Black women writers of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry are invited to apply for the “Miss Sarah” Fellowship for Black Women Writers, which offers valuable retreat time for reflection and writing. The selected writer will earn a weeklong residency in July 2021 and can choose between Trillium Arts’s rural “Firefly Creek” retreat in Mars Hill, NC, or at “Montford Manor” near downtown Asheville. She will also receive a $700 stipend and transportation to and from the retreat. Deadline Dec. 15. https://www.trilliumartsnc.org/writing-fellowships-guidelines
Each year, the Kentucky Foundation for Women awards $200,000 to feminist artists through their Artist Enrichment and Art Meets Activism programs. Retreats and residencies at Hopscotch House, near Louisville, provide time and space for artists, activists, and allies. Rolling deadline. http://www.kfw.org/about/
South Arts’s new Express Grant program serves artists in rural Southern communities (populations 50,000 and below). Both performing and literary artists may apply but must be willing to present their work in public performances or readings. The maximum requests is 50% of the artist fee, up to $2,000. Rolling deadline. https://www.southarts.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/express-grants/
PlySpace is an immersive artist-in-residence program based in Muncie, Indiana. Residents are provided with living and work spaces and receive a $500 stipend toward travel. They may stay between four and twelve weeks. Applicants should not be enrolled in a degree-granting program and must be over twenty-one. Rolling deadline. https://www.plyspace.org/
Boulevard Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers: Those who have not yet published a book of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction with a nationally distributed press are invited to enter. Selected authors will receive $1,500 and publication in Boulevard magazine. Works up to 8,000 words will be considered. All entries will be considered for publication by Boulevard, at their regular rates. Deadline Dec. 31; $16 entry fee. https://boulevardmagazine.org/short-fiction-contest
Want a grant of your own? Compete for LitMag’s Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction. First prize is $2,500, publication in LitMag, and reviews by noted agents. Three finalists will receive $100 each. Deadline Dec. 31; $20 entry fee. https://litmag.submittable.com/submit
The DISQUIET Prize is awarded to writers in three categories: fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The winner of each category will be published: fiction in Granta, poetry in The Common, and nonfiction in Ninth Letter. If circumstances permit, one grand prize winner will receive a full fellowship to the 2021 DISQUIET program in Lisbon, Portugal. If the event is canceled due to COVID restrictions, winners can choose to delay until 2022 or can accept a substitute cash prize. Deadline Jan. 15, 2021; $15 entry fee.
http://disquietinternational.org/the-program/contests-scholarships/the-disquiet-prize/
December is for snow, and there’s no better time to be inspired by Ezra Jack Keats’s classic “The Snowy Day” and to enter the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation’s New Writer Children’s Book Awards competition. It’s given to a new writer for a picture book written in the Keats tradition, including the themes of childhood, family, and multiculturalism. The Award is given for writing, not for illustration, and it’s intended to identify emerging talent. The winning author and illustrator will each receive $3,000 and the Keats Medallion. Deadline Dec. 31; no entry fee. https://www.degrummond.org/ezra-jack-keats-book-award-guidelin
Submit unpublished creative nonfiction to be considered for the Jeff Marks Memorial Craft Creative Nonfiction Award. Three pieces will be selected and each author awarded $1,000 and a complete set of Graywolf Press’s “The Art of” series. Deadline Dec. 31; $20 entry fee. https://www.craftliterary.com/craft-cnf-award/
Information about contests, markets, and grants is provided as a service to writers, and is not an endorsement of any particular contest or sponsoring organization. Always check contest websites for complete rules.