writermag.com • The Writer | 43Deadline: Dec. 30. Prizes: $5,000 and
travel to Virginia Commonwealth Uni-
versity for a reading and reception.
Contact: VCU Cabell First Novelist
Award, 901 Park Ave. Box 842033,
Richmond, VA 23284. 804-828-0593.
[email protected]
firstnovelist.vcu.edu
F CATHERINE DOCTOROW
INNOVATIVE FICTION PRIZE
Open to any U.S. writer in English with
at least three books of fiction published.
Seeks “fiction considered by America’s
largest publishers too challenging, inno-
vative or heterodox for the commercial
milieu.” Submissions may include a col-
lection of short stories, one or more
novellas, or a novel of any length.
Works that have previously appeared in
magazines or in anthologies may be
included. Translations and previously
published or self-published novels and
collections are not eligible. Electronic
submissions only. Deadline: See web-
site. Entry fee: $25. Prizes: $15,000 and
publication by FC2. Contact: University
of Alabama Press. Email through web-
site. fc2.org
F CROOK’S CORNER BOOK PRIZE
Open to authors whose first novel was
published between Jan. 1, 2018, and
May 15, 2020. Book must be set pre-
dominantly in the American South.
Self-published books accepted if they
have an ISBN number. Books available
only as eBooks are not eligible. Dead-
line: May 15. Entry fee: $35. Prizes:
$5,000 and a free glass of wine every
day from Crook’s Corner bar. Contact:
Crook’s Corner Book Prize, 313 Coun-
try Club Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
[email protected]
crookscornerbookprize.com
P DARTMOUTH POET-IN-RESI-
DENCE AWARD
Open to poets who have published at
least one full-length collection of
poetry. Seeks poets who are at an artis-
tic and personal crossroads. Deadline:
Jan. 5. Entry fee: $28. Prizes: $2,000
and a July 1 to Aug. 15 residency at The
Frost Place in Franconia, New Hamp-
shire. Contact: The Frost Place, P.O.
Box 74, Franconia, NH, 03580. 603-
823-5510. [email protected]
frostplace.orgF DRUE HEINZ LITERATURE
PRIZE
Open to writers who have published a
novel, a book-length collection of fic-
tion, or a minimum of three short sto-
ries or novellas in commercial
magazines or literary journals with
national distribution. Self-published
and digital-only publications not con-
sidered. Submit unpublished manu-
script of short stories or novellas.
Deadline: June 30. Entry fee: None.
Prizes: $15,000 and publication by the
University of Pittsburgh Press. Contact:
Drue Heinz Literature Prize, University
of Pittsburgh Press, 7500 Thomas Blvd.,
4 th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
[email protected]
upress.pitt.eduN ELLEN MELOY FUND FOR
DESERT WRITERS
Provides funding for a writing project
that “combines an engaging individual
voice, literary sensibility, imagination,
and intellectual rigor to bring new per-
spectives and deeper meaning to the
body of desert literature.” Encourages
emerging, mid-career, and established
literary nonfiction writers to apply.
Deadline: Jan. 15. Entry fee: None.
Prizes: $5,000. Contact: Ellen Meloy
Fund. Email from website.
ellenmeloy.comF N P EMERGING VOICES
FELLOWSHIP
Provides new writers with tools to
launch professional writing career.
Deadline: Aug. 1. Entry fee: None.
Prizes: Seven-month fellowship, a
series of master classes, public readings,
and a $1,000 stipend. Contact: PEN
Center USA, 8444 Wilshire Blvd., 4thFloor, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. 323-
424-4939. [email protected]
pen.org/emerging-voices-fellowshipF THE ERNEST J. GAINES AWARD
FOR LITERARY EXCELLENCE
Annually awarded to an emerging Afri-
can-American author for a book of fic-
tion published during the previous year.
Deadline: See website. Entry fee: None.
Prizes: $15,000 cash. Contact: Ernest J.
Gaines Award, c/o Baton Rouge Area
Foundation, 100 North St., Suite 900,
Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Email from
website. ernestjgainesaward.orgF N P O HODDER FELLOWSHIP
Seeks writers who demonstrate “much
more than ordinary intellectual and lit-
erary gifts.” Fellows are selected more
“for promise than for performance.”
Deadline: See website. Entry fee: None.
Prizes: Recipients receive $83,000 sti-
pend each and a yearlong residency at
Princeton to pursue an independent
project. Contact: Lewis Center for the
Arts, Princeton University, 185 Nassau
St., Princeton, NJ 08544.
[email protected]
arts.princeton.edu/fellowshipsF JAMES JONES FIRST NOVEL
FELLOWSHIP
Awarded annually to an American
author of a first-novel-in-progress.
Submit via regular mail or online sub-
mission form. Submit a two-page
(maximum) outline of the entire novel
and the first 50 pages. Deadline:
March 15. Entry fee: $30. Add $3 for
online submissions. Prizes: $10,000
first place, $1,000 for runner up. Con-
tact: James Jones First Novel Fellow-
ship, c/o MA/MFA in Creative Writing,
Wilkes University, 84 W. South St.,
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766.
[email protected]
jamesjonesliterarysociety.orgP JAMES LAUGHLIN AWARD
Offered to poets in support of a second
book of poetry. Only manuscripts