial guidance toward the completion of the manuscript.

The prize will be judged by the Graywolf Press editors. The editors reserve the right to invite submissions and make exceptions. Agented submissions are welcome. Manuscripts submitted for previous years’ prizes will not be reconsidered unless resubmission has been specifically requested by the Graywolf editors. Graywolf will only consider one submission per author for each open submission period.

SUBMISSION CRITERIA:

A one-page cover letter containing a short biographical statement and brief description of the project
A list of all previous publications
A two to ten-page overview of the project, including a description of what is already complete and what work remains to be finished
A minimum of 100 pages (roughly 25,000 words) from anywhere within the manuscript, using regular margins, double spacing, and 12-point font

ELIGIBILITY:

Live in the United States, regardless of citizenship status
Have published at least one piece of nonfiction in a literary journal or magazine; reviews, interviews, reportage, and other similar pieces do not qualify
Have not yet authored a book of literary nonfiction; authorship of other kinds of nonfiction books is not disqualifying

TERMS OF PUBLICATION:

$20,000 advance
World rights, including translation
Format: paperback original

graywolfpress.org/about-us/submissions

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

Screen Door Press

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 1 - March 15, 2024

INFO: Dedicated to discovering unique, exceptional, and varied voices within Black literary traditions, the Screen Door Press Imprint will celebrate the very best in fiction across a broad range of categories. Its goal is to publish thought-provoking books that use relatable characters, strong narratives, and beautiful language to champion diverse views from throughout the Black diaspora. The Screen Door Press Imprint is sponsored by the Thomas D. Clark Foundation.

Submission and publication timeline

February 1, 2024 – Imprint submissions open
March 15, 2024 – Imprint submissions close
August 2024 – Finalists selected and announced
2025 – Publication of first imprint titles

Submission materials must include:

Full manuscript
Cover letter
Author bio OR resume/CV
Contact information

EDITED BY CRYSTAL WILKINSON

Crystal Wilkinson, a recent fellowship recipient of the Academy of American Poets, is the award-winning author of Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, a culinary memoir; Perfect Black, a collection of poems; and three works of fiction—The Birds of Opulence, Water Street and Blackberries, Blackberries. She is the recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, an O. Henry Prize, a USA Artists Fellowship, and an Ernest J. Gaines Prize for Literary Excellence. She has received recognition from the Yaddo Foundation, Hedgebrook, The Vermont Studio Center for the Arts, The Hermitage Foundation and others. Her short stories, poems and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including most recently in The Atlantic, The Kenyon Review, STORY, Agni Literary Journal, Emergence, Oxford American and Southern Cultures. She was Poet Laureate of Kentucky from 2021 to 2023. Wilkinson currently teaches creative writing at the University of Kentucky where she is a Bush-Holbrook Endowed Professor.

kentuckypress.com/screen-door-press/

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Writing In Color FELLOWSHIP

Lighthouse

DEADLINE: February 3, 2024

APPLICATION FEE: $25

INFO: Offered annually to a person who demonstrates a passion and skill for writing, a commitment to developing their writing skills, and a clear commitment to community service, the Writing In Color Fellowship for Emerging Writers is for anyone who would benefit from a year's worth of involvement at Lighthouse but who would not be able to do so without financial support. Any adult (over the age of 18) writer of color living in the United States, writing in any genre, who has not published a full-length manuscript is eligible to apply.

In order to support the skills and creative passion of emerging writers in the Lighthouse community, this fellowship is intended for emerging writers of color who have not had significant access to or experience with traditional opportunities to learn and grow in the literary world.

FELLOWSHIP DATES: April 2024–April 2025

NOTIFICATION: Applicants will be notified of submission status via email by the beginning of April 2024.

ELIGIBILITY: Writers identifying as people of color (i.e. BIPOC+) who are 18 years of age or older.

While Lighthouse has always emphasized accessibility, this award offers a depth and consistency of engagement to the fellowship recipient. The year-long award period not only engages the writer in directed literary activities, but also allows for full immersion in a project or body of work. The fellow will have the opportunity to read from what they’ve written at the annual Writing in Color Fest.

The Emerging Writing In Color Fellowship will provide access to:

Four multi-week courses
Participation in the annual Writing in Color Fest including a featured reading
Up to 5 hours access to a Lighthouse faculty member for mentorship, as needed
One-year membership at Lighthouse Writers Workshop
Opportunity to support a Lighthouse community outreach program, helping to facilitate, administrate, or teach in the program.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES:

Please read these guidelines carefully. Submissions that do not meet the requirements below will not be considered.

Your submission should comprise a cover letter including your name, the name of the genre you are applying for, and your contact information. Your cover letter is the only place where your name should appear. Paginate your document, and use legible, 12-point font and standard margins. Upload your writing sample as a single .pdf, .doc, or .docx document.

WRITING SAMPLE FORMAT:

Poetry: Six-to-eight pages of poems. Only one poem per page is permitted, though you may submit multi-paged poems. Insert hard page breaks between every page.
Prose: Excerpt or combination of pieces to equal no more than 4000 words. More is not necessarily better. Please use standard manuscript format, double-spacing and ensuring page numbers are visible.
Recommendation letters are not required.

To complete your application via Submittable you will answer fellowship specific questions, submit your writing sample, cover letter, and pay the application fee of $25. If the application fee is prohibitive, please e-mail us at info@lighthousewriters.org to discuss alternatives.

Cover letters should be typed into the corresponding box on Submittable. Include your full name, address, email address and telephone number. Please respond to each question in the corresponding text box explaining why you wish to apply for the fellowship and what you expect to accomplish over the course of the year.

One application per candidate. Please do not wait until the last day to apply in case you have technical difficulties submitting your application. Please note that we will not be able to respond to inquiries regarding applications that are not accepted, nor will we be able to provide feedback on those entries.
Lighthouse Mission: The mission of Lighthouse Writers Workshop is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education, support, and community for writers and readers in the Rocky Mountain Region and beyond. We strive to ensure that literature maintains its proper prominence in the culture, and that individuals achieve their fullest potential as artists and human beings.

lighthousewriters.submittable.com/submit/281769/writing-in-color-emerging-writers-fellowship-2024

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2024 COURAGE TO WRITE GRANTS

The de Groot Foundation

DEADLINE: February 5, 2024

APPLICATION FEE: $22.00

INFO: The de Groot Foundation will award thirty COURAGE to WRITE unrestricted grants to writers in 2024.

Ten COURAGE to WRITE grants of $7000 each and twenty Writer of Note grants of $1500 each. These grants are meant to encourage and support writers as they further or complete a specific project. The Writer of Note grantees are chosen from the pool of finalists for the COURAGE to WRITE grants.

GUIDELINES: Applicants for COURAGE to WRITE grants may be writing in any genre. We welcome projects of fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, YA, children’s books, plays, and screenplays.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Writers over 18 years of age who are actively engaged in a writing project and for whom a monetary boost could help them further or complete a project.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applications:

are open to individual writers over 18 years of age regardless of race, ethnicity, gender orientation, education, economic situation, geographic origin or location.
must be submitted in English.
are not open to family, members of the board or employees of the The de Groot Foundation, Lando family members, reviewers, or the selection committee.
Applicants must be individuals. Companies or organizations are not eligible.
If you’ve already received a writing grant from The de Groot Foundation, please wait a year before applying again.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please read this section carefully before preparing or submitting your application. We receive grant applications through the Submittable platform. If you have an account already, click the button at the bottom of this page and login to apply. If you do not have an account, you will need to create a free account in order to apply. You can create an account here: https://manager.submittable.com/signup

Application

There are three parts to your application: 1) a biosketch, 2) the letter of application, 3) your writing sample

Your biosketch

a. A brief statement about you, what matters in your work, what you’ve written, what you want to write, and something about you as a person

b. Limited to no more than 100 words

c. Your biosketch will be inserted into a form on the application so have this ready to cut and paste.

2. The letter of application (2-4 pages) which must include:

a. An introduction to the writing project for which you are seeking support (1-3 paragraphs)

b. How this project is important (1-2 paragraphs)

c. How a grant at this time would be helpful to you and how you would use the funds (2-3 paragraphs)

d. Anything else you would like us to know about you as a writer (1 paragraph)

e. Please address the letter to: Dear COURAGE to WRITE Reviewers

f. Please double space your letter of application and use Times New Roman 12-point font.

The paragraph suggestions above are recommendations. Should you wish to add a paragraph in a section and have one fewer in another that is fine as long as the needed information is well conveyed.

3. Writing sample

a. Please submit an unpublished writing sample, which relates to the project for which you are requesting funds. Do not submit a previously published writing sample.

b. Your unpublished writing sample should be five pages.

c. The writing sample, like the letter of application, should be double spaced and in Times New Roman 12-point font.

d. Exceptions:

i. Poetry: Use your original poetry formatting. You do not need to double space the poems. There can be more than one poem on a page.

ii. Screenplay or a play: You may submit up to 12 pages of a sample using the standard formatting for plays or screenplays.

iii. Graphic novel: You may include up to 10 pages of prose and graphics for the writing sample. Please submit by PDF.

IMPORTANT: The letter of application and the five pages of your current writing project must be uploaded as a SINGLE DOCUMENT. Please make sure you have merged them as a SINGLE DOCUMENT before you submit.

Submit your application through the Submittable platform, which you will be directed to below. Make sure your document is ready and exactly as you want it to be before uploading. Once you have submitted an application, you are unable to change it.

Format:

Use Times New Roman 12-point font and double space your application document.
Numbering pages is optional.

Application Timeline:

Grant recipients will receive an automatic notification from Submittable once your application is received.
Finalists will be notified by the end of April 2024.
Grant awardees will be notified by the end of May 2024.

Review and Selection:

You’ll be sent a message when your application has been received.

Stage 1 Review: All eligible applications are read by teams of reviewers. Depending on the discretion of the reviewers, between 40 to 60 finalist applications are chosen.
Stage 2 Review: Finalist applications are evaluated by the final Selection Committee. This committee chooses the ten COURAGE to WRITE grantees. From the remaining applications, this committee will then pick the 20 Writer of Note grantees.

The Selection Committees are writers and writing professionals who appreciate the challenges of emerging writers. Selection Committee decisions are final. Correspondence will only be entered into with finalists and grantees.

Grantees will be asked to complete a Grant Acceptance Agreement and, if appropriate, a U.S. W-9 tax form. One year after receipt of funding, grantees agree to complete and return a one-to-three-page final report so that we can learn about your project and the grant’s impact on your work.

degrootfoundation.org/courage-to-write-grants/

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2024 LANDO GRANT

The de Groot Foundation

DEADLINE: February 5, 2024

APPLICATION FEE: $22.00

The de Groot Foundation is thrilled to collaborate with Barry Lando, award winning investigative journalist and former 60 Minutes producer, to provide the LANDO grants for immigration, migration, and/or refugee writing.

GUIDELINES: Applicants for LANDO grants may be writing in any genre. We welcome projects of fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, YA, children’s books, plays, and screenplays.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Writers over 18 years of age who are actively engaged in a writing project and for whom a monetary boost could help them further or complete a project.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applications:

are open to individual writers over 18 years of age regardless of race, ethnicity, gender orientation, education, economic situation, geographic origin or location.
must be submitted in English.
are not open to family, members of the board or employees of the The de Groot Foundation, Lando family members, reviewers, or the selection committees.
Applicants must be individuals. Companies or organizations are not eligible.
If you’ve already received a writing grant from The de Groot Foundation, please wait a year before applying again.

HOW TO APPLY:

We want all applications to be considered. Please read this section carefully before preparing or submitting your application. We receive grant applications through the Submittable platform. If you have an account already, click the button at the bottom of this page and login to apply. If you do not have an account, you will need to create a free account in order to apply. You can create an account here: https://manager.submittable.com/signup

Application

There are three parts to your application: 1) a biosketch, 2) the letter of application, 3) your writing sample

1. Your biosketch

A brief statement about you, what matters in your work, what you’ve written, what you want to write, and something about you as a person
Limited to no more than 100 words
Your biosketch will be inserted into a form on the application so have this ready to cut and paste.

2. The letter of application (2-4 pages) which must include:

An introduction to the writing project for which you are seeking support (1-3 paragraphs)
How this project is important (1-2 paragraphs)
How a grant at this time would be helpful to you and how you would use the funds (2-3 paragraphs)
Anything else you would like us to know about you as a writer (1 paragraph)
Please address the letter to: Dear LANDO Reviewers
Please double space your letter of application and use Times New Roman 12-point font.

The paragraph suggestions above are recommendations. Should you wish to add a paragraph in a section and have one fewer in another that is fine as long as the needed information is well conveyed.

3. Writing sample

Please submit a writing sample which relates to the project for which you are requesting funds. Do not submit a previously published writing sample.
Your unpublished writing sample should be five pages.
The writing sample, like the letter of application, should be double spaced and in Times New Roman 12-point font.
Exceptions:

i. Poetry: Use your original poetry formatting. You do not need to double space the poems. There can be more than one poem on a page.

ii. Screenplay or a play: Please submit a one to two page synopsis of the screenplay or play and up to 12 pages of a sample script using the standard formatting for plays or screenplays.

iii. Graphic novel: You may include up to 10 pages of prose and graphics for the writing sample. Please submit by PDF.

FORMAT:

Use Times New Roman 12-point font and double space your application document.
Numbering pages is optional.

Grant recipients will receive an automatic notification from Submittable once your application is received.

Finalists will be notified by early April 2024.

Grant awardees will be notified by early May 2024.

degrootfoundation.org/2024-lando-grant-guidelines/

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Call for submissions: March 2024 Issue

Writers Resist

DEADLINE: February 8, 2024

INFO: Writers Resist is an intersectional feminist literary journal born of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. We publish creative expressions of resistance by diverse writers and artists from around the globe.

In solidarity with those affected by violent conflict, Writers Resist is seeking poetry, fiction, narrative nonfiction, and digital images from writers and artists living in non-U.S. regions impacted by war, genocide, and political oppression, for publication in our March 2024 issue, guest edited by DW McKinney

U.S. residents who have ancestral heritage or ethnicities affiliated with these regions may also submit.

GUIDELINES:

We do not accept previously published works. This includes publication on social media platforms, blogs, etc.

We publish with the intent that the works will be shared far and wide, so please submit only if you are comfortable making your published submissions available to the world via a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license.

HONORARIUM:

Published works in the Amplified Voices issue will receive an honorarium of $30 for each accepted submission, transferred via PayPal or WorldRemit after publication.

TO PREPARE YOUR SUBMISSION:

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but if your submission is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw it from our submission manager.
Please send a short bio with your submission, including a statement identifying your personal connection to a conflict region.
Include your website URL and any social media presence you’d like to share with our readers.
Poetry submissions: You may include a maximum of three poems in one submission. Please submit them in a single MSWord document with your name, contact information, and a short bio in the document with a statement identifying your personal connection to a conflict region. Once in our submission system (see below), be sure to select Amplified Voices for your genre.
Fiction and narrative nonfiction submissions: You may submit one piece of fiction or narrative nonfiction with a maximum of 2,500 words. Please submit it in an MSWord document with your name, contact information, and a short bio in the document with a statement identifying your personal connection to a conflict region. Once in our submission system (see below), be sure to select Amplified Voices for your genre.
Digital image submissions: SUBMIT IMAGES ONLY VIA EMAIL (do not submit images via our submission system). You may submit a maximum of three images, in JPEG format, with your last name and first name as the file name. EX: cubbins.barth.jpeg. Please include with your submission an MSWord document with your name, contact information, a short bio with a statement identifying your personal connection to a conflict region, and the image’s title. Digital images must be submitted via email to WritersResist@gmail.com, and be sure to indicate you are submitting them for the Amplified Voices issue.

writersresist.com/submission-guide/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Translations from the Arabic (Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction)

Epiphany

DEADLINE: February 9, 2024

ENTRY FEE: $5

INFO: We are seeking translations from Arabic in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction for our Spring / Summer 2024 issue.

GUIDELINES FOR PROSE SUBMISSIONS:

Submit one story at a time.
Format in 12-pt font, double-spaced.
Tell us if you're submitting simultaneously to other publications (and please withdraw promptly through Submittable should your work be accepted elsewhere).
Please include your name, title, and word count on the first page of the submitted file.
Translations require rights permission from the original writer.
Include a short bio with your cover letter.
Fiction contributors will receive a payment of $175, and two copies of the journal.**

GUIDELINES FOR POETRY SUBMISSIONS:

Submit up to 5 poems at a time.
Format in 12-pt font, single-spaced (where appropriate).
Tell us if you're submitting simultaneously to other publications (and withdraw promptly through Submittable should your work be accepted elsewhere).
Please include your name and title on the first page of the submitted file.
Translations require rights permission from the original writer.
Include a short bio with your cover letter.
Poetry contributors will receive a payment of $75 per poem and two copies of the journal.

epiphanymagazine.submittable.com/submit

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macdowell fellowship: 2024 Fall/Winter

MacDowell

DEADLINE: February 10, 2024, at 11:59pm ET

INFO: The Fellowship application period for 2024 Fall/Winter residencies at MacDowell is now open!

MacDowell encourages artists to apply in any stage of their career, and from all backgrounds and countries. We invite applications in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts. If your proposed project does not fall clearly within one of these artistic disciplines, contact the admissions department for guidance at admissions@macdowell.org.

We also encourage you to watch our “How to Apply to MacDowell's Residency Program” video on our YouTube channel for detailed instructions on our application process.

MacDowell has no residency fees, and to defray expenses that accrue during an artist’s stay, we provide need-based stipends to cover rent, utilities, childcare, and lost income from taking time off from employment, as well as reimbursements for travel to and from the residency.

Fall/Winter residencies will take place between September 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025.

macdowell.org/apply/apply-for-fellowship

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Writing Workshop: Literary Landscapes with Author Tony Robles

Tony Robles

WORKSHOP DATES:

Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 4:00pm EST
Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 4:00pm EST
Saturday, February 24, 2024 at 4:00pm EST

PRICE: $50.00 ($54.49 w/service fee)

INFO: Literary Landscapes is a 3-week generative writing workshop that will explore the landscapes of memory, empathy, and identity. Participants will read and discuss writings by authors of different genres whose work embodies these elements. Participants will take part in writing exercises that will strengthen their use of craft while mining their interior landscapes to write short pieces of prose or poetry. Work will be shared and discussed among participants.

INSTRUCTOR’S BIO: Tony Robles is a poet and author originally from San Francisco, now based in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He is the author of 3 books of poetry and short stories, Cool Don't Live Here No More--A letter to San Francisco, Fingerprints of a Hunger Strike, and Thrift Store Metamorphosis. His writing has been published in numerous anthologies including, Of Color: Poet's Ways of Making, The Roadrunner Review, Growing Up Filipino Volume II, Mythium Journal, Bamboo Ridge, and many others. He earned his Masters in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2023.

brownpapertickets.com/event/6213449

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Passing Down Our Stories Writing Contest

Girls Write Now / Sweet July

DEADLINE: February 13, 2024

INFO: Girls Write Now is teaming up with Sweet July for a writing contestand chance to interview Ayesha Curry!

In celebration of Women’s History Month in March, and the impact of strong female role models, we are proud to partner with Ayesha Curry’s Sweet July for a writing contest to elevate the voices of girls and gender expansive young adults. This contest is about the people who raised us, from found family members to maternal figures, ancestors to parents.

Answer this prompt below with a short story, essay, or poem:

Tell the story behind a family heirloom or tradition. How has it shaped who you are?

TO QUALIFY, YOUR PIECE MUST…

Be 850 words or under in length
NOT have been previously published in any medium
NOT have been recognized with any prior awards
Be submitted as a Google Doc via the form on this page before 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday, February 13, 2024

THIS CONTEST IS OPEN TO…

Girls and gender-expansive young adults who are Girl Write Now participants or alumni ages 14 and up.

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER AGED 14 OR OVER WILL…

Be published on the Sweet July website
Interview Ayesha Curry on Instagram Live

TWO MORE HONORABLE MENTIONS AGED 14 OR OVER WILL…

Be published on the Sweet July website

EIGHT FINALISTS AGED 14 OR OVER WILL…

Be published in a special featured section of the Girls Write Now site.

girlswritenow.org/sweet-july-contest-submit/

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MARY MCCARTHY PRIZE IN SHORT FICTION

Sarabande Books

DEADLINE: February 15, 2024

SUBMISSION FEE: $29

INFO: In celebration of Sarabande’s 30th anniversary, we are pleased to offer an increased prize in the amount of $3,000, as well as publication of the manuscript with an introduction by Lauren Groff, and a standard royalty contract.

2024 JUDGE: Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and The New York Times–bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida.

ELIGIBILITY: This contest is open to any short fiction writer of English. Employees and board members of Sarabande are not eligible. Agented manuscripts are not eligible. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a short novel. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included. Translations and previously published collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, close friends of a judge or current students in a degree-granting program with a judge are not eligible.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Manuscript must be ANONYMOUS—the author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (title page should contain the title only)
Must be typed, standard font, 12 pt., double-spaced
Between 150-250 pages
Manuscript should be paginated consecutively with a table of contents and acknowledgements page (a list of publications in which stories or sections of the manuscript have appeared)
Must be submitted electronically through Submittable

Multiple submissions are permitted if submitted separately, each with a submission fee. Once submitted, electronic manuscripts can only be edited within a week of submitting, but do note that any publications resulting from this contest will undergo a full editorial and copyedit. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but please withdraw your manuscript if accepted elsewhere.

Sarabande Books considers all finalists for publication.

sarabandebooks.org/mccarthy

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THE SARABANDE PRIZE IN THE ESSAY

Sarabande Books

DEADLINE: February 15, 2024

SUBMISSION FEE: $29

2024 JUDGE: Alexander Chee is the bestselling author of the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, and the essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, all from Mariner Books. He is a 2021 United States Artists Fellow, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, an NEA Fellow, and a Whiting Award recipient.

ELIGIBILITY: This contest is open to any nonfiction writing in English. Employees and board members of Sarabande are not eligible. Agented manuscripts are not eligible. Individual essays from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines, chapbooks of less than 48 pages, or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Translations and previously published collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, close friends of a judge or current students in a degree-granting program with a judge are not eligible.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Manuscript must be ANONYMOUS—the author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (title page should contain the title only)
Must be typed, standard font, 12 pt.
Between 100-250 pages
Manuscript must be paginated consecutively with a table of contents and acknowledgements page (a list of publications in which poems in the manuscript have appeared)
Must be submitted electronically through Submittable

Sarabande Books considers all finalists for publication.

sarabandebooks.org/essay

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2024 RESidencies

Vermont Studio Center

DEADLINE: February 15, 2024

INFO: Vermont Studio Center is pleased to invite applications for its residency program for writers working in all genres. The Maverick Studio Building offers views of the Gihon River and daily inspiration.

Accepted residents will enjoy access to:

Visiting Artists & Writers Program
private accommodation
private studio space
delicious fresh daily meals

Residency sessions are approximately 2-, 3-, and 4-weeks. Each residency offers a supportive environment where you can further develop your writing projects, finish your manuscript, make deep revisions, start a new project, and more.

Vermont Studio Center accepts writers working in all genres, and includes the following:

fiction
creative nonfiction
poetry
screen/playwriting
hybrid*
translation

vermontstudiocenter.org/fellowships

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2024 Forge Project Fellowship

Forge Project

DEADLINE: February 15, 2024 by 11:59pm ET

INFO: The Forge Project Fellowship is intended to support Indigenous cultural workers broadly. The Fellowship supports artists, organizers, writers, cultural practitioners, musicians, scholars, activists, researchers, educators, and others who represent a diversity of expertise, participatory research and organizing models, and geographic contexts.

Each Forge Project Fellow will receive $25,000 USD toward their practice and will have full access to the Forge Project site, libraries, and lending collection of living Indigenous artists during their fellowship. 2023 Fellows will also have the opportunity to present their work to the local Forge Project audience on site as well as a wider international audience via social media. Forge covers return travel, local transportation, accommodations, and all meals while fellows are in residence.

The cash award is unrestricted and can be used however you wish. Please note that this award is considered taxable income by the IRS.

Fellows are invited to stay in residence at Forge for up to three weeks to make use of the studio, library, and lending collection and be on the land. We also understand that many of our fellows have full-time careers, families, and other responsibilities. Forge’s Director of Indigenous Programs and Relationality, Sarah Biscarra Dilley (yaktitʸutitʸu yaktiłhini [Northern Chumash]) and Public and Community Programs Coordinator, Robbie Wing (Cherokee Nation) will work with fellows to determine residency dates that work best for them.

If fellows decide that spending time in residence is aligned for them and their practice, we support residency stays onsite between June 1 and September 30, 2024. Applicants will be asked to include two preferred residency date ranges in their application to best support accommodating each fellow’s request.

ELIGIBILITY: Applicants must be an enrolled member, citizen, or descendant with verification from the enrollment office of a state or federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native corporation, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry, a Canadian First Nations (status or non-status), Metis or Inuit to apply for the 2024 Forge Project Fellowship. Applicants may be asked to provide documentation of their Native citizenship or ancestry to confirm eligibility. At least two Fellows will come from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

forgeproject.com/fellowship/how-to-apply

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THE Yale Nonfiction Book Prize

Yale Review / Yale University Press

DEADLINE: February 15, 2024

ENTRY FEE: $25

INFO: The Yale Review and Yale University Press are seeking submissions for the 2024 inaugural Yale Nonfiction Book Prize. The winning manuscript will be selected by the series’ current judge: essayist, poet, and editor Meghan O’Rourke. The prize includes a payment in the amount of $15,000, publication of the manuscript by Yale University Press within the Yale Nonfiction Series, and first serialization in The Yale Review.

We seek manuscripts that tackle ambitious and under-explored subjects in vivid prose that would appeal to a broad audience. We welcome submissions in a range of categories, including the following:

Reported nonfiction
Cultural and literary criticism for a general audience
Book-length essays
Essay collections with a strong throughline
Memoirs that include research or reportage

We do not accept scholarly monographs, books intended for an academic audience or a specialized reader, or memoirs that do not take up larger cultural or political questions.

Submissions must be original, unpublished book-length nonfiction manuscripts (no illustrations) written in the English language by a single author who has not previously published a book of nonfiction. English-language translations are not eligible unless the translation is made by the author.
Authors may submit only one manuscript per entry year. Manuscripts submitted in previous years may be resubmitted; however, an author may win the competition only once.
Manuscripts that have been previously published are ineligible. This includes self-published works.
Manuscripts may not be under option, commissioned, or scheduled for production or publication at the time of submission. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, so long as we are notified immediately if and when there is serious interest from other parties.
Eligibility for the prize, including both the prize money and publication by Yale University Press, is contingent on the writer’s agreeing to the terms of the Press’s publishing agreement which is non-negotiable.
An entry fee of $25.00, payable by credit card or via PayPal, is required at the time of submission. Consistent with our belief that financial hardship should not be an impediment to submission, we have a limited number of fee-free submissions available. If for any reason the fee is an impediment, please write to yalenonfictionbookprize@gmail.com with “Fee Waiver” in the subject line.
Submissions for the 2024 competition must be submitted no earlier than January 15, 2024, and no later than February 15, 2024, at 11:59 PM EST.
Manuscript submissions must be under 80,000 words and should be accompanied by a 500–750 word pitch and/or summary. Manuscripts must be complete or substantially completed. For example, we cannot consider a manuscript that is half-written with an outline, but we can consider a manuscript for which the writer plans to revise an introduction or conclusion or add footnotes.
The manuscript must include a title page and a table of contents.
Manuscripts must be paginated.
In formatting the manuscript, please make legibility your first concern. Select a standard typeface (such as Bodoni, Garamond, or Times New Roman) in at least 12-point type. Manuscripts may be double-spaced or 1.5-spaced.
Please enter the title of your manuscript, your name and contact information, and a brief biography where indicated in the electronic submission form.
The Yale Review and Yale University Press reserve the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.
Once an author is notified that their manuscript has been selected as a finalist, the author has seven days to send written notice if they intend to accept or decline the prize and the Press will issue a publishing agreement for their signature. If the author does not return a signed contract within fourteen days of the date issued, they forfeit their entry and are ineligible to receive the prize.
The Yale Review and Yale University Press reserve the judge’s right not to choose a winner for any given year of the competition and the right to determine the ineligibility of a winner, in keeping with eligibility requirements of the competition.

theyalereview.submittable.com/submit/284705/the-yale-nonfiction-book-prize

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2024 Editorial Fellowships

A Public Space

DEADLINE: February 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST

APPLICATION FEE: $0

INFO: We are pleased to announce that applications for the 2024 Editorial Fellowships, a program for aspiring editors, will open on January 1, 2024. Established in 2019, the Editorial Fellowships at A Public Space aim to support the next generation of editors who will offer a more diverse publishing community—culturally, aesthetically, economically; and to explore new possibilities for editing, writing, and literature.

A Public Space is an independent, nonprofit publisher of a literary and arts magazine and A Public Space Books. The Editorial Fellowship is designed to provide practical, hands-on experience as well as mentorship and education in editing and independent publishing.

Two Editorial Fellows will be selected to work alongside the editorial staff at A Public Space on various aspects of the magazine, including evaluating submissions, researching, developing, and soliciting work, editing, copyediting, proofreading, production, and promotion. They will also have the opportunity to oversee an Open Call and serve as the lead editor on a piece for the magazine.

APPLICATION:

Time Period and Compensation: The 2024 Editorial Fellowships period is approximately four months, from June 3, 2024 through October 6, 2024. The Fellows will work on their own schedule, and will have responsibilities of approximately fifteen hours weekly. They must be able to attend up to two weekly meetings (virtual and in person) during regular office hours. The Fellows will receive compensation of $5,000.

Eligibility: A strong interest in contemporary literature and a career in publishing. The ability to work independently, and to bring curiosity and initiative to their work. Excellent verbal and written English-language communication skills. A commitment to meeting deadlines. Individuals who bring diverse experiences and new perspectives to our work are especially encouraged to apply. Some experience in editorial work is preferred but not required. Preference will be given to aspiring editors who have not worked extensively in literary publishing, and who may have limited access to career opportunities in the industry. The Editorial Fellows must be residents of New York City for the duration of the Fellowship. A Public Space reserves the right to invite candidates to apply. Unfortunately, A Public Space is unable to sponsor work visas.

Timeline: Applications for the 2024 Editorial Fellowships will be accepted via Submittable from January 1, 2024–February 15, 2024. Submissions for the Fellowships close at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on February 15, 2024. Successful applicants will be informed no later than April 1, 2024. The Fellowships will begin June 3, 2024.

Procedure: Only electronic submissions will be considered. Applications must be submitted through the Editorial Fellowships category in Submittable. There is no application fee. Please submit the following:

—A résumé
—As one file:

A statement describing your interest in editing and independent publishing; the influences and experience that you will bring to your work as an Editorial Fellow; and your goals for the fellowship and beyond. Please also include where you heard about the Editorial Fellowships.
A short excerpt from a work by an under-recognized writer; and a brief statement (250 words max.) on the writer and why you feel work such as this should be championed by editors.
A statement (250 words max.) about one author published by A Public Space, either in the magazine or A Public Space Books, and how their work resonates with your editorial interests.

Note that only PDF or Word files (.doc and .docx) are accepted. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

apublicspace.org/news/detail/apply-to-the-2024-editorial-fellowship

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A CALL FOR PAPERS: 17TH NATIONAL BLACK WRITERS CONFERENCE

The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College

DEADLINE: Extended to February 16, 2024

INFO: The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY (CBL), presents the 17th National Black Writers Conference, “All That We Carry: Where Do We Go From Here?” This is a public gathering of writers, scholars, literary professionals, theater and film luminaries, students, and the public.

The dates are March 20, 2024–March 23rd, 2024. Honorees for the 17th National Black Writers Conference are author Bernice McFadden, publisher Paul Coates, scholar Peniel Joseph, and writer Percival Everett.

CBL invites proposals on the work of Bernice McFadden, Paul Coates, Peniel Joseph, Percival Everett, and/or John Oliver Killens. Papers should examine the following:

The ways in which Black writers draw from oral histories and ancestral stories to craft stories that evoke memory, respond to present-day realities, and inspire visions of more liberatory futures.
Using themes from Peniel Joseph’s work as a guide, examine how Black writers’ commentaries and perspectives of the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Lives Matter movements have shifted and evolved. How are a new generation of Black writers grappling with what bell hooks expressed as “white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy”?
How the idea of “All That We Carry: Where Do We Go From Here?” is connected to the Black experience or culture and how it is expressed or expanded in the works created by the writers and scholars Paul Coates, Bernice McFadden, Peniel Joseph and Percival Everett.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Please submit electronically an abstract/proposal of 300–500 words, a list of related references for the presentation, and the thesis or question you plan to explore. Do not send manuscripts. Submissions must be authentic and original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this event.

Please submit the following to info@centerforblackliterature.org:

Your name and contact information on the title page.
Title of proposed talk
Institutional affiliation
Short academic bio of no more than 50 words

NOTE: Include your name and “Call for Papers 17th NBWC” in the subject line. Scholars’ panels will be held virtually on Thursday, March 21, 2024 (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET).

centerforblackliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Final.NBWC-Call-Papers-2024.pdf

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Aldo & Estella Leopold Residency

DEADLINE: February 16, 2024

APPLICATION FEE: $20

INFO: An inspiring one-month retreat based at historic "Mi Casita," Aldo and Estella's first home in New Mexico, the Aldo and Estella Leopold Residency provides a space for writers and respected thinkers committed to reshaping the cultural story about the relationship between humans and Nature, to reflect and write about the relevance of Aldo Leopold’s ideas to 21st century cultural and environmental issues In 2023, the Leopold Writing Program celebrates the 11th anniversary of this influential residency.

Stay for up to one month during the months of May to October.
Receive a stipend to help defray travel and living expenses.
Give a public presentation at the Harwood Art Museum in Taos.

The Aldo & Estella Leopold Residency is for college students, graduate students, post-graduate students, and other emerging and mid-career professional writers from around the country and abroad interested in exploring connections in our communities and cultures, and in our lives and landscapes. Two residents per year are selected from a field of candidates who complete the application process.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants may submit a maximum two-page resume along with a maximum 500-word statement of interest describing how your work at Mi Casita will extend the legacy of Aldo and Estella Leopold. Also, please indicate how you heard about the Residency Program. The deadline for the May – October 2024 season is February16, with decisions made by March 22, 2024.

Please email application materials to Program Director Nina Simon. Direct any questions about the residency to Jeff Pappas, LWP Board Member and Residency Coordinator.

leopoldwritingprogram.org/residency.html

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Critical Writing Fellowship

Momus

DEADLINE: February 25, 2024 by midnight EST

INFO: Momus is excited to launch our 2024 Fellowships!

This year the Critical Writing Fellowship is realized with the generous support of Critical Minded, and mentorship is overseen by Jessica Lynne. The Fellowship runs from April to December 2024, and comes with a $4,000 USD honorarium.

This paid opportunity provides sustained mentorship, editorial support, and network-building to an early-career art writer or critic. Over an 8-month period of research, dialogue, and drafting, the Fellow will produce a feature-length text to be published in Momus. Two Shortlisted Fellows will also be commissioned to produce texts for publication in Momus.

An ideal candidate for the Fellowship is an early-career art writer/critic with some publishing experience, a clear voice, and the desire to learn and evolve through the editing process. Applicants writing from a de-centered or historically marginalized position will be prioritized. There are no limitations on the candidate’s nationality or geographic location.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Please send your application as a single PDF to programs@momus.ca.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview, and the results will be announced before the start of the fellowship in April.

The application should be a single PDF and contain the following:

A one-page letter of intent describing why you are applying for the fellowship and the area of interest you would seek to engage in through the fellowship.
A C.V. (no more than three pages long)
One published writing sample; a second writing sample is optional (the second sample may be published or unpublished). There is no word limit.
Any questions about the program or the application process can be directed to programs@momus.ca.

momus.ca/critical-writing-fellowship/

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The 2024 Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction

AWP

DEADLINE: February 28, 2024

ENTRY FEES:

$20 (Member)
30 (Nonmember)

PRIZE: $2,500 and publication by the University of Georgia Press

JUDGE: Chloé Cooper Jones

MANUSCRIPT LENGTH: 150–300 pages

Your name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript, otherwise it will be disqualified.

Acknowledgements should not appear anywhere on the manuscript, otherwise it will be disqualified.

The cover letter field can contain this information, or anything else you choose.

Please also include a brief (roughly one hundred words) synopsis in the designated field, as this will help our screeners more easily categorize and review the submissions they read.

About the AWP Award Series

The AWP Award Series is an annual competition for the publication of excellent new book-length works. The competition is open to all authors writing in English regardless of nationality or residence, and it is open to published and unpublished authors alike.

The AWP Award Series conducts an evaluation process of writers, for writers, by writers. AWP hires a staff of screeners who are writers themselves; the screeners review manuscripts for the judges. Typically, the screeners will select ten manuscripts in each genre for the judges’ final evaluations.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Only book-length manuscripts are eligible. The AWP Award Series deﬁnes “book-length” as:

Poetry: 48 pages minimum text;
Short story collection or creative nonfiction: 150–300 manuscript pages; and
Novel: at least 60,000 and no more than 110,000 words.

Poems, stories, and essays previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion in submissions, but manuscripts previously published in their entirety, including self-published manuscripts, are not eligible. As the series is judged anonymously, no list of acknowledgments should accompany your manuscript.

The AWP Award Series is open to all authors writing original works primarily in English for adult readers. Mixed-genre manuscripts cannot be accepted. Criticism and scholarly monographs are not acceptable for creative nonfiction, which the AWP Award Series deﬁnes as factual and literary writing that has the narrative, dramatic, meditative, and lyrical elements of novels, plays, poetry, and memoir.

To avoid conflict of interest and to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, friends and former students of a judge (former students who studied with a judge in an academic degree-conferring program or its equivalent) are ineligible to enter the competition in the genre for which their former teacher is serving as judge.

Current staff of AWP and members of AWP’s board of directors may not enter the AWP Award Series, and previous staff and board members may not enter for a minimum of three years after leaving AWP or rotating off the board, respectively.

AWP makes every effort to vary the judges by region, aesthetic, and institution so that writers, if ineligible one year, will certainly be eligible other years. If contestants win in any genre, they may not enter the competition again in the same genre for the next five consecutive years.

You may submit your manuscript to other publishers while it is under consideration by the Award Series, but you must withdraw your manuscript via Submittable if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

AWP cannot consider manuscript revisions during the course of the contest, but the winning authors will have an opportunity to revise their works before publication. Please read the entry requirements and guidelines carefully before submitting your work.

Winners will be announced on our website and via email in summer 2024.

Terms & Conditions

Your submitted manuscript must be an original work of which you are the sole author.
The decision of the judge is final. The judge may choose no winner if he or she finds no manuscript that, in their estimation, merits publication and the award.
Your manuscript must be submitted in accordance with the eligibility requirements, format guidelines, and entry requirements, or it will be disqualified.
No entry fees will be returned.
This competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Manuscript Format Guidelines

Manuscripts must be typed and double-spaced. Poetry manuscripts may be single-spaced. Each manuscript must include a title page with the manuscript title only. If the author’s name appears anywhere on the manuscript, the submission will be disqualified. Do not add a page with acknowledgment of previous publications or a biographical note. Please upload your manuscript to our submission system as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.

Entry Requirements

Please upload your manuscript to our submission system as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
You will be required to remit an entry fee—$30 for nonmembers and $20 for AWP members—at the time of submission. All entry fees are nonrefundable. Students and faculty who have been registered by their program directors as members of AWP are eligible for the member fee. (Please note that if you are not an AWP member and submit to the member category, your submission will be disqualified).
You may enter in more than one genre, and you may also enter multiple manuscripts in one genre, provided that each manuscript is uploaded separately as an individual entry.

The award for the prizes consists of the following:

Prize money; and
Publishing contract with the participating press.

Award winners will be invited to the annual AWP Conference & Bookfair for a celebration and reading.

The award, and its corresponding prize money, is contingent on the author signing an agreed-upon contract with the participating press.

Questions? Email chronicle@awpwriter.org.

awp.submittable.com/submit

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The 2024 James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel

AWP

DEADLINE: February 28, 2024

ENTRY FEES:

$20 (Member)
30 (Nonmember)

PRIZE: $5,500 and publication by the University of Nebraska Press

JUDGE: Jason Mott

MANUSCRIPT LENGTH: 60,000–110,000 words

Your name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript, otherwise it will be disqualified.

Acknowledgements should not appear anywhere on the manuscript, otherwise it will be disqualified.

The cover letter field can contain this information, or anything else you choose.

Please also include a brief (roughly one hundred words) synopsis in the designated field, as this will help our screeners more easily categorize and review the submissions they read.

About the AWP Award Series

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Only book-length manuscripts are eligible. The AWP Award Series deﬁnes “book-length” as:

Poetry: 48 pages minimum text;
Short story collection or creative nonfiction: 150–300 manuscript pages; and
Novel: at least 60,000 and no more than 110,000 words.

You may submit your manuscript to other publishers while it is under consideration by the Award Series, but you must withdraw your manuscript via Submittable if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Winners will be announced on our website and via email in summer 2024.

Terms & Conditions

Your submitted manuscript must be an original work of which you are the sole author.
The decision of the judge is final. The judge may choose no winner if he or she finds no manuscript that, in their estimation, merits publication and the award.
Your manuscript must be submitted in accordance with the eligibility requirements, format guidelines, and entry requirements, or it will be disqualified.
No entry fees will be returned.
This competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Manuscript Format Guidelines

Entry Requirements

Please upload your manuscript to our submission system as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
You will be required to remit an entry fee—$30 for nonmembers and $20 for AWP members—at the time of submission. All entry fees are nonrefundable. Students and faculty who have been registered by their program directors as members of AWP are eligible for the member fee. (Please note that if you are not an AWP member and submit to the member category, your submission will be disqualified).
You may enter in more than one genre, and you may also enter multiple manuscripts in one genre, provided that each manuscript is uploaded separately as an individual entry.

The award for the prizes consists of the following:

Prize money; and
Publishing contract with the participating press.

Award winners will be invited to the annual AWP Conference & Bookfair for a celebration and reading.

The award, and its corresponding prize money, is contingent on the author signing an agreed-upon contract with the participating press.

Questions? Email chronicle@awpwriter.org.

awp.submittable.com/submit

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The 2024 Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction

AWP

DEADLINE: February 28, 2024

ENTRY FEES:

$20 (Member)
30 (Nonmember)

PRIZE $5,500 and publication by Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press

JUDGE: Deesha Philyaw

MANUSCRIPT LENGTH: 150–300 pages

Your name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript, otherwise it will be disqualified.

Acknowledgements should not appear anywhere on the manuscript, otherwise it will be disqualified.

The cover letter field can contain this information, or anything else you choose.

Please also include a brief (roughly one hundred words) synopsis in the designated field, as this will help our screeners more easily categorize and review the submissions they read.

About the AWP Award Series

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Only book-length manuscripts are eligible. The AWP Award Series deﬁnes “book-length” as:

Poetry: 48 pages minimum text;
Short story collection or creative nonfiction: 150–300 manuscript pages; and
Novel: at least 60,000 and no more than 110,000 words.

You may submit your manuscript to other publishers while it is under consideration by the Award Series, but you must withdraw your manuscript via Submittable if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Winners will be announced on our website and via email in summer 2024.

Terms & Conditions

Your submitted manuscript must be an original work of which you are the sole author.
The decision of the judge is final. The judge may choose no winner if he or she finds no manuscript that, in their estimation, merits publication and the award.
Your manuscript must be submitted in accordance with the eligibility requirements, format guidelines, and entry requirements, or it will be disqualified.
No entry fees will be returned.
This competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Manuscript Format Guidelines

Entry Requirements

Please upload your manuscript to our submission system as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
You will be required to remit an entry fee—$30 for nonmembers and $20 for AWP members—at the time of submission. All entry fees are nonrefundable. Students and faculty who have been registered by their program directors as members of AWP are eligible for the member fee. (Please note that if you are not an AWP member and submit to the member category, your submission will be disqualified).
You may enter in more than one genre, and you may also enter multiple manuscripts in one genre, provided that each manuscript is uploaded separately as an individual entry.

The award for the prizes consists of the following:

Prize money; and
Publishing contract with the participating press.

Award winners will be invited to the annual AWP Conference & Bookfair for a celebration and reading.

The award, and its corresponding prize money, is contingent on the author signing an agreed-upon contract with the participating press.

Questions? Email chronicle@awpwriter.org.

awp.submittable.com/submit

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Autumn house Fiction Prize

Autumn House Press

DEADLINE: February 29, 2024

READING FEE: $35

INFO: For the 2024 contest, the Autumn House staff as well as select outsider readers serve as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Kristen Arnett. The winner receives publication of their full-length manuscript and $2,500.

We will announce the finalists and the winner of the contest by June 1, 2024.

GUIDELINES:

The winner will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
All finalists will be considered for publication
Fiction submissions should be approximately 150-300 double-spaced pages (37,500- 75,000 words)
The reading fee is $35 (We will waive the submission fee for those undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Before you reach out to request a waived fee, please read our full statement and instructions here. If the guidelines are not followed, we will not be able to offer a waived fee.)
All fiction sub-genres (short stories, short-shorts, novellas, or novels) or any combination of sub-genres are eligible
The book should be previously unpublished
We only accept original manuscripts; AI-generated or AI-supported works are not accepted.
Do not include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript
You may include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable
Do not include a bio or an acknowledgments page in the manuscript
Feel free to include a table of contents (This does not count as part of your final page count)
Simultaneous submissions permitted
Friends, family members, and former students of judges or Autumn House editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.
Former employees of Autumn House, including interns, may not submit to the contest.

FINAL JUDGE BIO: Kristen Arnett is the queer author of With Teeth: A Novel (Riverhead Books, 2021) which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction, and the New York Times bestselling debut novel Mostly Dead Things (Tin House, 2019) which was also a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction and was shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. She was awarded a Shearing Fellowship at Black Mountain Institute, has held residencies at Ragdale Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, the Millay Colony, and the Key West Literary Seminar (upcoming 2024), and was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize recognizing mid-career writers of fiction. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, The Cut, Oprah Magazine, Guernica, Buzzfeed, McSweeneys, PBS Newshour, The Guardian, Salon, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Her next novel, CLOWN, will be published by Riverhead Books (Penguin Random House).

autumnhouse.org/submissions/fiction/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ‘ELEVATE’ Issue

Yellow Arrow Journal

DEADLINE: February 29, 2024

INFO: Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to announce that submissions for our next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. IX, No. 1 (spring 2024) is open, providing a platform for authors to embrace and amplify their own voice. Guest editor, Jennifer N. Shannon, contemplates about her voice by reflecting on The Color Purple:

“I am proud of my becoming, as a mother and writer and friend and daughter and partner. I am also excited about the honesty I am searching for even when it’s scary. The Color Purple did that. The latest version of this masterpiece still does that for me. It makes me want to be brave, live in my truth, evolve into who I will become, and share my voice as loudly as I can. It makes me want to help other women do the same, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do just that, with my curatorial work and with Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. IX, No. 1.”

This issue’s theme is ELEVATE

: to improve morally, intellectually, or culturally

: to lift up or make higher

: to raise the spirits of

1. What story do you want to tell but haven’t found the words for? How will the story affect those who read or hear your truth? What will it do for you to share this story with the world?

2. What has guided you along your journey? What actions have elevated you? Are there any themes that show themselves to you repeatedly and if so what do you think they mean?

3. How are you moving forward in your writing, in your life, in your job, in your relationships, within your passion(s)? What is expanding and evolving you? Is your mindset growing? What scares you about your progression? What brings you joy? What’s stopping you?

Yellow Arrow Journal is looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art submissions by writers/artists who identify as women, on the theme of ELEVATE. Submissions can be in any language as long as an English translation accompanies it. For more information regarding journal submission guidelines, please visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions. Please read our guidelines carefully before submitting. To learn more about our editorial views and how important your voice is in your story, read about the journal. This issue will be released in May 2024.

yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/yaj-ix-01-submissions-open-elevate

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Tiny Spoon Residency + WORKSHOPS

Tiny Spoon

DEADLINE: February 29, 2024

INFO: As writers and educators ourselves, at Tiny Spoon we understand the importance of having opportunities to practice and expand your professional experience. That is why starting in 2022, we founded our Tiny Residency, a remote opportunity to fine tune your writing workshop leadership skills and be featured by Tiny Spoon so your work can reach a wider audience.

WHAT IS THE RESIDENCY?

We will select three residents per year in the Spring, Fall, and Winter who will each conduct a workshop on a topic of their choice, and will have opportunities for promotion and publishing online. You will also receive payment based on workshop sign-up funds.

WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RESIDENT?

The resident will be in charge of planning the curriculum of a weekend virtual live workshop, either May 25 & 26, September 28 & 29, or February 2025 TBD. Their main focus will be preparing for the workshops through lesson planning, gathering sources, creating writing exercises, promotional materials, etc. Tiny Spoon is here to help with questions and ensuring the workshop runs smoothly, but the overall content and format of the workshop is at the discretion of the resident.

While Tiny Spoon will serve as the platform for the workshop, additional marketing materials will be requested to help promote the workshop and tease its contents. This may include a page on our website to showcase you and your workshop; a brief blog post further teasing the workshop; an artist statement or feature blog post to introduce yourself; and additional videos, quotes, samples of work to be used in promotional content. Specifics of this will be discussed upon acceptance into the residency.

WHAT DOES A WORKSHOP ENTAIL?

Tiny Spoon will handle sign up logistics, but you will be in charge of leading the actual workshop from start to finish. This means it can be anything you imagine! You might think about what writing workshops have inspired you in the past and how you want to balance inspirational content and examples with time for writing and sharing.

Upon acceptance, Tiny Spoon will have a brainstorming talk with you to solidify your ideas for the workshop, but you might consider in advance: What is the central theme of my workshop? What samples of writing, art, or otherwise might I introduce for inspiration? Will I lecture or perform to introduce new ideas? What writing or creative prompts will I provide? How will I pace information with creation time? Will it be centered on writing, or other art or performative media?

If you haven’t attended many workshops or led them yourself, you can still apply to the residency! Reflect upon the above questions, and the editors of Tiny Spoon can help guide you build its weekend curriculum.

WHAT ARE THE PERKS OF BEING A RESIDENT?

The residency is all about you. Within our modest time and date parameters, the workshop can take whatever content and form you desire. We’ll not only promote your workshop, but your work in general. We’ll spotlight you on our social media, website, and blog and connect to any social media and website that gives further information for your work. The residency is all about exposure and experience. Tiny Spoon will do all it can to ensure your name and creative practice is highlighted.

Tiny Spoon will handle the logistics of the workshop, from the sign ups, emails, and Zoom meetings. You will be able to focus on creative content and lesson planning, while we prepare the behind-the-scenes of the event.

You will also receive half of the funds from workshop sign-ups. This will vary on the amount of people who register. As a part of our ethos, we believe in welcoming everyone to writing workshops and encourage sign up with a sliding-scale, donation-based payment.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN CANDIDATES?

For this particular residency, we are looking for burgeoning writers. As many professional opportunities, such as teaching jobs, writing programs, or other residencies, often ask for similar experiences, we want this to be a space where you can experiment, practice, and grow in your early career. We will prioritize those who exemplify our experimental spirit and show potential through their energetic, rising profession. We will not obsess over credentials, but rather, the promise you present where you are in the moment.

WHEN IS THE RESIDENCY?

We will have a Spring and Fall Tiny Resident, with the following workshop dates:

May 25th (Saturday) and 26th (Sunday) for the Spring Resident
September 28th (Saturday) and 29th (Sunday) for the Fall Resident
February 2025 TBD for the Winter Resident

On the application, you will be asked to indicate preference for spring, fall, or both/either. You must be available on the above dates for the respective Spring/Fall/Winter Residency you select; we can be mildly flexible with the workshop time itself. We recommend workshops that are 2-3 hours per day.

THE APPLICATION: To prepare, the application will ask you for information about yourself, your creative practice, and ideas for your workshop. At this time, we do not expect you to provide us with an extensive lesson plan (unless that’s your style), but it should be detailed enough to give us an understanding of your intentions if you are chosen as the resident.

The applications are due by February 29. Those in by early February will receive priority for the Spring Residency position.

So finances are not an obstacle, we do not charge to apply for the residency. That said, a great deal of time and care will go into the selection process, and we want our residents to get all they can out of the program. If you are able to contribute, we recommend adding $5 or $10 into the Tip Jar, but any amount is welcome. All funds will go toward the residency program.

tinyspoon.org/residency/

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call for submissions: mutter magazine

Moss & Milk Press

DEADLINE: February 29, 2024

INFO: Mutter Magazine, a writing magazine on care, mothering, matrescence & mother nature is currently accepting submissions for issue two. The theme is roots: ideas might include roots in the community/communal roots, ancestral roots, interconnectedness, maiden & mother roots (identity/self/growth) & mother nature (tree roots, roots in the wild/our animal roots).

Feel free to explore this however you like.

Email one file, in .doc or .docx format, containing up to five pieces (articles, poetry, prose, etc.) with clear titles, to: mutterbristol@gmail.com.

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

Submissions are open year-round so feel free to submit whenever you like. If we don’t use your work for one issue we will keep it in mind for another, as long as it suits the theme.
The themes for each issue act as a guide.
Copyright remains yours. If you send us something that has been published before please inform us about where and when so that we can take this into consideration.
Your connection to motherhood is personal. This is a gathering of various records and voices of motherhood and mothering; of caring and being cared for; of mourning and loss; of trying to conceive; of infertility; of the mothering of siblings, of parents, of oneself; of foster care or fostering, adoption or surrogacy, abortion or miscarriage; of one’s own mothers or grandmothers; of all those caring, nurturing, and growing life on this earth, alongside mother nature.

CONTENT GUIDELINES:

Our focus is creative writing, but we are open to the possibility of publishing all kinds of writing, including non-fiction/articles, as we acknowledge that your written creative output as a mother or carer may take different and/or experimental forms.

Please keep prose to 1,500 words or under and poetry to around 100 lines (including blank lines between verses). However, work that slightly exceeds these limits will still be considered.

mossandmilk.co.uk/submit/

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Momentum Grant for Early-Career Translators

Words Without Borders

DEADLINE: February 29, 2024

INFO: Words Without Borders announces the second annual Momentum Grant for Early-Career Translators, judged by Sawad Hussain.

Reading work from other places, and from other points of view, is one of the most horizon-expanding and culturally educational experiences available to us, but this experience depends on the financial viability of translation as a profession. Although many countries support translators in various ways, the US lags behind them, and the challenges of entering the profession are exacerbated for translators from backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in the publishing sector. In a market that provides a paucity of governmental and institutional support for translation work, individual grants are especially important. This grant aims to support early-career translators seeking to bring international work into the English-language marketplace.

The grant is intended to facilitate the completion of a substantial sample of a book-length work of prose translation suitable for submission to English-language publishers, and will be awarded to an individual translator who has not yet received a book-length contract for translation work into English. We particularly welcome submissions from translators from historically underrepresented cultures and backgrounds. Submissions will be judged by translator Sawad Hussain and the editors of Words Without Borders. An excerpt of the winning sample translation will be published in Words Without Borders, and the recipient will receive $3,000, funded by the Malecha Family Foundation.

ELIGIBILITY:

Translators who have not published or received a contract for a book-length translation into English are eligible. Submitted projects may be from any original language but must not have already appeared in English translation. Though contemporary English is the target language, the emerging translator need not live in the United States.

APPLICATION MATERIALS:

a 500-word project description
a 2,500-word translation sample and the corresponding section of the original text
author bio
translator bio
a personal statement on the applicant’s trajectory as a translator and professional goals, not to exceed 300 words
copyright information for the original text and confirmation from the copyright holder that English-language rights to the book are available (unless the work is in the public domain)

wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2024-01/words-without-borders-announces-second-annual-momentum-grant-for-early-career-translators/

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Wild Words 2024: ACW Seeks Writing By North Country Teens

Adirondack Center for Writing

DEADLINE: February 29, 2024 by midnight

INFO: Submissions are now open for the 2024 Wild Words Adirondack Teen Writing Anthology, presented by the Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW). This new print publication is a place for teens living in the North Country to publish their creative writing. A public book launch is scheduled for April 27, 2024 at Harrietstown Town Hall in Saranac Lake (39 Main Street). Copies will be available for a small donation.

Teens ages 13-19 living in the North Country of New York State are eligible to submit writing for consideration in the anthology, which will be published in the spring of 2024. Last year’s 2023 anthology featured 70 teen writers from all corners of the Adirondack region, including poetry, short stories, plays, memoirs, personal essays, book excerpts, science fiction, and fantasy writing. Over 300 copies of the 2023 anthology have been distributed to date, and 200 teens, family members, friends, and community supporters attended the 2023 book launch.

ACW has provided an online toolkit for organizations and teachers who are interested in sharing this opportunity with members of their communities, available at adirondackcenterforwriting.org/wildwords. The toolkit provides marketing materials as well as accessible creative writing prompts designed to get teens writing. Submissions are due by midnight on February 29, 2024.

The Wild Words anthology is a collaboration between Visiting Writer Erin Dorney and the Adirondack Center for Writing as part of the Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY) Artist Employment Program. CRNY, a project of the Tides Center, is a three-year, $125 million investment in the financial stability of New York State artists and the organizations that employ them. Dorney will work with ACW through June 2024 on a variety of projects designed to encourage creative writing and readership throughout the Adirondacks.

adirondackcenterforwriting.org/wild-words-2024/

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Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award for native american poets + writers

Poets & Writers

DEADLINE: March 1, 2024 by 11:59pm EST

INFO: Indigenous writers who are enrolled members of a Native American tribe in the contiguous United States or Alaska are invited to apply for the 2024 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award.

One fiction writer and one poet will be selected. Winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to meet with top literary professionals, including editors, agents, publishers, and prominent writers. This year’s judges are Kelli Jo Ford for fiction and Jake Skeets for poetry.

ELIGIBLE WRITERS:

Poets and fiction writers are eligible to apply if they:
Are a U.S. resident and an enrolled member of a Native American tribe in the contiguous United States or Alaska for at least two years prior to the application deadline, which is March 1.
Have never published a book or have published no more than one full-length book in the genre in which they are applying.
Winners and runners-up will be asked to submit verification of residency and tribal enrollment, as well as publication history.
Writers may apply in poetry and/or fiction (only one manuscript per category).
Employees of Poets & Writers, Inc. are not eligible.

AWARDS:

One poet and one fiction writer will be selected as winners. Winners will be announced in summer 2024. Each will receive:
A $500 honorarium;
An all-expenses-paid trip to New York City in fall 2024 to meet with editors, agents, publishers, and other writers, and to give a public reading, hosted by Poets & Writers;
A one-month residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Poetry manuscripts should not exceed ten pages, single or double-spaced (minimum of 7 pages).
Fiction manuscripts should not exceed 25 pages and must be double-spaced. Fiction manuscripts may include stories and/or excerpts from novels.
Published work may be included; however, photocopies of previously published work from a book or a magazine will not be accepted. Published work submitted for this award must conform to the above manuscript requirements and should not be identified as published work.
All work must be the applicant’s original work and written in English; translations are not eligible. There are no restrictions on style or subject matter.

2024 JUDGES:

Kelli Jo Ford is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Her novel-in-stories debut, Crooked Hallelujah, was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the Story Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Dublin Literary Award, and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. She is the recipient of honors and awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, the Paris Review’s Plimpton Prize, a Creative Capital Award, and a Native Arts & Cultures Foundation Artist Fellowship. She teaches writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Jake Skeets is the author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, winner of the National Poetry Series, American Book Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and Whiting Award. His poetry and prose have appeared widely in journals and magazines including Poetry, the New York Times Magazine, and the Paris Review. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. His honors include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Arts Projects, a Mellon Projecting All Voices Fellowship, and the 2023-2024 Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. He is from the Navajo Nation and teaches at the University of Oklahoma.

pw.org/about-us/maureen_egen_writers_exchange_award

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call for submissions: Flash Friday

Raising Mothers

DEADLINE: March 1, 2024

INFO: Raising Mothers’ column, Flash Friday, has its first call and we want to read your words!

THEME:

Send in your micro and flash submissions in fiction or nonfiction on the theme: HIBERNATE/EMERGE.

How does it feel when transitioning from winter to spring?
How would it be to awaken when you still want to sleep?
What does your family do with a bright winter’s day or a warm and rainy morning?
What secrets do you hear, and what joys are left behind or rediscovered?

GUIDELINES:

Send us your micro (100 words max) and flash (1000 words max) exploring the space between seasons.

All writing should have a strong narrative arc and distinctive voice
Raising Mothers only publishes work from members of the global majority

raisingmothers.com/submissions/

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Apogee Journal Reading Periods

Apogee

DEADLINE: March 1, 2024

INFO: We’ll be reading for nonfiction, fiction, and poetry during the month of February 2024 (February 1 – March 1). To share flash, interviews, and reviews with Perigee, please see this page.

The word “apogee” denotes the point in an object’s orbit farthest from a center. In turn, we value artistic expression far from the political center, created by artists and writers of oppressed identities who interrogate aesthetic and political status quos through their work. As we do so, we pay tribute to the Black feminist Combahee River Collective in recognition that “the major systems of oppression are interlocking.” To that end, we combat the domination of white, cis-heteronormative, patriarchal, settler-colonial voices that pervade our literary landscape in our celebration of linguistic diversity and our commitment to our community of readers and contributors. We recognize that centrist literary and artistic spheres contribute to genocide and other forms of violence via censorship and political suppression. We aim to uplift the work of those writing against genocide and would like to extend an invitation to Palestinian, Lebanese, Congolese, and Sudanese writers in particular to share their work during this reading period.

To submit to Fiction please click here before submitting your work at the Apogee Journal Submission Manager. You must complete the Submitter Form and submit your story for us to consider your fiction. Please note, these steps apply only for fiction submissions.

We look for work that centers the experience of marginalized perspectives. We want to foster work that addresses the politics of identity, such as migration, diaspora, multiculturalism, privilege, hierarchy, oppression, though these themes are not a requirement for publication. We believe the exploration of perspectives and voices that are mostly unheard and ignored is a political act itself. To read our mission statement, please visit this page.

All work must be previously unpublished.

Cover letters are optional.
Please include a current bio.
We accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us if your work has been accepted elsewhere.
For prose submissions, please send a maximum of 5,000 words, in either .doc or .docx format. Please send only one piece per reading period.
Please send a maximum of five poems in the same document, either .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.

apogeejournal.org/share-apogee/

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2024 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize

Gotham Writers

DEADLINE: March 1, 2024 by 11:59pm EST

ENTRY FEE: $25

INFO: The Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize is a writing competition sponsored by the stage and radio series Selected Shorts. This long-running series at Symphony Space in New York City celebrates the art of the short story by having stars of stage and screen read aloud the works of established and emerging writers. Selected Shorts is recorded for Public Radio and heard nationally on both the radio and its weekly podcast.

The 2024 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize will be judged by Carmen Maria Machado (In the Dream House, Her Body and Other Parties). The winning work will be performed by an actor in spring 2024, and published on Electric Literature. The winning writer will receive $1000 and a free 10-week course with Gotham Writers.

GUIDELINES:

Entries should be 750 words or less.
Stories can be on any theme.
Writers of all ages and nationalities are eligible.
The story must have a title.
We do not accept work that has been previously published in print, online, or any other medium.
We do not accept works in translation.
Once entered, we do not accept revisions for any stories. Your $25 is nonrefundable.
You may enter as many stories as you like, but a $25 fee is required for each story.
We no longer accept mailed, paper submissions. Stories received in the mail will be returned unread with your uncashed check. If you have problems with the online form or are unable to submit online for some extenuating circumstance, please contact Selected Shorts directly at shorts@symphonyspace.org and we will make sure your work reaches us.
The winner will be announced in spring 2024.

v2.writingclasses.com/contests/stella-kupferberg-memorial-short-story-prize-2024

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ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program

ProPublica

DEADLINE: March 11, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET

INFO: For the second year, ProPublica will invite up to 10 news editors from media companies across the country to participate in a yearlong investigative editing training program, led by the newsroom’s award-winning staff.

Applications are now open for the ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program. Submissions are due Monday, March 11.

As the nation’s premier nonprofit investigative newsroom, ProPublica is dedicated to journalism that changes laws and lives and to advancing the careers of the people who produce it. The goal of this program is to address our industry’s critical need to diversify the ranks of investigative editors. Building a pipeline of talent is a priority that serves us and our industry.

“ProPublica has made real strides since it was established 15 years ago in building an investigative newsroom, but it has struggled, like our competitors across the country, when it comes to finding journalists with the investigative chops to become editors,” said Ginger Thompson, chief of correspondents and an architect of the editor training program. “Rather than sitting around lamenting the problem, we decided to try to do something to fix it.”

When we announced this program last year, we were overwhelmed by the interest. We chose our inaugural cohort from a stacked field of 159 applicants who were eager to develop their skills as investigative editors.

Then we brought them to New York for an intensive weeklong boot camp featuring a curriculum developed by Thompson and Deputy Managing Editor Alexandra Zayas that breaks down how ProPublica crafts its investigations for maximum impact.

“When reading ProPublica stories, I often wondered how the reporter and editor even thought to do them,” said Brendan Klinkenberg, a member of the inaugural cohort and, now, senior editor at The New York Times. “And in our first course, I started to see in really clear terms how ProPublica thinks about investigations. It was a real curtain-peeled-back moment.”

In addition to the sessions, which focus on every aspect of editing from story selection and memos to managing the reporting and digging into the first draft, participants also get to learn from one another.

“Everyone was more open than I expected them to be,” said Lillian M. Ortiz, a member of the inaugural cohort and managing editor at Shelterforce. “I took a lot away from the training session that I’ve brought back to my newsroom. It was also eye-opening to hear about the similar challenges other editors are facing or have faced — especially in newsrooms that are much larger than mine.”

Tracy Jan, deputy health and science health editor at The Washington Post, said, “I left with not only inspiration but also concrete, practical steps I can take as an editor to help our team achieve ambitious, rewarding work.”

This year’s program will begin in June 2024 with a weeklong boot camp in New York that will include courses and panel discussions on how to conceive of and produce investigative projects that expose harm and have impact. The editors will also get training in how to manage reporters who are working with data, documents and sensitive sources, including whistleblowers, agency insiders and people who have suffered trauma. The program continues with a yearlong mentorship pairing and virtual continuing education sessions.

This program is funded through the generous support of the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, which supports organizations in journalism, film and the arts whose work is dedicated to social justice and strengthening democracy.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

What is this?

The ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program is designed to help expand the ranks of editors with investigative experience in more newsrooms across the country, with a focus on people from underrepresented backgrounds.

What kind of experience can you expect?

The program kicks off with a five-day intensive editing boot camp in New York, with courses and panel discussions led by ProPublica’s senior editors, veteran reporters and other newsroom leaders. The boot camp will include hands-on editing exercises and opportunities for participants to workshop projects underway in their own newsrooms.

Afterward, participants will gather virtually every two months for seminars and career development discussions with their cohort and ProPublica journalists. Each of the participants will also be assigned a ProPublica senior editor as a mentor for advice on story and management challenges or on how to most effectively pursue their own professional aspirations.

What skills should I expect to learn?

How to evaluate story ideas and determine the right scope, length and time for getting the work done.
How to manage a reporter through a complicated accountability story and communicate feedback in ways that build trust and confidence.
How to edit investigative drafts, spot holes in reporting logic, organize a narrative and guide the reporter through the fact-checking process.
How to work collaboratively with research, data and multimedia teams to elevate an investigative project.

When is the boot camp?

The five-day, all-expenses-paid boot camp will be held June 2-6, 2024, in New York, with remote sessions via Zoom throughout the year.

Is there a virtual option for the boot camp?

We are planning for the 2024 boot camp to be held in person and will not have a virtual option.

Will I be responsible for my expenses in New York?

ProPublica will cover participants’ expenses for meals, travel and lodging during the boot camp.

How many participants will be selected each year?

Up to 10 journalists.

What if I can’t make it this year?

ProPublica plans to offer this training in 2025 as well.

Who is eligible?

The program is open to all, but we especially encourage people from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. As part of the application, participants will be asked how their inclusion in the program will help to diversify the editing ranks of investigative journalism.

The ideal participants will have:

A minimum of five years of journalism experience, either as an editor or as a reporter primarily doing work with an investigative or accountability focus.
A strong grasp of the basics of editing, storytelling, structure and framing.
Experience managing a team of journalists or a complicated multipronged reporting project.
An accountability mindset: You don’t have to have been on the investigative team, but we are looking for people with an eye for watchdog reporting and editing.

Am I eligible if I live outside of the United States?

Our program is open to all, but our goal is to improve the diversity of investigative editors in the United States and we’ll focus participation accordingly.

How can I learn more about the program?

We’ll be hosting an informational webinar on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. You can register and submit questions in advance here.

What if I have other questions?

Send an email to Assistant Managing Editor Talia Buford at talent@propublica.org.

boards.greenhouse.io/propublica02/jobs/4325953006