Writers and Editors - Awards, grants, fellowships, and competitions

"The essence of a writer’s biography is in the list of books he has read." ~ Valery Larbaud

Audubon Photography Awards Stunning photos of birds from the winners and runners-up from the Audubon's 2021 photo contest. See also winners from 2020 (and so on with previous awards).

BookAwardz (an app that puts lists of award-winning books at your fingertips.

Edwidge Danticat wins PEN/Malamud prize for lifetime achievement in short story writing Danticat, a Haitian-American author who writes often about memory and identity, is known for her novel-in-stories “The Dew Breaker” and for such collections as “Krik? Krak!” and “Everything Inside,” which in 2020 won the Story Prize for outstanding short fiction. An earlier book was Brother, I'm Dying

Building Ten at Fifty: 50 Years of Clinical Research at the NIH Clinical Center (PDF, National Institutes of Health) by Pat McNees. Read free online. For writing this book, Pat received several awards, including the NIH Plain Language Award, the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil Award (first place, softcover books) and as part of first place for Writer's Portfolio (2003, which included New Formulas for America's Workforce: Girls in Science and Engingeering (National Science Foundation), Buiilding Ten at Fifty (NIH) and several articles written for the Clinical Center website, and Bench to Bedside and Back, a video history of the NIH Clinical Center created and directed by Michael Dolan, based on Pat's first rough draft of a script.

Poet Mark Doty (on receiving the $50,000 Whiting Award) speaks movingly about why writers write--what writers want out of writing--and about how insecure they generally feel about their writing. (NBCC blog, Critical Mass)

Yale Announcing $150,000 Literary Prizes (Charles McGrath, NY Times 6-17-11). The Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes "will be given annually starting in late 2012 or early 2013, with seven to nine grants of $150,000 each awarded to playwrights and writers of fiction and nonfiction. Awards for poetry may be added later at the discretion of the awards committee."

American Academy of Arts and Letters awards

These include Arts and Letters Awards in Literature, conveying both $7500 and honor to five artists, eight writers, four composers, and three architects (with composers receiving an additional $7500 toward the recording of a work). See long list of additional prestigious awards, often accompanied by a generous cash prize.
• Eight Arts and Letters Awards in Literature (formerly Academy Awards) of $10,000 each are given annually to fiction and nonfiction writers, poets, dramatists, and translators.
• Michael Braude Award, a $5000 triennial award for light verse written in English regardless of the writer's country of origin.
• Benjamin H. Danks Award, to encourage young talent, an annual prize of $20,000 in rotation to a composer of ensemble works, a playwright, and a writer
• Blake Dodd Prize, a triennial award of $25,000 for a nonfiction writer
• E. M. Forster Award, an award of $20,000 to be given to a young English writer toward a stay in the United States
• Gold Medals for distinguished achievement in several different categories of the arts, including Belles Lettres and Criticism, Biography, Fiction, History, Poetry, and Drama.
• The William Dean Howells Medal, given once every five years in recognition of the most distinguished American novel published during that period
• Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction, $5000 is given for the best published first novel or collection of short stories of the preceding year
• Award of Merit, a medal accompanied by $25,000 that is given each year, in rotation, to an outstanding person in America representing one of the following arts: Painting, the Short Story, Sculpture, the Novel, Poetry, and Drama.
• Metcalf Award in Literature, a biennial award of $10,000 to honor young writers of great promise.
• Katherine Anne Porter Award, biennial award of $20,000 to honor a prose writer who has demonstrated achievements and dedication to the literary profession
• Arthur Rense Prize, an award of $20,000 given triennially to an exceptional poet.
• Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Fiction, $10,000 awarded annually to a young novelist for a book published during the previous year that is a considerable literary achievement.
• The Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings funds, provide two writers of English prose literature an annual stipend of $100,000 for a period of two years to enable them to devote their time exclusively to writing
• John Updike Award, $20,000 awarded biennially to a writer in mid-career who has demonstrated consistent excellence.
• Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award, $20,000 given annually to single out recent prose that merits recognition for the quality of its style
• E.B. White Award, $10,000 given to a writer for achievement in children's literature.
• Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation, $20,000 to recognize a practitioner, scholar, or patron who has made a significant contribution to the art of literary translation
• Morton Dauwen Zabel Award, $10,000 biennially awarded in rotation to a poet, writer of fiction, or critic, of progressive, original, and experimental tendencies.

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Nominate a document that sucks for the WonderMark Award, given for the least usable documents, the sort that make us shake our heads and say: “What were they thinking?" The winner for 2010: the I-94 Form, the document visitors from other countries must fill out when they come to the U.S.

Awards submission calendar (Poets&Writers guide for writing contests, grants, & literary awards)

G&A: The Contest Blog (Prize Reporter, Grants & Awards, Poets&Writers)

For a change of pace (and activity)
Field of dreams: heartbreak and heroics at the World Ploughing Championships (Sophie Elmhirst, The Long Read archive, The Guardian, 11-23-18) Some compare it to snooker, others to figure skating. But for those who have given their lives to competitive ploughing, it’s more than a sport, it’s a way of life.

(Un)bound, an Altered Books Competition

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Fame is a bee
It has a song——
It has a sting——
Ah, too, it has a wing.
~ Emily Dickinson

My writing is a combination of three elements. The first is travel, travel as exploration, as concentration, as a purpose. The second is reading literature on the subject. The third is reflection, which comes from travel and reading."
~Ryszard Kapuscinski (ceremonial speaker, Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage, 2003)

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."
~ Napoleon Bonaparte

Quick Links

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(pat at patmcnees dot com)

About Pat (site host)

Pat McNees website

Dying: A Book of Comfort

This site built to support the book expanded into Illness and Recovery

Writers on Writing

(complete archive of the NY Times series, writers exploring literary themes. Requires free membership.)

Letters of Note

(fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos--that you were never expected to see)

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Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

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Contemporary Latin American Short Stories

Awards, grants, fellowships, and competitions

Plus writers colonies, writing contests, prizes, fundraising, grant proposal writing, contest scams

• Awards and prizes (in alphabetical order)
• Awards, competitions, and prizes (general information and articles)
• American Library Association awards
• Awards for biography and biographers
• Awards for books for children and YA
• Awards for historical fiction
• Awards for indie authors and self-published books
• Awards for mysteries, thrillers, suspense novels, and crime fiction
• Calls for submissions
• Contest and award scams and competitions to be wary about
• Emergency grants and funds (Covid-19-related)
• Fellowships and grants
• General articles about writing awards and competitions
• Grants and awards for translation
• Grants, scholarships and awards for LatinX authors
• Getting funded, generally
• Getting funded: grant proposals (writing and editing, tips, workshops, books about)
• Lists of award competitions and contests
• PEN American literary awards
• Poetry awards, Lists of
• Screenwriting awards
• Short story prizes
• Writers colonies (aka residencies, communities, retreats)
If a link doesn't work, or an important site is not listed, let me know. URLs change so often it's hard to keep up. Meanwhile, just do a search for the terms given here and you're likely to find the site (unless an award, competition, or event is no longer given).

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Calls for Submissions

---Authors Guild (Contests, Grants, and Residencies)
---Authors Publish (subscribe for Themed Calls for Submissions)
---New Pages (Big List of Writing Contests)
---Poets & Writers (Writing Contests, Grants & Awards)
---Writer's Relief calls for submissions
---Artist Communities Alliance (ACA) Only ACA residencies are listed, apparently for the visual arts.

Let me know of others or of changes in link or listings.

See also Managing submissions (Duotrope, Submittable, etc.)

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General articles about writing awards and competitions

• Anatomy of Awards: The Numbers Behind Free Grants & Awards (Special section of Poets & Writers, 4-11-18) "We don’t list every contest; we list every contest that will advance the careers of our readers."
     Since 2015, the number of no-fee contests has hovered between 20 percent and 24 percent of the total number of contests. For instance, last year we listed 137 no-fee contests, or 21 percent of the 651 contests listed in those six issues.
    "Free contests sponsored by nonprofit organizations have accounted for more prize money (51 percent) than contests sponsored by any other type of organization in the past three years. The amount of prize money offered by free contests sponsored by government agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and various state and local arts councils," deserves highlighting.
     While such agencies accounted for only 10 percent of the sponsors, they awarded 26 percent of the prize money. And a significant amount of the typical nonprofit organization’s annual budget comes from: the NEA. "Take away the NEA, as the current administration has recommended, twice, and the numbers behind Grants & Awards—free contests and fee-charging contests alike—would look very different."
• An Award Judge’s Secret Selection Criteria (CASW Showcase) Contest judges for CASW's science writing awards look for novelty, on-the-ground reporting (not second-hand analysis), action in the field, diverse voices, beautiful prose, impact -- "a great character and a story that unfolds with a narrative,” along with clear explanations of the science. Says John Carey, "Almost any kind of story, if it’s really well done, can win.”
• Book Award Pro "First, we custom match your book's ideal awards. Then, we target the one award which is most valuable for your book. Next, we submit your book to its monthly targeted award and keep you updated of any benefits, from start to finish. Every month, we make it easy to use awards buzz and validation to fuel your story marketing and sell more books. We handle the technical details." $49 a month.
• Writing Competitions: Why Enter and How to Win (Dea Parkin, Self-Publishing Advice, ALLi, 1-20-2020)
• How NOT to apply for a writing award (Alla Katsnelson and Amber Dance, CASW Showcase, 1-11-17) Don't follow the rules for submissions and your submissions are likely to get tossed. So read them!
• Pitching the IWMF: Focus on undercovered issues, think big and dare to stretch (Carly Stern, Nieman Storyboard, 10-22-2020) For 30 years, the International Women's Media Fund has helped fund women journalists and ambitious projects around the world. Read this annotation of a successful project pitch to the IWMF The project pitch that won funding from the International Women’s Media Foundation (Stern, 10-23-2020) "Don't start from the grant; start from the story," says reporter Ylenia Gostoli.
• Who Gets to Be a Writer (Claire Grossman, Stephanie Young, & Juliana Spahr, Public Books, 4-15-21) "[A]round the turn of the 21st century, the winners of literary prizes began to be more diverse. This change is heartening. But while more writers of color have been rewarded, this increasingly capacious literary culture is also becoming more exclusionary, more tied to elite educational institutions, and more difficult to enter. These obstacles are most salient for writers who are not white, a troubling contradiction in what otherwise appears to be a moment of watershed inclusion....A Black writer with an elite degree is about 13 percent more likely to win a prize than a Black writer without an elite degree." The elite universities cited: Harvard (in particular), Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, and the University of Iowa.
• How judging the British Book Awards rekindled my passion for reading (Big Issue) When Charlene White was asked to judge the best British nonfiction books of 2023, it made her realise how much she missed reading.
• Who Cares about Literary Prizes? (Alexander Manshel, Laura B. McGrath, & J. D. Porter, Public Books, 9-3-19) "The Booker [Prize] may do much to move copies off of bookshop tables and into carts literal and digital, but amid the sheer volume of 21st-century literature, can it really claim any influence over what we’ll read—or teach, or study—in the years to come?" Interesting data suggest that the critical darlings and reader favorites occupy different neighborhoods, and that each group is distinct from the thick line of best-sellers trawling the bottom, without a single scholarly citation.
• Anatomy of Awards: The Numbers Behind Grants & Awards (Melissa Faliveno and Tara Jayakar, Poets & Writers, 4-19-16) "Of the 358 organizations that sponsored writing contests last year, 121 (nearly 34 percent) were magazines, whereas only 79 (22 percent) were nonprofit organizations. This continues the trend we’ve seen since 2004: a steady increase in the number of magazines running contests (there are twice as many now as there were a decade ago) along with a steady decrease in the number of nonprofits (13 percent fewer than a decade ago). Finally, of the prizes we listed last year, most (42 percent) were open to poets, with fiction writers eligible to enter 35 percent, followed by 21 percent open to creative nonfiction writers, and just 2 percent open to translators."
• Are Book Awards Worth It? (Kate Bandos)
• The Pros and Cons of Contests (IBPA, June 2008)

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Lists of award competitions and contests (in alphabetical order)

But first, a thought: Why are so many literary prizes closing? (Ellen Peirson-Hagger, New Stateman UK, 7-22-22) As several prizes are forced to pause or shut down, writers in the UK say they are losing a “lifeline.” UK awards closing or at risk: The Costa Prize, the Sunday Times Short Story Award, the Blue Peter Book Awards (for children's fiction and nonfiction). I have not updated to delete awards, because some deletions might be temporary.

Many of these lists are organized alphabetically within groups of upcoming deadlines (for example, awards for which submissions are due in August).

• ALA Book, Print & Media Awards (American Library Association)
• *** ALLi Award and Contest Ratings (Alliance of Independent Authors). Geared to indie authors, who may be susceptible to vanity and/or cash-leeching contests--so contests are rated "Recommended," "Mixed," or "Caution."
• American Literary Awards (Wikipedia list and links)
• American non-fiction literary awards (Wikipedia list and links)
• Authors Guild guide to Contests, Grants, and Residencies Calls for submissions by month. Excellent listings.
• Award submissions calendar (Poets & Writers handy calendar helps you schedule submissions for writing contests, grants, and other literary awards). See also Poets & Writers database of writing contests, grants & awards as well as G&A: The Contest Blog (Poets&Writers)
• Award Annals (ranks creative works honored by more than 180 book awards, film awards, and music awards). Here is information about the 69 award organizations represented on Award Annals.
• The Best Free Literary Contests (Winning Writers) Subscribe free.
• Best Thrillers List of Book Awards (Tyler Denning, 3-18-23) The most prestigious honors for writers of mysteries, thrillers, romance novels, legal thrillers, science fiction, young adult, children’s books, general literature and other genres.
• Between the Covers guide to literary awards and book lists (a rare-book store's excellent reference section)
• Big Fat Prize (information about contests, competitions, awards, prizes in many categories)
• Biography and biographers, Awards for (Writers and Editors)
• Book Awards and Media Awards (Booklist Online, American Library Association)
• Book Awards for Self-Published Authors (Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer)
• CASW list of recent science writing awards given by scholarly and professional organizations (CASW Showcase, 2019)
• Children's and teens (YA) books, Awards for (Writers and Editors list and links)
• Children's Book Awards (David K. Brown, The Children's Literature Web Guide) Links to international awards.
• Contest and awards scams and competitions to be wary about
• CLMP list of Awards for Publishers (Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
• Crime Fiction Awards (formerly Mystery Book Awards) Recognizing the best mysteries, suspense novels, and thrillers
• E&P Journalism Awards and Fellowship Directory. This comprehensive list [no longer available] from Editor & Publisher (2010) provided information about more than 500 awards, grants, scholarships and contests -- national and international -- available to journalists and other newspaper professionals. It had a subject index to make locating specific awards easier. We miss you!
• Film Awards (Wikipedia)
• Film award ceremonies and festivals (Internet Movie Database, IMDb)
• ****Funds for Writers (C. Hope Clark's wonderfully helpful website and newsletter)
• Getting Funded (Writers & Editors links to grant-funding resources)
• Goodreads list of award winners (as a guide for READERS)
• Grants, Awards, and Residencies (PEN AMERICA, 2012) PEN has had an online database in the past, but I can't find it now. URL please?
• Historical Fiction, Awards for (Writers and Editors)
• Indie Book Awards: An Evergreen List of Where to Submit (Jeniffer Thompson's list) How do I get an Indie book award?
• John Kremer's list of book and author awards for Book Marketing and Book Promotion (includes competitions that welcome self-published books)
• Journalism fellowships and grants (NewsLab)
• Legal Essay Contest Catalog (University of Richmond School of Law)
• Literary Awards (American Writers Museum)
• Literary awards by country (Wikipedia list and links)
• Literary awards by genre and type (Wikipedia list and links)
• Media and Journalism Awards (Bianca Fortis, MediaShift, 2018) Organized by month of deadline.
• Mystery Book Awards, Writing Contests and Literary Prizes (Publishers Archive).
• Mystery, thriller, suspense novel, and crime fiction awards (on this site)
• NewPages Big List of Writing & Book Contests
• New Pages calendar of Writing Contest classifieds (poetry, fiction, flash fiction, essays, photography, etc. -- only for publications listed by NewPages, for literary and alternative magazines and publishers and university presses). See its complete list, by deadline month
• Newswise calendar of Journalism Awards (you have to qualify and sign in)
• Poetry awards, List of (by country, Wikipedia)
• Poets & Writers Writing Contests, Grants & Awards. Extensive lists, details about, and links to, awards, contests, and sometimes outlets in several categories: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, short stories, and so on. See also G&A: The Contest Blog..
• Preditors and Editors list of writing contests (on which they indicate which contests not to enter)
• Reedsy's list of The Best Writing Contests
• Science Fiction Awards Directory and Database, a rebranding, redesign, and expansion of the LOCUS Index to Science Fiction Awards.
• 7 Business Book Awards And Why You Need To Enter (Georgia Kirke, Write Business, 6-26-19)
• Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Calendar of events of interest to journalists and others who write about environment, energy, science, health and climate issues.
• State Awards Lists for Children's Books (Bound to Stay Bound Bookstore)
• TCK List of Book Awards Contests (Tom Corson-Knowles)
• 30 Book Awards You Should Know About (Trad & Self-Pub!) (Evelyn Maguire, BookBub, 11-20-19)
• 31 Free Writing Contests: Legitimate Competitions With Cash Prizes (Kelly Gurnett, The Write Life, 4-4-18)
• 33 Writing Contests for Teens (Publication & Cash) (Bookfox)
• Top 44 Writing Contests for Authors (Become a Writer, 12-6-21) Various genres.
• The Top 10 Screenwriting Contests: An Industry Exec's P.O.V. (Authors in Your Pockets)
• 21 Writing Contests to Look for in 2023 (Free and Paid) (Mihaela Bidilică, PublishDrive, 12-20-22)
• Westwind list of book award contests authors should pursue (very informal)
• Wikipedia list of Children's Book Awards (all these Wikipedia lists come with links)
• Wikipedia list of nonfiction literary awards
• Wikipedia list of literary awards by genre and type
• Wikipedia List of Literary Awards
• Wikipedia List of Media Awards
• Wikipedia List of Writing Awards including science writing awards, screenwriting awards (one set for film, another for television), songwriting awards.
• Women's Literary Contests & Competitions (WordMothers lists)
• Writing Contests (curated by Reedsy)
• WritersNet guide to writing contests and awards
• Writing Contests for Young Writers (New Pages)
• Young adult fiction awards (Wikipedia list)

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Contest and awards scams and
competitions to be wary about

Including pay-to-play contests, award profiteers, warning signs, and contests to avoid.

• Writing Contests: Facts and Fakes...And How to Tell the Difference (Victoria Strauss) "Fake contests come in several different forms, but they all have a common goal–to take your money....some fee-charging literary agencies conduct them...Vanity publishers may also use contests to draw in paying customers...contest mills, which make money on the front end, via entry fees...awards mills, which also feature high entry fees (anywhere from $60 to $80), and dozens or even scores of entry categories...By far the most common fake contests are those conducted by vanity anthology companies."
• $40,000 Swindle Puts Spotlight on Literary Prize Scams (Alex Marshall, NY Times, 4-16-21) The organizers of at least five British awards received emails asking them to transfer prize money to a PayPal account. One of them paid out. "Valeria Luiselli, the author of “Lost Children Archive,” won the Rathbones Folio Prize last year. Its organizers transferred the prize money to a fraudster who posed as her in an email."
• The Strange Story of a Secret Literary Fellowship (Daniel A. Gross, New Yorker, 6-16-19) "I was offered ten thousand dollars as part of a new award funded by the chairman of Barnes & Noble. But I was not supposed to tell anyone about it." (The Riggio family funded, and quickly ended, The Springing Center, a fellowship for emerging writers.) See also The Optics of Opportunity (Hafizah Geter, Gay Mag/Medium, 6-19-19) "What the New Yorker story frames as a quirky tale of wealth and nepotism, is actually a story about real people of color’s pain (including Gross’s), a story of racism run amok."
• *****The Best Self-Publishing Services and the Worst. Rated by the Alliance of Independent Authors Color-coded praise, cautions, and (IN RED) watchdog warnings.
• Awards Profiteers: How Writers Can Recognize and Avoid Them (Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware, 4-26-19) Red flags that identify profiteering contest and awards programs: Solicitation, high entry fees, dozens or scores of entry categories, anonymous judging, non-prize prizes, opportunities to spend more money. If more than four of these red flags are present in a contest or awards program–especially if the entry fee is above $50–think very carefully about entering.
• Kickbacks, Opportunism, and Fake Awards, Oh My: Three Solicitation Alerts (Victoria Strauss, for Writer Beware) See also Awards Profiteers: How Writers Can Recognize and Avoid Them (Strauss on Writer Beware)
• Authors Beware: Scams and Publishing Companies to Avoid (Reedsy, 3-1-18) How to recognize and avoid vanity presses (see infographic comparing them to traditional publishers), the potential danger with hybrid publishers, agent scams, self-publishing companies to avoid, and writing contests to avoid.
• The Red Flags of Writing Contests (C. Hope Clark, guest blogging on Writer Beware, 8-13-12). Clark is editor of Funds for Writers , a newsletter whose 45,000 readers are notified of calls for submissions from grants, contests, and publishers.
• Contest and award fakes (SFWA's Writer Beware on fake contests, the most common of which are conducted by vanity anthology companies, and on how to spot scams, whether it's worth entering, questionable or fee-charging publishers, and contest mills--which make money on the front end, via entry fees.
• Beware of Fake Awards (Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware)
• Legitimate contests vs. contest scams (Poetry page, Writers and Editors site--because most of the fake contests seem to involve poetry)
• Poetry scams (Durant Imboden, Writing.org) The good news: You're a winner. The bad news: It's costing you fifty bucks.
• Contests and Services to Avoid (Winning Writers)
• 13 Warning Signs of a Bad Literary Contest (Winning Writers). See also Scam Busting.

• What you stand to lose in travel photo contests (Richard Stupart, MatadorNetwork.com, 4-3-13). Under the "barely concealed bait of a competition to win a wonderful prize, some organizations inviting you to share your favorite photos are asking you to sign away your rights, and to grab those rights for themselves, without payment or acknowledgment, and forever. Read the terms of the contest, and don't let your ego (winning) overcome your common sense. Don't be a sucker!
• Web Resources that Help You Identify Scams (Winning Writers)
• The Free Contest Scheme (Writer Beware, SFWA). In this version of the vanity anthology scheme, writers are targeted via a free contest. Another variation: Pay to Play Anthologies (often nonfiction), and other schemes to get writers to open their wallets.
• Vanity book awards (Laura Miller, Salon, 11-17-09) Want to win some props for your masterpiece? We can do that -- for a price. The National Best Books Awards are "a new twist in the age-old practice of profiting off the dreams of aspiring writers."
• Writer Beware warns against IndieReader Discovery Awards
• When a writing contest has a hidden agenda (Victoria Strauss, WriterBeware)
• Awards Profiteering: The Book Festival Empire of JM Northern Media (Victoria Strauss, WriterBeware, 11-15-13)
• How to Avoid Writing Contest Scams (Genius_knight, wikiHow)
• Indie Authors ALLi Watchdog Warning: Archway Publishing (Ben Galley, Self-Publishing Advice, ALLi, 1-14-13)

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Short story prizes and prizes for novellas

Shorty Awards (honoring the best in social media), in MANY categories! Catch up through the Shorty Awards blog.

• Sidney Awards (Hillman links to winners), a monthly journalism award given out by The Sidney Hillman Foundation for "outstanding investigative journalism in service of the common good." It is awarded to work published in an American magazine, newspaper, on an online news site or a blog or a broadcast by an American television or radio news outlet. It focuses on deeply reported investigative work that has impact. To read the winners, look up The Sidney Awards

The other Sidney Award winners. David Brooks, opinion writer for the New York Times, has his own set of Sidney Awards, awarded annually, for the best long form essays. In 2004 Brooks created an award to honor the best political and cultural journalism of the year. Named for philosopher Sidney Hook and originally called "The Hookies," the honor was renamed "The Sidney Awards" in 2005. Brooks's Sidney Awards are presented each December, announced in the New York Times. See awards for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 (part 1) and part 2, 2017 (part 1) and part 2, 2016 (part 1) and 2016 (part deux), 2015 (part 1) and 2015 (part 2), and so on.

The Sigma Delta Chi Awards recognize the best in professional journalism in categories covering print/online, audio, television, and more. Work published or broadcast by a U.S. or international media outlet is eligible, including freelance stories. There are also Spanish-language awards in seven categories.

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Society of Authors grants and prizes (awards from this organization in the UK range from grants for works in progress to literary prizes. Included (broadly): The Authors Awards (prizes for fiction, non-fiction and poetry are worth £76,000 in prize money), the Educational Writers' Award, The Society of Biology Book Awards, translation prizes, and audio drama awards.

Society of Children's Book Writers & Publishers (SCBWI) awards and grants
FOR WRITERS
--- Manuscript awards for promising manuscripts submitted for individual critique at the Summer Conference.
--- Emerging Voices Award to foster the emergence of diverse voices in children’s books.
--- Student Writer Scholarship Conference tuition for full-time university students in an English or creative writing program.
--- IPOC Women’s Scholarship All expense paid trip to the LA Summer Conference for indigenous and people of color who identify as women.
--- Work-in-Progress Awards To assist children’s book writers and illustrators in the completion of a specific project currently not under contract. Given in the categories of: Picture Book Text, Chapter Books/Early Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, Multicultural Fiction or Nonfiction, and Translation.
--- Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Award An award for a work-in-progress from an unpublished author over age 50.
--- Ann Whitford Paul—Writer’s Digest Manuscript Award An annual award given to the manuscript of a Most Promising Picture Book manuscript.
--- A. Orr Fantasy Grant Awarded to young adult and middle grade writers working in the fantasy or science fiction genre.

FOR PUBLISHED AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS:

--- Book Launch Award Provides authors or illustrators with $2,000 in funds to help promote their newly published work.
--- Crystal Kite Awards Peer-given award to recognize great books from fifteen SCBWI regional divisions around the world.
--- Golden Kite Awards The only children's literary award judged by a jury of peers, recognizing excellence in children's literature in five categories: Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration.
--- Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Grant to honor the contribution of mid-list authors.
--- Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (given every three years) for an excellent book of poetry or anthology for children and/or young adults.
--- Magazine Merit Award For original magazine work for young people in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Illustration, and Poetry
--- Martha Weston Grant Helps authors and illustrators who want to switch children's book genres.
--- Sid Fleischman Humor Award For exemplary writing for children in the genre of humor.
--- Spark Award recognizes excellence in a children's book published through a non-traditional publishing route.

Go here for awards FOR ILLUSTRATORS, FOR TRANSLATORS, plus COMMUNITY GRANTS, and GRANTS FOR STUDENTS.

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Songwriting competitions
• ASCAP Guide to Songwriting Contests A solid guide from a world leader in performance rights organizations: the American Society of Composers, and Publishers. Entries are listed below, with links to the organizations. Find descriptions of the organizations on the ASCAP site.
• USA Songwriting Competitions
• 14 Best Songwriting Competitions You Can Enter to Test Your Skills (Liam Duncan, Songwriting How To)

The songwriting contests:
• American Songwriter Lyric Contests (Entry fee $15 per song.)
• The Great American Song Contest Judges are qualified music professionals who listen thoroughly to each song and provide a detailed evaluation. Each participating songwriter receives the judges' written evaluations upon completion of the contest.
• International Songwriting Competition
• The John Lennon Songwriting Contest
• The Mid-Atlantic Song Contest (MASC) (Songwriters' Association of Washington)
• Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Song Contest
• NewSong Music Competition (Citizen Vinyl) Winners get the opportunity to record an EP for free with a notable producer. They also perform at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, receive a performance showcase at the Sundance ASCAP Music Café, and perform on an internationally broadcast Mountain Stage (NPR) show.
• SongDoor An annual worldwide songwriting competition that's open to amateurs and professionals, ages 16 and older.

SPJ Awards (Society of Professional Journalists) National contests, National SPJ honors (public), awards and fellowships, local and regional SPJ contests.

Recognizing outstanding achievement in journalism and dedicated service to the profession and the Society is an important part of the Society of Professional Journalists. The purpose is to stimulate high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism. Many SPJ regions and local chapters have developed their recognition programs to honor individuals and groups for their work, service and contributions to the Society and the profession.

Statistical excellence in journalism awards (Royal Statistical Society). Awards in Regional journalism (Recognizing the excellent use of data and statistics in local or regional media) , Investigative journalism (Recognizing journalism that has used original research and analysis of data to uncover a story) , Explaining the facts (Recognizing journalism that has dissected important statistics to make them more accessible and understandable to the wider public), and data visualization (Recognizing the use of creative visual representation to illustrate complex data). See also Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award (American Statistical Association).

The Wallace Stegner Prize in Environmental Humanities ($5,000 awarded biennially to best monograph submitted to the Press in the broad field of environmental humanities, by University of Utah Press )

Stegner Award (Center of the American West) The Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West.

Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy Writing ($2,000, National Press Foundation award to a U.S.-based journalist for the best writing on the subject of energy-- may be reporting, analysis or commentary, but should represent the highest standards of journalism)

I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. See Nieman awards.

Stonewall Book Awards are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience. for GLBT books, sponsored by the American Library Association's Rainbow Round Table (previously the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Round Table). Includes the Barbara Gittings Literature Award, the Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award and the Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, for English language works published the prior year.

Student Stowe Prizes high school ($1,000) and college students ($2,500) who write for social justice and positive change (Harriet Beecher Stowe Center)

Sundance Film Festival

Sustainable Arts Foundation awards to individual artists and writers with families--at least one child under age of 18. Visual arts awards and writing awards of $6,000 each.

Streamy Awards (YouTube) Honoring the best of our creator community.

Punch Sulzberger News Media Executive Leadership Program

Sydney Taylor Book Award for outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.

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"Indie" awards

Awards for indie authors and self-published books

• You’re a Winner: The Benefits of Entering Contests (Kim Catanzarite, 2-16-21) "These contests are not inexpensive. Because they come with critiques, they charge an entry often of $60 or more, but if you’re looking for feedback from unbiased parties, it’s worth the price. In some cases, you’ll submit up to fifty pages and a synopsis, and in others, you’ll provide the entire manuscript." (Not all indie contests provide such critiques.)
• “Award-Winning Author:” What Does It Mean—and Does It Matter? (Barbara Linn Probst, Writer Unboxed, 8-16-22) Which awards are “worth” applying for? How many award contests should I enter? Should I focus on “high prestige” awards, or awards that I think I have a chance of winning? Do these awards really matter?
INDIE AWARDS

• Axiom Business Book Awards
• ****ALLi Award and Contest Ratings (Alliance of Independent Authors). Links to contests geared to indie authors, who may be susceptible to vanity and/or cash-leeching contests--so contests are rated "Recommended," "Mixed," or "Caution." Read the Guiding Principles explaining how to evaluate if a contest is legitimate.
• Benjamin Franklin Awards (over fifty categories recognizing excellence in both editorial and design) Administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) with help from over 150 book publishing professionals including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, designers, publicity managers, and editors. "All entrants receive direct feedback on their entries. The actual judging forms are returned to all participating publishers." (This is often one of the most valuable benefits of a competition, as entrants may learn their book's strengths and weaknesses from the comments.)
• Best Indie Book Award (BiBA) An annual international literary award contest recognizing independent authors in twelve major genres: action/adventure, fantasy/paranormal, literary/mainstream, mystery/suspense/thriller, nonfiction, novella/short story collection, romance or science fiction/dystopia, young adult, children
• Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA) Self-Publishing Literary Awards ($2,500 each, American Library Association) honoring the best self-published eBooks by an African American author in the U.S. in both fiction and poetry genres.
• B.R.A.G. Medallions (indieBrag) For $100, a readers' seal of approval for your cover.
• Eric Hoffer Book Award for the Small, Academic & Independent Press A grand prize of $2500 and prizes within 18 categories, separate press distinctions, the Montaigne Medal, the da Vinci Eye, and the First Horizon Award.

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• Foreword INDIES Book Awards (Foreword Reviews). Judged by professional editors, booksellers and librarians after a larger group of finalists is culled by the editorial staff--honoring the best in indie book publishing. Books published by Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, or Simon & Schuster and their imprints are not eligible to apply. See FAQ.
• IANs (Independent Author Network) Six Book of the Year awards (from 50 fiction and 50 nonfiction categories), with cash awards.
• *** The Indie Author Project ("Connecting indie authors, libraries, and readers"). "In an effort to further encourage strong relationships between indie authors, local libraries, and readers, BiblioBoard and Library Journal are partnering with librarians across the U.S. and Canada to mobilize the annual Indie Author Project contests....BiblioBoard and Library Journal provide the marketing materials, submission and hosting software, as well as support in facilitating the judging process. This turn-key approach allows for libraries to focus on their primary role of engaging with authors, promoting the contest, and increasing awareness of the writing resources available in their communities." See especially Jane Friedman's article (5-28-19) Identifying the Best Self-Published Books by State: The Indie Author Project. "The Indie Author Project identifies the best self-published fiction by state; thirteen states participate so far." Library Journal and BiblioBoard also sponsor the library program known as SELF-e, launched in 2015 to "make self-published ebooks available to libraries nationwide. Any author can submit their work for inclusion in SELF-e (at no cost); Library Journal curates what ebooks go into the national SELF-e collection. Books not selected are still accessible to local library patrons through state collections" (with no remuneration but exposure and visibility)."Winners receive cash prizes, marketing and promotion in Library Journal, and of course print and ebook (paid) sales to state public libraries, among other benefits." And Jane interviews Ran Walker, winner of the 2019 award and author of Daykeeper and other titles.

Marie Monteagudo adds: "The only award I recommend to self-published authors seeking to be bought by libraries is the Indie Author Project. Ebooks (Adult & YA) are uploaded for free, they're reviewed by Library Journal (aka librarians) & Publisher's Weekly. If accepted they become part of the library ebook vendors & receive royalties. They're also entered into regional and the national awards, the latter announced at the American Library Association conference. Free publicity!"
• Indies Choice Book Awards (ICBA), chosen by indie booksellers across U.S., in these categories: Best Indie Buzz Book (fiction), Best Conversation Starter (nonfiction), Best Author Discovery, Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book (fiction), Best New Picture Book, Most Engaging Author.
• Ippies. Independent Publisher Book Awards, the "Ippies" (open to authors and independent publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and intended for the North American market) National awards in 75 categories, plus regional and e-book awards. With so many awards (and fees of $75 for each category applied for), you might doubt the cost-vs-value of each award, but authors who win can speak of award-winning books. Specialized awards include: Nautilus Book Awards (for print books that inspire and connect our lives as individuals, communities and global citizens--see guidelines for entering); Moonbeam Awards (open to authors, illustrators, and publishers of children’s books written in English or Spanish for the North American market); Axiom Awards (business book awards in 21 categories); and Living Now Book Awards (to the year’s best lifestyle, homestyle, world improvement and self-improvement books and their creators--from cooking and gardening to spirituality and wellness).

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• IndieReader Discovery Awards
• Kirkus Prize, $50,000 prizes for fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature, also open to independently published works.
• Maxy Awards Indie awards in many categories, $75 each to enter.
• National Indie Excellence Awards (sponsored by book shepherd Ellen Reid)
• Next Generation Indie Book Awards For indie book authors and indie publishers-- including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors. $1,500 prize for best fiction book and best non-fiction book, $750 for second best fiction book and non-fiction book, and $500 for third best fiction book and non-fiction book (plus trophies), and $100 and a gold medal in each of 80 categories.
• North Street Book Prize (Winning Writers) $75 entry fee. "Your self-published or hybrid-published book can win up to $10,000 plus expert marketing services." Many lesser prizes. Awards for mainstream/literary fiction, genre fiction (e.g. romance, mystery, thriller, young adult, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, etc.), creative nonfiction & memoir, poetry, children's picture book, middle grade, graphic novel & memoir, art book. See site for definitions of categories.
• The Pushcart Prize (best of the small presses, short stories, poetry, and essays have been represented in Pushcart's annual collections)
• Sarton Women's Literary Awards (Story Circle Network, for women's memoir, women's fiction, and women's historical fiction-- from small/independent publishers, university presses, and author-publishers (self-publishing authors)
• SCBWI Spark Award (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) recognizes excellence in a children’s book published through a non-traditional publishing route.
• National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) open to all English language printed books available for sale, including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors. Awards in many categories, including addiction & recovery, coffee table books, divorce, erotica, fantasy, fitness, green living, home and garden, leadership, military fiction, picture books, religion, relationships, steam punk, true crime, western, young adult.
• Readers Choice Awards (TCK Publishing) recognizing indie, self-published, and traditionally published authors -- ask your fans to vote for you.
• Rubery Book Prizes (£1500 for Book of the Year, or about $2000, £37 to enter) An international book award for the best books by indie writers, self published authors, and books published by independent presses. Accepts fiction (all genres), young adult, children’s, biographies, non-fiction, self-help, cookery, poetry, photography etc.
• Selfies Book Awards (Publishers Weekly and Book Life) for adult fiction. Winning authors get $1000 cash plus a $5000 advertising package consisting of print and digital marketing in Publishers Weekly. The Selfies Book Awards Kick Off in the U.S. (PW, 1-7-2020) "Publishers Weekly and BookBrunch, the daily online news service for the U.K., have launched the Selfies book awards for self-published authors in the United States. The contest will be administered by PW's self-publishing arm, BookLife, and its winner will a receive $1,000 cash purse and an advertising package valued at $5,000 in Publishers Weekly’s print magazine and online....The mission of the awards initiative is to ‘discover new talent and reward the very best self-published titles each year.’ Categories may be expanded in future years to include nonfiction and children’s books.”

• Shelf Unbound Writing Competition (for best independently published book)
• The Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Award $8,000 to Grand Prize Winner, $1,000 to First Prize Winner. Categories: mainstream literary fiction, genre fiction, nonfiction reference, inspirational, life stories (including biographies. autobiographies, family histories, and memoirs), early readers/children's books, middle grade/young adult books, and poetry.

• IndieReader Discovery Awards (for self-published and independently published authors). See Writer Beware Award Alert
• See Indie Reader Discovery Awards FAQ.
• Book Awards for Self-Published Authors (the late Joel Friedlander's list, The Book Designer). Listed if they accept self-published books--so listing is not necessarily an endorsement of the competition.
• Guardian Opens Up Prizes for Self-Published Authors (Miral Sattar, BiblioCrunch, 4-29-14). See The all-new monthly literary prize – for self-published authors (Alison Flood, The Guardian, 4-8-14) This didn't seem to go anywhere after 2014.

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Biography and Biographers (and some memoir), awards for:
See fuller description of award under its own name in master list. The Biographer's Craft newsletter will keep you up to date on when applications are due and on any special news about a particular year's award.
• BIO awards (Biographers International Organization, annual), including

---The Plutarch Award (biography's Oscar, for the best biography of the year -- the "only international literary award for biography judged exclusively by biographers," with an honorarium of $1,000),

---The BIO Award (BIO's highest honor, to an individual for contributions to advancing the art and craft of biography), given in 2023 to Michael Korda (listen to his speech on YouTube).

---the Biblio Award (to to an outstanding librarian or archivist),

the Editorial Excellence award (to an outstanding editor, from nominations submitted by BIO members),

---the Hazel Rowley Prize, a $5000 Prize for Best Proposal from a First-time Biographer,

---the The Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship ($5,000 for an exceptional biography-in-progress about an African American subject).The Rollin Fellowship aims to remediate the disproportionate scarcity and even suppression of Black lives and voices in the broad catalog of published biography,

---The Chip Bishop Fellowship ($1000 for travel expenses, including transportation costs and child care, if needed) to help biographers in financial need), and

---The Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship (for BIO members with a work in progress who apply to receive funding for research trips to archives or to important settings in their subjects’ lives).
• Biographers' Club (UK) prizes, including
--The Tony Lothian Prize. The £2,000 ($2,569) Tony Lothian Prize (sponsored by her daughter, Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch) supports uncommissioned first-time writers working on a biography. Find entry form here. Deadline July 27, 2017
--Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize Entry (Biographers Club of London accepts entries for best first biography (literary memoirs also eligible). Prize, £2,500 ($3,238) sponsored by Slightly Foxed, The Real Reader’s Quarterly). Deadline Nov. 1. See entry form here.
--Lifetime Services to Biography Prize
• Cross Sports Book Awards: Biography of the Year (in British sportswriting)
• Evans Biography Award ($10,000) for biography of someone who spent a significant part of his or her life in the Interior West, also known as “Mormon Country” — the region historically influenced by Mormon institutions and social practices. Neither the biography’s subject nor author need belong to the Mormon faith. Presented by Utah State University’s Mountain West Center for Regional Studies. The $2,500 Evans Handcart Award is given to a biography addressing similar subjects but broadens the criteria to include family histories, and focuses on first-time and emerging authors.
• International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir an exceptional work of memoir writing (cash prize of US$1000) Memoir writing, or personal essay, is defined as a work of creative nonfiction that illustrates a personal experience using literary techniques and narrative devices such as dialogue, character, setting and scene. The quality of the writing is as important as the content of the story.
• John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships (midcareer awards)
• Leon Levy Biography Fellowships ($60,000 stipend)
• Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography (£5,000 presented annually for a historical biography published the preceding year)
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography
• Mayborn Fellowship in Biography with James McGrath Morris in Santa Fe, NM. May deadline. See Mayborn contests.
• Mayborn National Biography Writing Contest (for high school or community college students)
• Mayborn Conference Young Spurs Biography Contest
• National Book Critics Circle awards in Biography and in Autobiography. Before 2005, autobiography and biography together were one category.
• National Biography Award $25,000--the richest national prize dedicated to Australian biographical writing and memoir, for a published work of biographical or autobiographical writing aiming to promote public interest in these genres. The authors of up to six shortlisted works will each receive
$1,000. Eligible works: biography, autobiography or memoir in English, about an Australian subject or someone who has made a substantial contribution to Australia. See Guidelines.
• National Jewish Book Award in Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir (a Krauss Family Award in memory of Simon & Shulamith (Sofi) Goldberg
• PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography ($5,000)
• The Plutarch Award (Biographers International Organization). BIO, an organization of practicing biographers and lovers of biography, has presented this Best Biography of the Year award annually since 2013.
• Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. (See Pulitzer Stirs Controversy by Awarding the Biography/ Autobiography Prize to Memoirs (James McGrath Morris, BIO, 6-14-17) "Most [biographers] believe that memoir is a fundamentally different form of writing about a life in that it does not require any form of documentation, especially the kind of research that often distinguishes biographies." David Nasaw: "...there should be some references, footnotes, endnotes, or in the text itself, which gave the reader the confidence that what was being said, or what was being reported, had actually taken place. The Pulitzer guidelines made that abundantly clear." Judges for the 2015 Pulitzer did research: "it was the opinion of the three of us that an autobiography was distinct from a memoir. An autobiography is the writing of a life by the person who lived that life. It does not necessarily have to be cradle-to-grave, but it is written to show how influences of place and time, childhood, adolescence, parenthood, affect the coming-to-age, and the activities, character, personality, and achievements of the adult. It is, in other words, a biography written by the person who is the subject of that biography.
"It was our understanding that a memoir is a piece of a life, a moment of a life, a part of a life, and it is not documented. There is no corroborating material, there are no additional interviews, there are no newspaper articles, and there is no context provided. A memoir is a work—as the title makes clear—of memory. Autobiography and biographies are not works of memory." See the article for fuller commentary on how memoirs ended up getting awards in the Biography/Autobiography category.
• Rollin Fellowship. The Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship: $2000 for an Exceptional Biography-in-progress About an African American Subject (BIO, Biographers International Organization, $2,000) Awarded to an author working on a biographical work about an African American figure or figures whose story provides a significant contribution to our understanding of the Black experience. Comes with a year’s membership in BIO, registration to the annual BIO conference, and publicity through BIO’s marketing channels.
• Sarton Women's Book Awards (Story Circle Network, honoring women's lives). In the nonfiction category, you may submit a biography, collective biography, edited diary, scholarly study of women's lit, or an anthology. There is also a separate award for memoirs.
• The Coyiuto Prize, a new prize honoring a book (biography or autobiography) by a Filipino writer working in English, about a Filipino person or family. Cash prize of PHP100,000 ($2,223).
• William H. Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography ($2,000, Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York)
• Sperber Prize (for exceptional achievement in writing and research in a biography about a person in the field of journalism or media studies).
• Richard Slatten Award for Excellence in Virginia Biography (cash award, $1000)
Biographies are also eligible for an American History Book Prize, a Bancroft Prize, a Hillman Prize, a National Book Award, or a Pulitzer Prize, among others. Biography dominates Samuel Johson prize longlist (Alison Flood, Guardian. "A wide range of life stories loom large among the 18 finalists for the £20,000 prize." And a memoir won: Hawk book wins £20,000 Samuel Johnson prize.
And, as BIO's website points out, do not ignore state historical societies, which often issue awards for biographies. So do some university presses.
• Tiny Memoir Contest for Students: Write a 100-Word Personal Narrative (NY Times, 9-21-23) Teenagers are invited to tell a true story about a meaningful life experience in just 100 words.

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Awards and prizes
(in alphabetical order)

•A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L •M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z

When I worked at Harper & Row (back in the old old days), one of my jobs was submitting Harper & Row titles for entry in prize competitions. There were far fewer competitions then! Remember, you generally have to enter a competition to win. Only rarely is an award bestowed as a surprise.

See Author Awards and Contests, Rated (Alliance of Independent Authors)
Contest and award competitions to be wary about

Now, in alphabetical order:

A
• AAAS Dance Your PhD contest (co-sponsored by AAAS and Science, challenging scientists to explain their research without PowerPoint slides or jargon—or talking!
• AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards for outstanding reporting for a general audience, honoring journalists worldwide (rather than institutions, publishers or employers) for their coverage of the sciences, engineering and mathematics. Each category winner receives $3,000. Categories for submissions: Large Newspaper, Small Newspaper, Magazine (including Sunday magazines sections of newspapers), Television:Spot News/Feature Reporting, Television, Television In-depth Reporting, Audio (radio or podcast), Online, and Children's Science News is open to journalists worldwide across all news media. International category for Children's Science News (open to journalists working in any medium). (American Association for the Advancement of Science). See Frequently asked questions.
• Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships (Academy of American Poets), established in 2019, "$50,000 - $100,000 awards given to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that engage their fellow residents, including youth, with poetry." See separate Section on poetry awards and contests in many venues.
• AACR June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism (American Association for Cancer Research) a $5,000 award for outstanding cancer journalism for the lay public--open to print, broadcast, and online professional journalists whose stories appear in newspapers, magazines, websites, television, and radio that target a lay public audience.
• Acoustical Society of America Science Communication Awards to recognize excellence in the presentation of acoustics related topics to a popular audience, with separate awards (to journalists and to professionals in the field) in three categories: 1) Long format award (text >4,000 words; multimedia >30 minutes) from a member or nonmember; 2) Short format award (text ≤4,000 words; multimedia ≤30 minutes) from a non-member; 3) Short format award (text ≤4,000 words; multimedia ≤30 minutes) from a member. Entries may be newspaper or magazine articles, TV or radio broadcasts, books, or websites that were published, broadcast, printed, or posted during the period covered by the award.

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• ADDYs (American Advertising Federation, AAF, "honoring advertising's best and brightest")

• Adventure Writers Competition (Clive Cussler Collector's Society)

• Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Book Awards A contest established to recognize, promote and honor authors of high quality publications that accurately examine and portray African-ancestored family history and genealogy in a wide variety of genres both fiction and nonfiction, for adults and young readers. This contest uses the entry fees to fund its work and research, says Chris Dickon, whose book Dutch Children of African American Liberators: Race, Military Policy and Identity in World War II and Beyond won an AAHGS award.

• Agatha Awards, presented at Malice Domestic convention for fans of traditional mysteries. Awards for best contemporary novel, best historical novel, best first novel, best nonfiction, best short story, best children's/young adult novel.

• AIBS Media Award (American Institute of Biological Sciences, recognizes outstanding reporting on biology to a general audience, limited to non-technical journalism, including print and broadcast media).

• AIP Science Communication Awards (American Institute for Physics, awards in several categories: books; newspaper, magazine, and online articles; broadcast and new media; writing for children; journalist; scientist; broadcast. Winning authors receive a prize of $3,000, an engraved Windsor chair, and a certificate of recognition.

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American Academy of Arts and Letters awards

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ALA Book, Print & Media Awards But see also awards listed under American Library Association, in alphabetical order.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest (grand prize, a $50,000 advance on a publishing contract with Amazon/CreateSpace; four first prizes, advances of $15,000 each). See highlights of Amazon contract and FAQs.

American Academy of Arts and Letters awards
Each year the Academy honors over 70 composers, artists, architects, and writers with awards and prizes ranging from $5000 to $100,000. Candidates for awards must be nominated by an Academy member, with the sole exception of the Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater.
Awards for literature and writing include
---Blake-Dodd Prize ($25,000, triennially, for a nonfiction writer)
---Marc Blitzstein Award ( $10,000, to be given periodically to a composer, lyricist, or librettist, to encourage the creation of works of merit for musical theater and opera)
---Michael Braude Award ($5000 triennially, for light verse written in English regardless of the writer’s country of origin)
---Benjamin H. Danks Award (an annual prize of $20,000 in rotation to a composer of ensemble works, a playwright, and a writer)
---E. M. Forster Award ($20,000 to a young English writer toward a stay in the United States)
---Gold Medals ( two medals a year in the rotating categories of Belles Lettres and Criticism, and Painting; Biography and Music; Fiction and Sculpture; History and Architecture (including Landscape Architecture); Poetry and Music; and Drama and Graphic Art)
---The William Dean Howells Medal (medal given once every five years in recognition of the most distinguished American novel published during that period
---The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction ($5000, given for the best published first novel or collection of short stories of the preceding year)
---The Award of Merit Medal (accompanied by $25,000 and given each year, in rotation, to an outstanding person in America representing one of the following arts: Painting, the Short Story, Sculpture, the Novel, Poetry, and Drama)
---Addison M. Metcalf Award in Literature (a biennial award of $10,000 to honor a young writer of great promise.
---Katherine Anne Porter Award ($20,000 to honor a prose writer whose achievements and dedication to the literary profession have been demonstrated)
---Arthur Rense Prize (an award triennially of $20,000 in memory of the poet Arthur Rense, to an exceptional poet)
---Rosenthal Family Foundation Award ($10,000 for a work of fiction published during the preceding year that is a considerable literary achievement)
---The Mildred and Harold Strauss Living ($100,000 a year for a period of two years, that provide two writers of English prose literature an annual stipend to enable them to devote their time exclusively to writing)
---John Updike Award (a biennial award of $20,000 recognizes a writer in mid-career who has demonstrated consistent excellence)
---Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award ($20,000 is given annually to single out recent prose that merits recognition for the quality of its style)
---The E. B. White Award ($10,000, given to a writer for achievement in children’s literature)
---Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation ($20,000 to a practitioner, scholar, or patron who has made a significant contribution to the art of literary translation)
---Morton Dauwen Zabel Award (a $10,000 biennial award given in rotation to a poet, writer of fiction, or critic, of progressive, original, and experimental tendencies).

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American Academy of Diplomacy book awards
---Douglas Dillon Book Award to the author of the best book released that year on the practice of American diplomacy.
---Arthur Ross Media Award presented annually to journalists who have produced the most compelling and insightful pieces concerning American diplomacy.

American Academy of Religion Journalism Awards

American Academy of Poets prizes All poetry prizes are linked to on a separate page: Poetry Awards

American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) Awards, with an emphasis on academic history.

American Book Awards (Before Columbus Association) Annual awards for books published in the United States the previous year to recognize “outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community.” No entry fee and anyone (writer or publisher) may submit.

American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Get to Know the (4-1-22)

American Geophysical Union's (AGU's) journalism awards
---David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—News ($5,000, recognizes excellence in science news reporting, defined as work prepared with a deadline of one week or less. It is presented annually to a journalist for a news story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public)
---Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features ($5,000) for science feature writing (defined as work prepared with a deadline of more than one week), presented annually to a journalist for a feature story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public. Nominees must be journalists working in any medium, except books.
---Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism recognizes a journalist or team of journalists who have made significant, lasting, and consistent contributions to accurate reporting on the Earth and space sciences for the general public.Awarded every other year, in odd-numbered years. Self-nominations not accepted.

American Institute of Physics Science Communication Awards (see How to Apply). Categories: Science Writing: Books intended for a general audience (to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of physics and related fields); Writing for Children (books, news or feature stories, multimedia, or web content created specifically for children 15 years old or younger); Broadcast and New Media.

American Library Association (ALA) Book, Print & Media Awards

The ALA Awards greatly influence library, school, and family purchases. They include:
• W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction $5,000, annual award. This award honors the best fiction set in a period when the United States was at war. It recognizes the service of American veterans and military personnel and encourages the writing and publishing of outstanding war-related fiction. As target groups, young adult or adult fiction are preferred.
• Margaret A. Edwards Award for young adult literature
• William C. Morris YA Debut Award
• Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
• Schneider Family Book Award (to honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences)
• The Odyssey Awards (best audio book for children and/or young adults, in English, sold in U.S.)
• YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults (ages 12-18) A Young Adult Library Services Association award.
• Coretta Scott King Book Awards (to honor African American authors and illustrators who create outstanding books for children and young adults)
• Alex Awards (for ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18)
• Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, in memory of the beloved children’s author, presented in even years to an African American author, illustrator or author/illustrator for a body of his or her published books for children and/or young adults, and who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution. In odd years, the award is presented to a practitioner for substantial contributions through active engagement with youth using award-winning African American literature for children and/or young adults, via the implementation of reading and reading-related activities/programs.
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

Also ALA:
• Rainbow Round Table Award for Political Activism to honor librarians, library related organizations (including libraries, library staff, library boards, library friends), and other individuals or groups (public or private) that have demonstrated excellence in the area of LGBTQIA+ activism.
• Stonewall Book Awards The first and most enduring award for LGBTQIA+ books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Rainbow Round Table (formerly the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table). There are several awards.
• Larry Romans Mentorship Award to recognize librarians who, through their sustained mentoring efforts, have made a difference in our profession
• The Newlen-Symons Award for Excellence honors a librarian, library staff member, library, library board, and/or library friends group who have designed programs and/or initiatives responsive to the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community.

American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)

RUSA Book & Media awards:

---Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

---Notable Books list
---The Reading List For genre fiction for adults
---The Listen: Outstanding Audio Narration
---Essential Cookbooks: The CODES List For cookbooks that will stand the test of time, become reliable favorites, and nourish readers.
---Sophie Brody Medal For outstanding achievement in Jewish literature.
---Dartmouth Medal For a reference work of outstanding quality and significance, including, but not limited to: writing, compiling, editing, or publishing books or electronic information.
---Outstanding Reference Resources For the most outstanding reference publications for small and medium-sized libraries.
---BRASS Best of the Best Business Reference Web Resources Award Fecognizes three websites highly relevant to information professionals involved in providing business reference services.
---Outstanding Business Reference Sources (both print and electronic)
---Best Historical Materials For useful bibliographies and indexes in the field of history.

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American Society for Indexing. ASI Excellence in Indexing Award

American Society of Journalists and Authors annual awards

for freelance journalists and nonfiction authors
Open to all freelance writers:
The Arlenes: Articles That Make a Difference
The Donald Robinson Memorial Award for Investigative Journalism
Outstanding Article Awards (several categories)
Outstanding Book Awards (in five categories)
Outstanding Content Awards (blog posts, articles, and long-form content)
Open to ASJA members only:
June Roth Memorial Awards for Outstanding Medical Article and for Medical Book
Other ASJA member awards (many categories)

***The Andy Awards (The Andies) presented for book collaborations were first presented at the first ever Gathering of the Ghosts. Taking its name from the “and” that underpins creative collaboration, the first “the Andies” winners were announced at the first national convention of professional ghostwriters on January 22, 2024 in New York City--a joint production of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Gotham Ghostwriters and . Read the Submission Guidelines. The Andies recognize the quality of the work and the collaborative process in three categories of book collaboration:

Business and Thought Leadership

Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction

Prescriptive Nonfiction

To be distinguished from the Advertising Club's Andy Awards for creative excellence in advertising.

Artist Trust (supporting Washington State artists working in all creative disciplines)

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) awards (a division of ALA)
• (John) Newbery Medal honors the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children
• Randolph) Caldecott Medal honors the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children
• (Laura Ingalls) Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
• (May Hill) Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award honors an author, critic, librarian, historian, or teacher of children's literature, of any country, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
• Mildred L.) Batchelder Award to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.
• (Pura) Belpré Medal honors a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose works best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
• (Andrew) Carnegie Medal honors the producer of the most outstanding video production for children released during the preceding year.
• (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year
• ALSC/Booklist/YALSA) Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production to the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.
• (Robert F.) Sibert Informational Book Medal

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ACES awards (ACES, The Society for Editing, formerly American Copy Editors Society)
• Headline contest ($300, $125, and $75 in cash prizes honor those who masterfully write clever, sophisticated, unique and appropriate headlines, likely to capture readers' attention.
• Robinson Prize ($3,000 each year to one copy editor whose work demonstrates exceptional effectiveness)
• Glamann Award (recognizing people and organizations that have contributed to our society and the craft of copy editing)

Alabama Writers Awards (presented at the Monroeville Literary Festival:

---The Harper Lee Award

---The Truman Capote Prize For Distinguished Work in the Short Story or Literary Non-Fiction

---The Eugene Current-Garcia Award For Alabama's Distinguished Literary Scholar.

American History Book Prize (prize and $50,000 are awarded by the New York Historical Society for an adult nonfiction book on American history or biography distinguished by its scholarship, literary style, and appeal to a general as well as an academic audience)

American Academy of Religion (AAR) Awards
---AAR Best First Book in the History of Religions Award
---Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion (Constructive-Reflective; Historical; Analytical-Descriptive; Textual)
---Award for Best In-Depth Newswriting on Religion
---Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award
---Religion and the Arts Award.

American Literary Awards (a list on Wikipedia)

American Medical Writers Association awards.
COMPETITIVE awards ((celebrating achievements in medical communications over the previous year and encouraging engagement in the profession):
• Eric W. Martin award (for excellence in medical writing for members of AMWA)
• AMWA Medical Book Awards
HONORARY awards (recognizing the careers and achievements of both members and nonmembers who have made significant contributions to the profession):
• The Alvarez Award (honors excellence in communicating health care developments and concepts to the public)
• The McGovern Award (for preeminent contributions to medical communication)
• The Swanberg Distinguished Service Award (to an active member of AMWA who has made distinguished contributions to medical communication or rendered unusual and distinguished services to the medical profession)

The American Mosaic Journalism Prize is awarded for excellence in long-form, narrative, or deep reporting on stories about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups in the present American landscape. The prize recognizes journalism’s critical ability to foster greater understanding, and aims to recognize and support freelance journalists with an unrestricted cash award of $100,000 per recipient. The prize is intended to call attention to the recipients’ great promise, and to give them the freedom to continue their work. Read FAQs for details on award's history and selection process.
An earlier explanation: The American Mosaic Journalism Prize, $100,000, from the Heising-Simons Foundation “recognizes journalism’s critical ability to foster greater understanding and empathy, and aims to reward and empower exceptional journalists,” will recognize two freelancers each with a $100,000 unrestricted cash gift for long-form, impactful work. It can go to journalists working in any medium.
The Heising-Simons Foundation supports work that advances research in science, the climate and clean energy, early childhood education and human rights. See There’s a new award for freelancers (and it comes with $100,000) (Kristen Hare, Poynter, 1-24-18) The prize, a surprise to the recipients, is based on confidential nominations from leaders in journalism.

American Poets Prizes, Academy of American Poets
Numerous awards, prizes, fellowships for poetry in the United States, ranging in value from $1,000 to $100,000.
• Academy of American Poets Fellowship ($25,000 prize)
• Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award ($1,000)
• Harold Morton Landon Translation Award ($1,000)
• James Laughlin Award ($5,000 plus a weeklong residency in Miami Beach and distribution of the winning book to 1,000 members)
• Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize ($25,000)
• Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards ($10,000 book prize, and $25,000 fellowship)
• University & College Poetry Prizes
• Wallace Stevens Award ($100,000 stipend)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Book Awards:
• Ralph J. Bunche Award best scholarly work in political science which explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism ($1,000)
• Gladys M. Kammerer (best political science publication in the field of U.S. national policy, $1,000)
• Victoria Schuck Award (best book on women and politics, $1,000)
• Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award (best book on government, politics, or international affairs, $5,000, supported by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation)

American Short Fiction Short Story Contest

Amnesty International Media Awards (celebrating the best in human rights journalism)

Amy Foundation Writing Awards (writing in secular markets, using at least one biblical passage; first prize, $10,000)

Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship (an annual scholarship of about $54,000 to support travel abroad for gifted American-born poets. No age requirement, nor need poet be previously published, though previous winners have been.

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in fiction and nonfiction (new in 2012, funded by the Carnegie Corporation and awarded by the American Library Association--$1500 for finalists, $5000 for winners).

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. Established in 1935, this important American book prize focuses on works that address racism and diversity.

Apex Awards for Publication Excellence. An awards program for writers, editors, publications staff, and business and nonprofit communicators draws a thousand-plus entries (at $137 per entry) in 100 communications categories--based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content and the success of the entry—in the opinion of the judges—in achieving overall communications effectiveness and excellence. In one recent year it presented 543 Awards of Excellence and 100 Grand Awards in the 11 main categories: newsletters; magazines and journals; magapapers and newspapers; annual reports; brochures, manuals and reports; electronic media and video; Web and intranet sites; campaigns, programs and plans; writing; design and illustration; and special publications.Sponsored by Communications Concepts, publishers of Writing That Works: The Business Communications Concept. One winner one year was a booklet about the National Library Service for the Blind's Talking Books Program.

Arab American Book Award honors significant honor books written by and about Arab Americans. Awards in these categories:
• Adult Non-Fiction, Academic (includes peer-reviewed, scholarly works in social sciences and humanities) – The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
• Adult Non-Fiction, Creative (includes non peer-reviewed works such as memoirs, autobiography and cookbooks) – The Evelyn Shakir Nonfiction Award
• Adult Fiction
• Poetry - The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
• Children/Young Adult, Fiction or Nonfiction.

Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Awards

A Room of Her Own (AROHO) awards and prizes
• AROHO’s $50,000 Gift of Freedom Award , for an imagined yet unwritten poetry, fiction, or nonfiction project, selected from women who are finalists in four categories: creative nonfiction, fiction, playwrighting, & poetry, with $5,000 for the three finalists who don't get the Freedom Award). See application process.
• $1,000 to the annual Lighthouse & Clarissa Dalloway Book Prizes for one woman’s unpublished poetry collection and one woman’s “everything but poetry” manuscript (respectively)
• $10,000 Shakespeare’s Sister Fellowship given to a woman playwright to fund and facilitate the completion of a new dramatic work
• 4 Orlando prizes of $1,000 each and publication in The Los Angeles Review awarded twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay by a women writers.

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American Poets Prizes, Academy of American Poets Numerous awards, prizes, fellowships for poetry in the United States, ranging in value from $1,000 to $100,000.
• Academy of American Poets Fellowship ($25,000 prize)
• Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award ($1,000)
• Harold Morton Landon Translation Award ($1,000)
• James Laughlin Award ($5,000 plus a weeklong residency in Miami Beach and distribution of the winning book to 1,000 members)
• Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize ($25,000)
• Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards ($10,000 book prize, and $25,000 fellowship)
• University & College Poetry Prizes
• Wallace Stevens Award ($100,000 stipend)

American Astronomical Society Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for textbook writing about astronomy at the upper-division undergraduate or graduate level. Books serving astronomy majors and graduate students have relatively small markets, and excellence in this area is rarely recognized, though such books serve a vital role in professional development.

American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA) writing awards . See Submission rules.. ASJA also infrequently presents a Conscience-in-Media Award, and frequently helps writers through the ASJA Writers Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF), to established freelance writers who, because of advancing age, illness, or disability, are unable to work.

American Society of News Editors (ASNE) awards for excellence in journalism News organizations of all sizes compete head-to-head in the contest’s 10 categories, with eight awards carrying cash prizes of $2500: Batten Medal for individual or team achievement in public service journalism, Burl Osborne Award for Editorial Leadership, Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence, Dori J. Maynard Award for Justice in Journalism, Frank A. Blethen Award for Local Accountability Reporting, Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing, O’Brien Fellowship Award for Impact in Public Service Journalism, Punch Sulzberger Award for Online Storytelling, Breaking News Writing Award, and Photojournalism Award.

ASCAP Awards (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) honor the achievements of established composers and songwriters. Many awards listed, of which this is a small sample:
---ASCAP Harold Arlen Film and Television Music Awards
---ASCAP Christian Music Awards
---ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award in recognition of lifetime achievement by composers and lyricists in musical theatre
---ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards
---ASCAP Vanguard Award in recognition of "the impact of new and developing musical genres, which help shape the future of music"

Asian American Literary Awards (Asian American Writers' Workshop) honor Asian American writers for excellence in three categories: fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) These honor works about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, in these categories: fiction/graphic fiction and nonfiction for adults, picture/illustrated books, and children's and young-adult literature.

The Aspen Words Literary Award A $35,000 annual award for an influential work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture. See the type of fiction eligible for this prize.

Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) awards
---Red Smith Award The highest sports journalism honor in the country
---Jack Berninger Award
---APSE student contest

Association of Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Awards (in these categories: Biography, Children's Books, General Interest, Inspirational, Prayer and Spirituality, Resources for Liturgy, Resources for Ministry, Scripture, Spanish, and Theology)

Association of Health Care Journalists Awards for Excellence AHJC awards recognize the best health reporting in print, broadcast, and online media. The contest was created by journalists for journalists and is not influenced or funded by commercial or special-interest groups. Award categories: Audio Reporting, Beat Reporting, Health Policy, Public Health, Trade, Business, Investigative, Consumer Feature, Student Reporting. Some of those categories are subdivided as large or small

Beat Reporting (all sizes),

Health Policy (large and small division),

Public Health (large and small division),

Trade (all sizes),

Business (large and small division--stories that explore where medicine and business intersect),

Investigative (large and small division--stories that shed light on things the public should know about, but government, private industry or others would rather remain secret),

Consumer/Feature (large and small division). Entries compete head-to-head no matter whether they appeared in magazines, newspapers, trade publications or on radio or television stations or websites.

See also various AHCJ professional development fellowships in section on Fellowships.

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Association of Health Care Journalists. AHCJ Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalists. Awards by journalists for journalists, to recognize the best health reporting in print, broadcast and online media. Awards in fourteen categories:

Beat Reporting (all sizes),

Health Policy (large and small division),

Public Health (large and small division),

Trade (all sizes),

Business (large and small division--stories that explore where medicine and business intersect),

Investigative (large and small division--stories that shed light on things the public should know about, but government, private industry or others would rather remain secret),

See also various AHCJ professional development fellowships in section on Fellowships.

Association of Writers & Writing Programs, AWP Award Series. Awards (with $$ amounts for 2022): AWP Prize for Creative Nonfiction ($2,500), AWP Prize for the Novel ($2,500), the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry ($5,500), the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction ($5,500), George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature ($2,000 honorarium), AWP Small Press Publisher Award ($2,000). See Guidelines.. Open to all authors writing in English regardless of nationality or residence.

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The Audie Awards (the Audies), the Oscars for audiobooks, sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (AP), recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment. Awards for General, Narrator, and Audiobook of the Year.

The Audio Verse awards Celebrating the best in free audio drama around the world. If you have to pay to listen to it, it's not eligible.

The Authors League Fund. The Fund gives open-ended, interest-free, no-strings-attached loans to professional writers and dramatists who find themselves in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income or other misfortune.

•A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L •M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z

Bad Sex in Fiction Award (The Guardian). Scroll down to find several articles about the award. This award elicits its own reviews. such as 'Perfunctory' sex is pretty good, even with public shaming (Douglas Perry, Oregonian).See also See Bad Sex Awards: the worst sex scenes in modern fiction (Telegraph UK, 12-3-19).

The Baillie Gifford Prize £50,000 ($64,117) to the winning book, and £1,000 each to those shortlisted. "The most prestigious non-fiction prize in the UK," to reward "the very best in high quality non-fiction" published in English. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. Formerly known as The Samuel Johnson Prize. See Rules and Conditions of Entry. Authors of any nationality are eligible, and their books can originally have been published in any language provided that they are first published in English in the UK between the specified dates.

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (now the Women's Prize for Fiction (see below), formerly the Orange Prize).

BAFTA Awards , the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for film, television and games, including children's entertainment, presented at annual ceremonies across the UK and in Los Angeles. See Wikipedia lists of best films.

The Bancroft Prizes, awarded by Columbia University, for authors of distinguished work in American History (including biography) and Diplomacy. For works originally written in English and published in the Americas (North, Central, and South).

Banipal Trust for Arab Literature A prize of £3,000 awarded annually for a book of poetry or fiction translated from Arabic into English, published for the first time in English during the previous year.

The Bard Fiction Prize $30,000 cash award to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen 39 years old or younger, plus an appointment as writer in residence at Bard College for one semester.

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Awards

Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism, The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism celebrates the best in print and online investigative business journalism each year, with awards named for two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists: Don Barlett and Jim Steele. Find rules and application here. Deadline for submissions: July 31. Awards presented in November (a gold award of $5,000, a silver prize of $2,000 and a bronze award of $1,000).

Barry Awards for Best Crime Fiction (given by Deadly Pleasures Magazine and Mystery News)

Bay Area Planet Earth Awards for best travel article or essay (Bay Area Travel Writers)

Sharon Begley Science Reporting Award (Council for the Advancement of Science Writing) A career prize, recognizing the accomplishments of a mid-career science journalist, and a grant of at least $20,000 to enable the winner to undertake a significant reporting project.

Bellevue Literary Review prizes
~Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry
~Goldenberg Prize for Fiction
~Felice Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction

Bellwether Prize for Fiction $25,000 plus publication, for "a literature of social change," established by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate "socially engaged fiction" that addresses "issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships."

Benjamin Franklin Awards, (Independent Book Publishers Association, IBPA) awards in 55 categories, recognizing excellence in book editorial and design, for independent publishers. See also Benjamin Franklin Digital Awards (honoring the best in digital book innovation)

Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for best full-length bookswritten by an author or authors whose primary profession is print, broadcast, or electronic journalism, sponsored by New York Public Library. Factors considered: the subject's significance, the book's influence on on public opinion or policy, and the quality of reporting and writing.

Best in Business Awards, presented annually by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). This list of 2019 honorees shows the range of honors and variety of winners.

The Best of Photojournalism (NPPA, the contest designed by photojournalists for photojournalists)

Best Shortform Science Writing (SciShortForm, Medium and National Association of Science Writers) The best science writing online, curated quarterly. Nominations crowdsourced. To nominate a story, tag @SciShortform on Twitter with a link to the piece. See Roundups of previous Best Science Shortform Writing

Between the Covers (rare-book store's guide to literary awards and book lists)

The Bibliographical Society of America offers numerous fellowships, ranging in value from $3,000 to $6,000, which support bibliographical inquiry and research in the history of the book trades and in publishing history. It also awards a few prizes:
---William L. Mitchell Prize for bibliography or documentary work on early British periodicals or newspapers
---Justin G. Schiller Prize to encourage scholarship in the bibliography of historical children’s books
---St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize, which encourages scholarship in the bibliography of American history and literature.

Robert W. Bingham Prize (PEN) awards a cash stipend of $25,000 to exceptionally talented fiction writers whose debut work -- a first novel or collection of short stories published in the award year -- represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise.

Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism ($20,000, and check out the other Nieman Foundation awards on that page)

Black Caucus Literature Awards (Black Caucus of the American Library Association awards for fiction, first novel, nonfiction by African American author and Outstanding Contribution to Publishing for unique book positively depicting African Americans)

Blog awards (Wikipedia entry)
• Weblog awards for 2013 (Bloggies)
• The Webby Awards, an international award honoring excellence on the Internet -- for over 100+ Website, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile & App categories -- presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Two honors are presented in every category: The Webby Award and The People's Voice Award. This is different from the previous listing.
• Online Media Awards (somewhat British-oriented) include online editor of the year; digital writer of the year; best commentary/blogging; best video journalism.
• The Duck of the Draw (Simon Waldman, Guardian, on the Guardian's Best British Blog award 2002). See also Weblog competition a 'bloody stupid idea'? (Simon Waldman vs. Tom Coates)

The Bob and Diane Fund supports an annual $5,000 grant for visual storytellers—photographers, video producers, multimedia artists—to support the completion, publication, exhibition and/or screening of photography and/or multimedia workfthat documents Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry A privately funded $10,000 poetry award given biennially under the auspices of the Library of Congress. The Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry recognizes the most distinguished book of poetry written by an American and published during the preceding two years.

Bollingen Prize for Poetry at Yale ($100,000), a prestigious literary honor bestowed every two years on an American poet, in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.

Book Awards for Self-Published Authors (Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer)

Booker Prize (previously known as the Man Booker Prize, this distinguished award for contemporary fiction, worth £50,000, was originally for writers from the British Commonwealth, Ireland, Zimbabwe and South Africa); American authors are now eligible if the book is also published in England. See readers' guides for Man Booker titles and rules and guidelines for entering submissions for both the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize (the latter, also worth £50,000, for best fiction translated into English--a novel or a collection of short stories--the money divided between author and translator). Prizes don't always go to the big publishers, especially for books in translation: Man Booker International prize 2019 longlist sees small publishers win big (Alison Flood, The Guardian, 3-12-19) See also FAQs. When first awarded (in 1969), the Booker Prize was limited to novels by authors from Britain, Ireland, and the Commonwealth nations. In 2014 American novelists became eligible (if published in England) and publishers with previously long-listed titles were allowed more entries. "Authors who have previously been shortlisted will still be allowed to automatically enter new titles, and there will still be a call in option for judges to request books that were not originally submitted." Why no longer the Man Booker prize? The "hedge fund company Man Group announced it was ending its 18-year relationship with Britain's most prestigious literary award." The Booker Prize Trustees Search for New Sponsor After Man Group Exit (Caroline Davies, The Guardian, 1-27-19).
For insights into the award process, see The 12 Biggest Booker Prize Controversies (Thomas Flynn, The Daily Beast, 7-23-13). See also 'Crazy but fantastic': Man Booker prize pitches tiny publishers into big league (Alison Flood, The Guardian, 7-29-16) A year after Marlon James and his indie press Oneworld beat publishing giants to win the Man Booker, three independent publishers have made the 2016 longlist. But what effect does the ‘mother of all prizes’ have on tiny teams?
See also: The Guardian's Not the Booker prize. Sam Jordison leads a hunt by readers of the Guardian books blog to find the year's best book, which may – or may not – tally with the assessment of the Man Booker prize judges. See The magnificent 70: Guardian Not the Booker prize longlist announced (2015). And from a working-class perspective, be sure to read Class, Race, and the Case for Genre Fiction in the Canon: Adrian McKinty on Reading the Real Giants of Literature (Adrian McKinty, Literary Hub, 9-27-17) And The Man Booker Prize: By the Numbers (Emily Temple, LitHub, 6-25-18) How Many Story Collections Have Made the Shortlist? Who's Won It Most? What proportion of men and women? How many writers of color?

Man Booker International Prize (worth £60,000, awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language). There were also some one-off Special Prizes.

The BookLife Prize in Fiction ($5,000 to outstanding finalist, plus a profile in Publishers Weekly). This annual writing contest sponsored by BookLife and Publishers Weekly seeks to support independent authors and discover great works of unpublished or self-published fiction in six categories: Romance/Erotica; Mystery/Thriller; Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; General Fiction; YA Fiction; and Middle Grade Fiction.

Books for a Better Life Award (National MS Society, NYC-Southern NY chapter) Awarding self-improvement authors whose messages are aligned with the chapter’s mission of inspiring people to live their best lives. Awards in several categories: Childcare/Parenting, Cookbook, First Book, Green, Inspirational Memoir, Motivational, Psychology, Relationships, Spiritual, and Wellness)

Booktrust administers many writing awards and contests previously administered by other organizations, and some new ones. Here's Booktrust's story.

The Booktrust Best Book Awards with Amazon Kindle.

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Borders Original Voices Award Winners (Goodreads listing through 2009--awards appear to have been discontinued after that. Was $5,000 award in each of four categories)

Boston Authors Club. Annual prizes of $1,000 each for two books (one for young readers) written by a Boston-area author. Poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (including creative nonfiction).

W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction (American Library Association), $5,000 prize for winning book published in year prior to the award.

Bram Stoker Awards (Horror Writers Association)

Michael Braude Award for Light Verse, a $5000 biennial award for light verse written in English regardless of the writer's country of origin (one of many awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters).

The Bridge Award ($1o,000, Arts in the Armed Forces, recognizing an emerging playwright of exceptional talent who served or is currently serving in the US military)

British Fantasy Awards (British Fantasy Society)

Brit Writers Awards Jane Smith of How Publishing Really Works originally wrote about suspect aspects of these awards--a marketing gimmick for a self-publishing arm? Here Writer Beware writes about the awards being "dogged by allegations of loose judging standards and poor communication," etc.

Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellowship to study principles of free market and limited government (Competitive Enterprise Institute)

Brown Foundation. The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation awards yearly grants ($1,000) awards yearly grants for full-length plays, screenplays, musicals or operas that present the gay and lesbian lifestyle in a positive manner and that are based on, or inspired by, a historic person, culture, event, or work of art.

John Burroughs Association Literary Awards
• John Burroughs Medal (for distinguished books of natural history)
• John Burroughs Nature Essay Award (for outstanding natural history writing in a published essay)
• Riverby Awards (for exceptional natural history books for young readers)

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (Where “WWW” means “Wretched Writers Welcome") For most wretched first sentence of a novel.

Cabot Prizes. The Maria Moors Cabot Prize, the oldest international prizes in journalism, are awarded each fall to journalists in the Western hemisphere who, through their sustained and distinguished body of work, have contributed to Inter-American understanding. Occasionally the award is given to an organization that has made a similar contribution.

CaFÉ for Artists (CallForEntry.org) is the leading online application and adjudication system for managing calls for entry for juried art shows. Sophisticated yet easy-to-use, CaFÉ allows call administrators to streamline every step of the online application and review process. CaFÉ was designed for artists and arts administrators by artists and arts administrators to be intuitive, user friendly, and affordable and can be tailored to nearly any call-for-entry process thanks to a robust and flexible management system. Launched in 2005, CaFÉ was designed with public art projects, artist fellowships, juried visual art competitions and exhibitions in mind but can accommodate nearly any type of call, including art commissions, public art RFQs, invitationals, residencies, fellowships, mini grants, awards, and more!
I include this entry (which is not geared to awards for writers, editors, and journalists) because a writer friend who has submitted photos for juried competitions explained that it lists all the competitions, dates, etc. that organizations, museums, etc., submit to it. The submitters pay to be listed. They read the listings to find shows they want to try for. Some will accept all media; some just photography, etc. If it appeals to me to be juried into a show, I upload my photos and pay the amount per photo required. (Can be something like 5 photos for $45 or thereabouts.) Then Cafe submits them to the source of the competition for jurying.
• Five Tips for Getting into Juried Art Shows (Karen Leland, Artists Network, 2-13-09)
• What is the difference between curated and juried? (Harriete Estel Berman, Ask Harriet, 10-27-11)

The Caine Prize for African Writing (£10,000 and prestige) is awarded annually to a previously published short story by an African writer. The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submissions deadline. For 2024 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between 1st April 2019 and 14th April 2024.
Entries must be more than 3,000 words or less than 10,000 words. Writers must be over 18 years of age at the time of submission.
Entries must be submitted by a publisher. This includes publishers of physical and digital books, literary journals, magazines, and arts oriented websites. Publishers are encouraged to submit multiple short stories as long as they do not submit more than one story by the same author. Self-published and unpublished short stories are not eligible. Entries must be submitted by a publisher.
See Ellah Allfrey's discussion of whether there is such a thing as African writing in this Guardian story in 2010: The winning qualities of the Caine Prize.

Calibre Essay Prize (Australian Book Review) $5,000 first prize, $2,500 second. Open to all essayists writing in English, for essays of between 2,000 and 5,000 words on any subject. Welcomes essays of all kinds: personal or political, literary or speculative, traditional or experimental.

Canadian Book Awards
• Scotiabank Giller Prize ($25,000, for excellence in Canadian fiction – long format or short stories)
• The Governor General's Literary Awards (Canada Council for the Arts) celebrating the best in Canadian literature, recognizing finalists and winners in French and in English, in seven categories: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, young people's literature (text) and young people's literature (illustrated books), and translation.
• Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (Writers' Trust of Canada, $50,000, recognizes Canadian writers of exceptional talent for the year's best novel or short story collection as selected by a three-member, independent judging panel)
• Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction ($60,000 for winner, $5,000 for 3 to 5 finalists) See guidelines
• RBC Taylor Prize $25,000, recognizing excellence in the ﬁeld of literary nonﬁction, to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
• Canada Reads, an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program airs in two editions, the English-language Canada Reads on CBC Radio One, and the French-language Le Combat des livres on Ici Radio-Canada Première. A "longlist" of 15 books gets narrowed to five, the Shortlist, and then one winner.
• British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation ($50,000 to the winner, and $5,000 each to the finalists)
• Canadian Book Awards (a fuller list of Canadian book awards, from Livres Canada Books)
• Quill & Quire updates on what's happening with Canadian book awards.

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Carl Sandburg Literary Awards (Chicago Public Library and Chicago Public Library Foundation) The Carl Sandburg Literary Award honors an author whose significant body of work has enhanced the public's awareness of the written word. The 21st Century Award honors an early-career author with ties to Chicago.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction The longlist, shortlist, and eventual winners reflect the expertise of a seven-member selection committee of library professionals from across the country who work closely with adult readers. Winning authors (one for fiction, one for nonfiction) receive a $5,000 cash award. Established in 2012, the first single-book awards for adult books given by the American Library Association, they reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers.

CASE Awards (Council for Advancement and Support of Education, many of them for writing and publishing)

Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism honor distinguished coverage of disadvantaged children, youth and families. Read these First Person narratives by honorees about how they covered their winning stories, with tips (Reporting Best Practices) for fellow reporters. Journalism Center on Children and Families

CASW Awards (Council for the Advancement of Science Writing)
---Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting $3,000, to honor a writer for a body of work published or broadcast within the last five years which, for reasons of uncommon clarity, accuracy, breadth of coverage, enterprise, originality, insight and narrative power, has made a profound and lasting contribution to public awareness and understanding of critical advances in medical science and their impact on human health and well-being.
---Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists under 30 (to encourage young science writers by recognizing outstanding reporting and writing in any field of science, limited to non-technical, print and online journalism) $1000 and expenses to attend ScienceWriters conference, limited to non-technical, print and online journalism).
---Sharon Begley Science Reporting Award A career prize, recognizing the accomplishments of a mid-career science journalist, and a grant of at least $20,000 to enable the winner to undertake a significant reporting project.
---National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships primarily aimed at journalists in their first decade of professional work, designed to enable fellows to maintain their regular employment while attending concentrated training opportunities across the country, many of which will lead to stories for their employer or clients
---Travel fellowships Cover the cost of attending the annual New Horizons in Science briefings for journalists. The maximum reimbursement provided for travel to ScienceWriters 2023 is $1,200.
---Taylor/Blakeslee Graduate Fellowships Fellowships of $6,000 to working journalists and students of outstanding ability who have been accepted for enrollment in graduate-level programs in science writing.
---Taylor/Blakeslee Project Fellowships Project fellowships offer a small grant for an independent reporting project.

CMA Book Awards (Catholic Media Association) Many categories. Honor outstanding work of publishers, authors, and book editors who serve Catholic readers.

Cat Writers' Association Communications Contest All Certificate of Excellence winning entries become finalists for theMUSE Medallion in their category.

Center for Plain Language ClearMark and WonderMark awards recognize the best and worst use of plain language each year in both the private and public sectors. The ClearMark awards celebrate documents and web sites that succeed in communicating clearly. The WonderMark awards "are your chance to tell the world what’s not plain. Forms, signage, websites. Disclaimers, instructions, legal documents."

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Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize ($10,000 to winner, $1,000 to shortlisted authors).
Other Center for Fiction awards:
---The Christopher Doheny Award ($10,000. Recognizes excellence in fiction or nonfiction on the topic of serious physical illness by a writer who has personally dealt or is dealing with life-threatening illness, either his or her own or that of a close relative or friend.)
---Maxwell E. Perkins Award to honor the work of an editor, publisher, or agent who over the course of his or her career has discovered, nurtured and championed writers of fiction in the United States.
---Roger Shattuck Prize for Criticism devoted to the support and encouragement of emerging critics.

Chanticleer International Book Contest ("The CIBAs") 18 fiction and 7 nonfiction categories (scroll down here for links to all categories). Entry fee $99 per book.

The Chautauqua Prize , a national prize that celebrates a book of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honors the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts--winner receives $7,500 and a week-long residency at the famed Chautauqua Institution in New York. Full-length books of fiction and narrative/literary nonfiction are eligible. Nonfiction may include history, science, religion, memoir, biography, journalism, and all sub-genres of creative nonfiction. Collections of short stories and collections of essays by one author are also eligible.

Chicano/Latino Literary Prize Awards outstanding Hispanic American writers, annually.

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Children and young adults. Awards for books written for children and young adults

American Library Association (ALA) awards:
• Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originating in a country other than the United States and in a language other than English and subsequently translated into English for U.S. publication
• Belpré Medal to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth
• Caldecott Medal Winners and Honor Books, to the artist of the most distinguished book for children
• Children's Literature Legacy Award (CLLA) honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a significant and lasting contribution to children's literature through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children's lives and experiences.
• Excellent in Early Learning Digital Award to a digital media producer that has created distinguished digital media for an early learning audience.
• ((Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
• Newbery Medal(ALSC) to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
• Odyssey Award to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.
• Sibert Medal The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year.
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Notable Children's Lists (also ALA)
• Notable Children's Lists
• Notable Children's Media
• Notable Children's Recordings

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Other children's and YA book awards

• Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades (Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society) recognize exceptional books, fiction or nonfiction, for children or young adults, that are based on folklore.
• Americas Award (CLASP, Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs) Up to two awards (for primary and secondary reading levels) are given in recognition of U.S. published works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.
• Bank Street Awards for Children's Books Officially: Children’s Book Committee Awards. See reviewer guidelines and Submission guidelines. Among awards:
---The Josette Frank Award for a work of fiction of outstanding literary merit for young readers in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally
---The Claudia Lewis Award for the best poetry book of the year for young readers
---The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for a nonfiction book that serves as an inspiration to young readers.
• The Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards Winners and two Honor Books named in each of three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. The winning titles must be published in the United States but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. Announced each fall at the New England Library Association conference.
• The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Book Awards are awarded annually by CILIP and the Youth Libraries Group (by children’s librarians) to books for children and young people that create outstanding reading experiences through writing or illustration.
To be eligible for the Awards, titles must have been first published in the UK or Ireland between 1 September and 31 August of the previous calendar year. Books first published in another country must have been co-published in the UK or Ireland within three months of the original publication date.
The book must be written in the English language (either as an original work in English or a first English translation of a foreign-language work) and specifically published for children and young people.
---Carnegie Medal (Wikipedia entry, which lists winners over time: a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young people, conferred by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), which calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing." (Winner gets a gold medal and £500 worth of books donated to the winner's chosen library, plus, since 2016, a £5,000 cash prize to the winner from a bequest by Colin Mears, the children's book collector).
---Kate Greenaway medal (also from CILIP), a companion to the Carnegie Medal, awarded for "distinguished illustration in a book for children," also with £500 worth of books donated to the illustrator's chosen library and a £5000 cash prize to the author from a bequest by the children's book collector Colin Mears.
• Grateful American Book Prize Recognizes authors who create absorbing works of literature for 7th to 9th graders about American events and personalities, created out of concern that history in the classroom has been subjugated by science and math.
• Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Awards Social justice narratives for today’s children and their adults.
• Ezra Jack Keats Award given annually to an outstanding new writer and new illustrator for books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world.
• National Book Award for Young People's Literature, one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers."
• Children’s Africana Book Awards (CABA)
• Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.
• 100 Great Children's Books (100 years, New York Public Library)
• Amelia Bloomer Book List (ALA) an annual annotated book list (or bibliography) of well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content, intended for young readers (ages birth through 18).
• Best Fiction for Young Adults (YALSA--Young Adult Library Services Association, ALA)
• Teen Book Finder Database (YALSA) A one-stop shop for finding books which have been selected for teens from 12 to 18 years of age, award-winning titles, and the titles on YALSA's selected lists.
• Best Books for Young Adults (YALSA)
• The Coretta Scott King Book Awards given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
• Margaret A. Edwards Award (YALSA and School Library Journal) honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
• Printz Award (YALSA) The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
• Schneider Family Book Awards (ALA) honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
• Vermont Golden Dome Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award) honors excellence in children's literature. Each year since 1957, Vermont students in grades four through eight have selected their favorite book from a list of nominees. Award winners.

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MORE LISTS OF AWARDS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

These tend to list the award books, or link to the awards site, but not to detail where to submit books for consideration.
• Children's & Young Adult Literature: Book Lists & Book Awards (Clemson Libraries) Awards: Contains a really full list of children's and YA awards, including many not listed here.
• Children's Book Awards - from other organizations (ALA)

• Children's Africana Book Awards (CABA) (Africa Access), presented annually to the authors and illustrators of the best children's and young adult books on Africa published or republished in the U.S.
• Children's Book Awards - from other organizations (Association for Library Science to Children, ALSC)
• Awards and Best-of-the-Year Lists (Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, UIniversity of Wisconsin-Madison)
• Children's Book Awards (David K. Brown,The Children's Literature Web Guide) Excellent resource in terms of various awards (international, Canadian, U.S., British, Australian, New Zealand, Children's Choice, and Best Book of the Year). Actual award listings go only through 1998, but do list the award competitions. See, for example, U.S. Children's Book Awards and Children's Book Awards Around the World (these take you to fuller lists).
• Awards for Children's Literature (University of Illinois at Urbana). Lists all awards for Caldecott Medal Books, Hans Christian Andersen Award, Newbery Medal Books, and Schneider Family Book Award.
• Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature (compiled by Lisa R. Bartle). See especially Calendar of awards and Explanation of awards.
• Children's Book Awards (English-language awards worldwide, on the Children's Literature Web Guide, through 1996)
• A selection of annual book and media Lists and Awards for Children and Teens (Marie Bindeman, Nioga Library System, 12/01, 12/03)
• Reading Rockets (award-winning and notable kids' books)
• The Best Children's Books of the Year (The Children's Book Committee, Bank Street College of Education). See list of winners from 1943 on.
• Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards Finalists & Winners (Children's Book Council) Winners are selected by kids and teens of all ages.
• Children’s Choice Book Awards Book Lists for 2016 (Children's Book Council)
• Children's Choices Reading Lists (International Literacy Association)
• State by State Award Lists (Bound to Stay Bound Bookstore)

END OF LISTS OF AWARDS FOR CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

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Christopher Awards (established by Christopher founder Father James Keller to salute media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit" -- that "encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others."
Answers to FAQs.

The Christy Awards (honoring excellence in Christian fiction)

Cicero Speechwriting Awards (Vital Speeches of the Day, for speeches submitted in English)

The Arthur C. Clarke award for science fiction first published in the UK.

ClearMark and WonderMark awards (Center for Plain Language, recognizing the best and worst in plain language each year in government, nonprofit, and private companies)

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Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting (Council for the Advancement of Science, $3,000 and a framed certificate)

Collier Prize for State Government Accountability (College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida) The $25,000 Collier Prize, one of the largest journalism prizes in the nation, is designed to encourage coverage of state government, focusing on investigative and political reporting. The prize will be awarded annually at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. In 2019 it went to Polluted by Money (The Oregonian), How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in the America.

Colorado Prize for Poetry

ComicCon awards (awarded at the ComicCon International, a major multigenre entertainment and comic convention
• Will Eisner Awards, for creative achievement in American comic books (equivalent, say, to the Oscars for American comic books)
• Icon Award, presented to individuals or organizations who have been instrumental in bringing comics and/or the popular arts to a wider audience.
• Inkpot Award given to individuals for their contributions to the worlds of comics, science fiction/fantasy, film, television, animation, and fandom services
• Clampett Award to honor those people in comics and the popular arts who have worked to help others.
• Finger Award for excellence in comic book writing
• Russ Manning Award for promising newcomer.

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Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature (CLMP) These prizes celebrate indie-published books and magazines that make a significant contribution to our literary culture and the publishers that strive to introduce important voices to readers far and wide. Prizes awarded in the categories of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, magazine/general excellence, and magazine/best debut.

Commonwealth Short Fiction Prize (unearths, develops and promotes the best new fiction from across the British Commonwealth--writers from Nigeria, Canada, India, Pakistan, the UK,m and other parts of the Commonwealth). Regional winners of the Commonwealth Book Prize receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £10,000. Regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize receive £1,000 and the overall winner receives £5,000. In 2014 the organization will stop offering a book prize and concentrate on the short story--see eligibility and entry rules.

Communication Arts competitions (for advertising, design, illustration, interactive media photography)

Content Marketing Awards (a combination of the Magnum Opus Awards and the Orange Awards -- for people who create content for organizations)

Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize ($1,000 Canadian) Entry fee: $35 CAD for Canadian entries, $40 USD for U.S. entries, and $45 USD elsewhere. Additional entries are $15 CAD per submission. Deadline August.

Coogler awards (1975-2008) This prize for Worst Book of the Year (least-conservative book by a politician or about U.S. politics) was invented by conservative political commentator Emmett Tyrrell. Named in honor of J. Gordon Coogler, an American poet notorious for his bad verse, this booby prize is celebrated annually in conservative organs, including Human Events (scroll down this Wikipedia entry for its list of Most Harmful Books) and The American Spectator. Award winners, linked to by Goodreads, include Jimmy Carter (winner three times), Jon Stewart, Al Franken, Michael A. Bellesiles.

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Cookbook awards

• IACP Cookbook Awards. The International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards celebrate the year's most outstanding food and beverage publications
• James Beard Foundation Book Awards. It appears individuals don't submit for this, but awards are presented for cookbooks in American Cooking, General Cooking, Baking and Dessert, Beverage, Cooking from a Professional Point of View, International, Writing and Literature, Photography, Reference and Scholarship, Single Subject. There are also awards in media and among professional chefs. You can download a list of recent winners on the website. Here are past winners as posted on Powell's Books.

Costa Book Awards (These were the Whitbread Literary Awards, starting in 1971, then Whitbread Book Awards, from 1985 on (named for the brewery and owner of restaurant chains). In 2006 Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship.) Prestigious and popular literary prizes with sizable cash awards for U.K. and Ireland-based authors in these categories: best novel, best first novel, poetry, biography, and children's book. The winner in each category receives £5,000 ($8,100), and then one of the five winning books is selected as the overall Costa Book of the Year, receiving a further £30,000--for a total prize fund of £55,000. Will these awards continue? Read Why are so many literary prizes closing? (Ellen Peirson-Hagger, New Statesman, 7-22-22) and The end of the Costa Book Awards: a blow for children’s literature (Phillip Pullman, New Statesman, 6-22) Children’s writers used to be treated with slovenly contempt. The Whitbread and Costa showed we were worth taking seriously.

Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) awards and fellowships See CASW awards.

Council on Foreign Relations presents an Arthur Ross Book Award recognizes books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of foreign policy or international relations.

Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards NBC News’ Al Roker and Savannah Sellers host a special celebrating the best in climate journalism. Winners listed for 2020 awards, the first round of a new award.

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Creative Writing Contests (which may mean short stories, essays, memoirs, poems, novels, plays, etc.). Many, many contests, large and small, can be found on these lists:
• Poets & Writers' excellent list
• Free Writing Contests (Poets & Writers annual issue about Writing Contestsoffers a complete guide to nearly 100 literary competitions that charge no entry fees.)
• Manuscript Editing's list
• Freelance Writing's list
• Pearl Luke's list
• Oliver Abrahim Kahn's site
• Writer's Digest competitions

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Crime Fiction Awards. Omnimystery.com's master list of all the awards for outstanding writing in the field of mystery, suspense, thriller and crime fiction. Under each listing lists all the books that won the awards, starting with the first year!

Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Daggers (for "quality crime writing")

Croly Award for Excellence in Journalism Covering Issues of Concern to Women ($1000 given by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs to journalists who best capture the courage, vision, and spirit of Jane Cunningham Croly)

Cundill History Prize (McGill University of Montreal) Grand prize US$75,000 and two 'Recognition of Excellence' Prizes of US$10,000 each for the year's best work of history written in English.Open to writers from any country and goes to a book that has a profound literary, social, and academic impact in the area of history. The author will have published a book in English (or a book that has been translated to English) in the area of history. A distinguished jury seeks the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal.

Cybils. The Cybils, or Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards, are for kid friendly, blogger approved books. Categories: book apps, easy reading, fantasy & science fiction (middle grade and young adult), graphic novels, middle grade fiction and nonfiction, young adult nonfiction, nonfiction picture books, poetry, and young adult fiction.

Dagger Awards (Crime Writers Association, UK)

Danahy Fiction Prize (Tampa Review, $1000, annual award)

David Cohen Prize for Literature, worth £40,000, established in 1992, has been awarded to novelists, dramatists, biographers, poets and essayists. The winner of the prize also chooses the recipient of the Clarissa Luard Award, worth £12,500 and also . funded by Arts Council England, which is given to a literature organization that supports young writers and readers or an individual writer under the age of 35.

Dayton Literary Peace Prize, inaugurated in 2006, is the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize invites nominations in adult fiction and nonfiction books published within the past year that have led readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view. Both awards carry a $10,000 cash prize. Download nomination form and guidelines (which give fuller guidance on what winning books should try to do).

Desert Writers Award The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers grants one $5,000 award in the spring of each year. Only proposals for literary or creative nonfiction book projects will be considered. No fiction or poetry proposals will be reviewed.

Dilys Award (Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, connecting criminally inclined readers with arresting mysteries), for mystery titles of the year that member booksellers most enjoyed selling, named for Dilys Winn, first mystery bookseller)

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Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize (WBUR and Boston University) $5,000, awarded to a rising public media journalist 35 years or younger, for a news story or segment — whether broadcast, podcast or published online, using any combination of audio and other media — of significance and quality.

Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma honor innovative, ethical and effective reporting of violence, trauma and tragedy across all media platforms.Telling the Hardest Stories (Dart Center) Winners and judges of the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma break down the process behind three exemplary stories (short videos).

Dartmouth Medal (Reference & User Services Association, RUSA, American Library Association) honors the creation of a reference work of outstanding quality and significance.

Data Journalism Awards(International Journalists' Network, supported by Google News Lab and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in partnership with Chartbeat) Awards are given for outstanding work in the field of data journalism worldwide, to examples of data-driven articles or investigations, data-driven applications and storytelling projects that use data visualisation, to cover topics relevant to the general public and aiming at having an impact on sociey. Awards given in several categories: Best data journalism team; Best individual portfolio;The Chartbeat award for the best use of data in a breaking news story, within first 36 hours; Data journalism website of the year; Data visualisation of the year; Innovation in data journalism; Investigation of the year; News data app of the ye; arOpen data award; Student and young data journalist of the year; ‘Small newsrooms’; and 'Public choice'.

Dayton Literary Peace Prize, inaugurated in 2006 and an outgrowth of the Dayton Peace Prize, is the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize invites nominations in adult fiction and nonfiction books published within the past year that have led readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view. Both awards carry a $10,000 cash prize. One award is the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.

Deadline Club Awards (prestigious journalism awards). The Deadline Club is the New York City chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. It offers awards in an amazing list of categories: The Daniel Pearl Award for Investigative Reporting; Newspaper or Digital (Beat Reporting, Feature Reporting, Spot News Reporting, Enterprise Reporting, Local News Reporting); Reporting by Newspapers with a Circulation under 100,000, Reporting by Independent Digital Media; Magazine (Personal Service, Profile, Investigative Reporting, Feature Reporting), Arts Reporting, Business (Feature, Investigative Reporting), Opinion Writing; Science, Technology, Medical or Environmental Reporting; Sports Reporting; Spot News Photo, Feature Photo, Sports Photo, Multimedia, Interactive Graphics and Animation; Digital Innovation; Radio or Audio (Spot News Reporting, Feature Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Digital Video Reporting); Local Television (Spot News Reporting, Feature, Series, or Investigative Reporting); National TV (Spot News Reporting, Feature, Series, or Investigative Reporting), The Mosaic Award; The Les Payne Award for Coverage on Communities of Color; Public Service Award.

Derringer Awards (The Short Fiction Mystery Society) For mystery or crime stories up to 20,000 words.

Disability, Awards for excellence in reporting on. In 2019 the contest the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) administered was called the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability. In 2018 the NCDJ administered the Ruderman Foundation Awards for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, a journalism contest devoted exclusively to recognizing excellence in the coverage of people with disabilities and disability issues.
• See a fuller list of Awards for writing about disabilities (on our sister site about health issues).

The Dish Awards (Andrew Sullivan) One DIDN'T want to win these: The Malkin Award is for shrill, hyperbolic, divisive and intemperate right-wing rhetoric. The Moore Award is for divisive, bitter and intemperate left-wing rhetoric. The Hewitt Award is for the most egregious attempts to label Barack Obama as un-American, alien, treasonous, and far out of the mainstream of American life and politics. The Dick Morris Award is for stunningly wrong political, social and cultural predictions. The Poseur Alert is for passages of prose that stand out for pretension, vanity and really bad writing designed to look like profundity. The Hathos Alert is for moments when you want to look away but cannot. (Hathos is the attraction to something you really can’t stand; it’s the compulsion of revulsion.) The Yglesias Award is for writers, politicians, columnists or pundits who actually criticize their own side, make enemies among political allies, and generally risk something for the sake of saying what they believe. Those are shortened versions of descriptions on the Dish website. These awards are no longer given, but the entry stays here to remind us that works deserving the awards are still being published.

Diversity, Awards for works supporting.
• Authors Take Publishing's Diversity Issues into Their Own Hands (John Maher, PW, 5-29-2020)
• We Need Diverse Books Launches New Internship Grants For Adult Publishing (We Need Diverse Books, 3-4-2020)
• Awards that Celebrate Diversity in Children’s Literature (PDF, Laura Schulte-Cooper's links, 2015)

Documentary film awards
• IDA Documentary Film Awards The International Documentary Association (IDA) celebrates the best nonfiction films and programs of the year.
• The Ridenhour Prize ("fostering the spirit of courage and truth") is given to a documentary film that in the view of the judges best reflects the legacy of Ron Ridenhour–journalist, whistleblower, truth-teller and social activist. The Prize seeks to recognize a documentary that defends the public interest, advances or promotes social justice, or illuminates a more just vision of society.
• Golden Globe Awards for Best Documentary (Wikipedia entry, listing winners)
• Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Documentary Feature "Many critically acclaimed documentaries were never nominated. Examples include Paris Is Burning, Crumb, Hoop Dreams, The Thin Blue Line and Fahrenheit 9/11. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, at the time the highest-grossing documentary film in movie history, was ruled ineligible because Moore had opted to have it played on television prior to the 2004 election. Previously, the 1982 winner Just Another Missing Kid had already been broadcast in Canada and won that country's ACTRA award for excellence in television at the time of its nomination. The controversy over Hoop Dreams' exclusion was enough to have the Academy Awards begin the process to change its documentary voting system."
• Documentary Film Awards Wikipedia's list is the fullest I've seen.
• Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film (Wikipedia list of award winners)
• BAFTA Award for Best Documentary (British Academy Television Awards, Wikipedia list)
• Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Documentary Film

Dog Writers Association of America writing competition

Dramatists Guild awards
---Lifetime Achievement Award (for theatrical writings) In 2016, the Lifetime Achievement Award was called the Career Achievement Award.
---DLDF Defender Award (recognizing an individual or group’s efforts in support of free expression in the dramatic arts)
---Flora Roberts Award (presented to a theatre professional in recognition of distinguished work in the theatre and to encourage the continuation of that work)
---Frederick Loewe Award (presented to a composer recognizing achievement in a theatrical score presented in the previous theatrical season)
---Horton Foote Playwrighting Award (presented to a dramatist whose work seeks to plumb the ineffable nature of being human)
---Hull-Warriner Award (The only award given by dramatists for dramatists. Presented annually by the Dramatists Guild Council to an author or team of authors in recognition of their play or musical dealing with controversial subjects involving the fields of political, religious or social mores of the times.)
---Lanford Wilson Award (Established by the Estate of Lanford Wilson and presented by the Dramatists Guild Council to a dramatist based primarily on their work as an early career playwright.)

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, $50,000 to the bet full-length work of fiction (at least 25,000 words) by an author of any ethnicity from any country, which predominantly features themes based on South Asian culture, politics, history, or people. (South Asia is defined as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Burma and Afghanistan.)

Duff Cooper Prize (aka the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize) to a work of nonfiction (history, biography, politics or poetry) published in English within the current year by a UK publisher. Award winner gets £5,000 ($8,330).

DuPont-Columbia Award (recognizing excellence in broadcast journalism -- one of the most prestigious prizes in broadcast, documentary and digital news.

The Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers. The £60,000 University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded to the best published or produced literary work in the English language, written by an author under 30. It is open to works of fiction, drama, and poetry in English--all genres in which Thomas worked.

Dzanc Books prizes and contests
• Dzanc Books/Disquiet Open Borders Book Prize ( $5,000 advance and publication, for winning book-length manuscripts in fiction or nonfiction exhibiting a marked commitment to mutual understanding and cultural exchange across the globe
• Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction (a $10,000 advance and publication for a book manuscript that exhibits daring, original, and innovative writing)
• Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize (a $2,500 advance and publication for the winning short-form imaginative and inventive writing)

E

Eclipse Awards (National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, which also presents Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing, Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing, and Walter Haight Award for lifetime excellence in turf writing)

Econ4 Video Remix contest "Share your vision for an economy that works for people, for the planet, and for the future! Econ4 is launching our first Video Remix Contest. Using the clips we provide, we want you to remix, re-edit, and re-imagine economics in video form." See "The Greatest Economics Lesson" (This Short Film Explains Why Businesses Should Maximize Value Over Profit (Edwin Rios, Mother Jones, 5-6-16)

ECPA Christian Book Awards (awards in seven categories from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association)

Edgar Awards (Mystery Writers of America)

Edelstein Prize cash award and a plaque to the author of an outstanding scholarly book in the history of technology (formerly the Dexter prize). One of several awards presented by the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT)

Editing, Awards for
• ACES, The Society for Editing
---ACES Headline Contest (rewards good headline writing in print and digital media--honors those who masterfully write clever, sophisticated, unique headlines)
---Glamann Award (recognizing people and organizations that have significantly contributed to our society and the craft of copy editing)
---Robinson Prize ($2000, honors a "copy editor of the year" whose work exemplifies the values that ACES promotes--one copy editor whose work demonstrates exceptional effectiveness)
---ACES Research Award (an award designed to bridge the gap between academia and working journalists and provide research in editing to working copy editors and managers)
• Council of Science Editors
---CSE Award for Meritorious Achievement
---CSE Distinguished Service Award
---CSE Certificate of Appreciation
• Council of Editors of Learned Journals
---Distinguished Literary Editor Award
---Paranassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement
• Editors Canada
---Tom Fairley Award to an exceptional editor who played an important role in the success of a project completed in English or French.
---Karen Virag Award recognizes the efforts of an editor or an organization to raise the profile of editing in their community
---President's Award for Volunteer Service, including the Lee d'Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award
---Editors Canada honorary life members
• PEN
---PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing (PEN America) Honors a magazine editor whose high literary standards and taste have, throughout his or her career, contributed significantly to the excellence the publication he or she edits.
• National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media
---Ellie Awards honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. (Not to be confused with The Ellies (Elevator World awards)
• The award for best fiction editor goes to ... nobody (Damien G. Walker, The Guardian, 4-17-09)

Education Writers Association National Awards for Education Reporting.

The EWA awards' goals are to recognize excellence on the education beat, whether the work appeared in print or online, on TV or the radio, or all of the above. You do not have to be an education reporter or an EWA member to enter, but your entry does have to be education-related.

The Awards' goals are to: Encourage and inspire more and better education journalism; Underscore the importance of excellent coverage and storytelling as a cornerstone of democracy and education; Highlight and celebrate the work journalists do to make a positive difference in their communities. There are several specific awards and three big ones:
--- Award categories in 2019 (in small, midsize, and large categories) include Audio Storytelling, Beat Reporting, Feature, Investigative, News, Public Service, Visual Storytelling, for all of which winners receive $1,000 (or split, if a tie), plus the Eddie Prize (see below).
--- The Hechinger prize The Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting, EWA's top prize, includes a cash prize of $10,000. Each year, contest judges select one piece of coverage from among the first prize winners as recipient of this award.
--- The Eddie Prize. Edwin Gould Foundation's Eddie Prize Honoring journalism, which honors the best work by an eligible journalist on the challenges getting low-income students to and through college, carries a $7,500 cash prize. The winner also receives a bowler hat. (There is no cost to enter the Eddie competition.)
--- EWA Lifetime Achievement Prize, which come with a $5,000 honorarium, recognizes members who have devoted much of their careers to the craft and community of education journalism. See also Past Awards.

Eisner Awards (the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards), considered the "Oscars" of the comics world, are presented in more than two dozen categories. Earlier awards for comics (no longer presented) were the Kirby Awards (the Jack Kirby Comics Industry Award) and the Shazam awards. See Wikipedia's useful chart and list of comics awards.

**E&P Journalism Awards and Fellowship Directory (free PDF download, 2010) No longer online. Hope someone saved all that info!). This comprehensive list, from Editor & Publisher, of more than 500 awards, grants, scholarships and contests - national and international - available to journalists and other newspaper professionals. With a subject index to make locating specific awards easier.

800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards (new in 2014)

Emergency Funds and Other Resources for Needy Writers (ASJA's fine guide to National Emergency Funds, Regional Emergency Funds, Crisis Advice and Advocacy)

Emergency Shelter and Food Provisions (PEN America's list of national and regional resources)

Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Awards (American Astronautical Society's annual awards for outstanding books that advance public understanding of astronautics). They reward originality, scholarship and readability. Anyone, including authors and publishers, can submit a title for consideration. Submittals are limited to English-language books published (original appearance or new addition) on any of a number of aspects of spaceflight in a variety of disciplines and ranging from juvenile and pop literature to texts intended for academia or practicing scientists and engineers.

Paul Engle Prize (includes a one-of-a-kind work of art and $10,000). The annual Paul Engle Prize from the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature honors an individual who, like Paul Engle, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or teaching, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts. Sponsored by the City of Coralville.

English PEN prizes (for British writers)
• Golden PEN Award for a Lifetime’s Distinguished Service to Literature is presented annually to a British writer
• Hessell-Tiltman Prize (of £3,000 is awarded annually to a nonfiction historical work of high literary merit covering any historical period until the end of the second world war
• PEN Pinter Prize (awarded annually to a British writer or a writer resident in Britain of outstanding literary merit who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel speech, casts an ‘unflinching, unswerving’ gaze upon the world, and shows a ‘fierce intellectual determination …to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’ ")
• PEN/Ackerley Prize given annually to a literary autobiography of excellence, written by an author of British nationality and published during the preceding year, for which it is felt that J.R. Ackerley would have expressed enthusiasm.
See also PEN American awards, below (scroll down).

Environmental journalism, prizes for
• Society of Environmental Journalists annual awards for reporting on the environment, in seven categories: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market; Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Small Market; Outstanding Beat Reporting, Large Market; Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market; Outstanding Feature Story; Rachel Carson Environment Book Award; Outstanding Environmental Photojournalism

The society also lists Non-SEJ environmental journalism awards
• Nina Mason Pulliam Award for Outstanding Environmental Reporting ($10,000, awarded by The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, in association with the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) and Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)).

EPPY awards (Editor & Publisher and Media Week awards for best media-affiliated websites, across 43 categories, awarded to newspapers, television, magazine and radio companies)

Eric Hoffer Awards ($40 entry fee, a grand prize of $2500) in a variety of categories, including (unpublished) short prose and books (covered here), plus press awards (for micro press, small press, academic press, and self-published books), include the
• Montaigne Medal (to the most thought-provoking book(s), which either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought)
• da Vinci Eye for the title(s) with the best cover art (judged on both content and style -- here are some winners
• the First Horizon Award for superior work by a debut author (the first published book of any type by the author).

Espy Foundation Residencies for Poets and Writers (one-month residencies in March, June, and October to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in Oysterville, Washington)

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European Geosciences Union (EGU) union and division awards and medals A person is eligible to receive one EGU/EUG/EGS medal only once in their lifetime except for the Union medals, which can be assigned only once to any person including previous division medal awardees. The Angela Croome Award promotes excellence in Earth, space and planetary science journalism. Nominees must be journalists working in any medium: print or electronic media, broadcast or cable station/network, web publishing. Only one author of a published journalism piece may be nominated. The nominee may be a freelance journalist. Candidates for the award may be nominated or may self-nominate. Neither nominees nor nominators are required to be EGU members. The Anela Croome Award complements the EGU Science Journalism Fellowship, open to professional journalists interested in geoscience stories. The fellowships enable reporters to follow scientists on location to report on ongoing research in the Earth, planetary or space sciences. Successful applicants receive up to €5000 to cover expenses related to their projects.Rather than awarding a published piece of science reporting, the EGU funds innovative proposals to report on geoscientific research not yet in the public sphere.

Everett M. Rogers Award (USC Annenberg School for Communication and the Lear Center), recognizes exceptional creativity in the practice of entertainment-education and excellence in research on the use of entertainment to deliver messages aimed at improving the quality of life of audiences around the world

Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists under 30 ($1000 and expenses to attend ScienceWriters conference, Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, CASW, limited to non-technical, print and online journalism).

Excellence in Institutional Writing Award (National Association of Science Writers) to recognize high-caliber, publicly accessible science writing produced on behalf of an institution or other non-media organization.

Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award (American Statistical Association). See also Statistical excellence in journalism awards (Royal Statistical Society)

Excellence in Financial Journalism Competition (New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants recognize reporters from national and local media who contribute to a better understanding of business topics)

F

Fairfax Prize, $10,000, awarded to outstanding writers for their significant literary achievements (writing and publishing excellent works that contribute significantly to American or international culture; generously giving personal time and talents to the development of literature and literary endeavors; mentoring younger writers; and giving special service to the community of writers). Sponsored by the Fairfax Library Foundation, at time of annual Fall for the Book festival.

William Faulkner Literary Competition (awards for novel, one-act play, poetry, adult short story, and student short story, with prizes ranging from $250 to $2000)

William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition (The Pirate’s Alley Society, Inc)

Fellowship of Southern Writers Awards (for poetry, fiction, drama, and lifetime achievement, writing about the Appalachian South)

Clifton Fadiman Medal ($5,000 award for work of fiction by a living American author that is deserving of rediscovery and a wider readership)

Clifton Fadiman Medal for Excellence in Fiction (awarded 2000-2010) honored a book by a living American author that deserves renewed recognition and a wider readership. A cash prize of $5,000 was established in 2000. The award recipient was originally chosen by a committee, but the Center for Fiction later enlisted a recognized writer to choose a worthy book published no less than ten years ago. (Library Thing lists the winners.)

Fiction Collective Two (FC2)
--- FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest ($1500 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press, to a U.S. writer in English who has not previously published with Fiction Collective Two.
---FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize $15,000 plus publication for a U.S. writer with at least three published books of fiction.

Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year (”the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues, including management, finance and economics”)

Fine Art Photography Awards (FAPA) Awards in 20 categories divided in professional and amateur levels.

"First Book" Contests (Poets & Writers' list of "debut book" contests for 2010).

First Pages" Prize for emerging writers. Cash awards, partial developmental editing, travel to Paris for prize-giving events, and an agent consultation. See also the Sandra Carpenter Prize for Creative Nonfiction, for a creative nonfiction entry written by an American writer who identifies as a woman.

Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Award aka the John Fischetti scholarship (Columbia College, Chicago)

Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction (University of Georgia) in honor of the American short story writer and novelist Flannery, and to encourage young writers.

Fly-fishing writing awards. There seem to be several, but in particular we note the Robert Travers Fly-Fishing Writing Award. There is also at least one award for fly fishing video (Drake Magazine).

Folio Magazine Awards
--- 2019 winners of Eddie and Ozzie Awards

Funding for Digital Oral History Projects (Baylor University Institute for Oral History)

Funds for Writers (grants, fellowships, residencies). C. Hope Clark's excellent website, which focuses on "markets, competitions, awards, grants, publishers, agents, and jobs for your writing abilities, with motivation chucked in."Information about grants and contests as well as the Funds for Writers blog.

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The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence (the Gaines Award, a $15,000 cash prize from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to inspire and recognize rising African-American fiction writers of excellence at a national level. Deadline: August.

Gardening related awards
• GardenComm Media Awards (Garden Communicators International--originally the Quill & Trowel Awards, Garden Writers of America) See Submission info and award categories (over 50 categories across 7 disciplines)
• American Horticultural Society Book Awards. See Nomination guidelines.
• Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award (GardenComm) recognizes individuals with PhDs who communicate new ideas, concepts or scientific findings related to horticulture and gardening in terms that are easily understood by laypersons.
• Garden Media Guild Awards (UK)

George Washington Book Prize ($50,000) honors outstanding new works of early American history--the year's best works on the nation's founding era (1760-1820), on George Washington and his times (the Revolutionary and founding eras). Works that reach a broad, non-scholarly public audience, are elegantly crafted and intellectually rigorous, and contribute substantially to the ongoing national conversation about the legacy and meaning of America’s Revolutionary and founding eras are eligible for consideration. Sponsored by Washington College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and George Washington's Mount Vernon. Each year, a three member jury chooses prize finalists who are announced on George Washington's birthday.

Georgia Author of the Year Award, presented by the Georgia Writers Association (presenting its 47th awards in 2011).

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Gerald R. Ford Foundation Journalism Prizes for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency and National Defense, two annual prizes in print journalism ($5,000 each) presented at the National Press Club.

German/American Journalists Exchange Program, for broadcast or online journalists (sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)

Gilder Lehrman National Book Prizes. The Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Book Prizes for outstanding books in American History are among the most prestigious awards for history writing in the United States:
• The Lincoln Book Prize ($50,000, awarded annually, in partnership with Gettysburg College) for the best book (the finest scholarly work in English) on Lincoln or the Civil War era. When submissions carry similar merit, preference is shown for work on Abraham Lincoln or the common soldier, or work that reaches a broad literate public.
• The Frederick Douglass Book Prize ($25,000 awarded annually, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University) for an outstanding book about slavery or abolition.
• The George Washington Book Prize ($50,000 awarded annually, in partnership with Washington College and Mount Vernon) for outstanding published works that contribute to a greater understanding of the life and career of George Washington and/or the founding era.

Giller Prize. Scotiabank's Giller Prize is Canada's largest literary prize: $50,000 to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $5,000 to each of the four other finalists.
"Everyone has a notion of what sells but nobody knows. Publishing is a guessing game. It begins with writers and agents trying to second-guess the zeitgeist, continues with publishers and editors trying to second-guess book chains, book clubs, book readers and book critics, and ends with literary juries trying to second-guess posterity. 'If we all tossed a coin, we’d get it right half the time. Since we rely on our judgment, we get it right less often.' I’m quoting Michael Korda from memory." ~ George Jonas, writing about Canada's Giller Prize, in Picking the next great novel is a guessing game (National Post, 11-13-10)

GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community and the issues that affect their lives.

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Glamour Magazine’s 'My Real Life' Essay Contest ($5,000) seems to have ended in 2016.

Glimmer Train Press holds contests for fiction, in these categories: Fiction Open, Family Matters, Very Short Fiction Award, Short Story award for new writers. Check the list of 25 winners and finalists for all Glimmer Train contests.

Global Business Book Awards (Financial Times). These awards have been discontinued.

Global Ebook Awards (Dan Poynter -- "they come with a built-in publicity machine").

Golden Crown Literary Society ("Goldie") awards for the best lesbian literature

Goldsmith Awards Program (Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School) The Goldsmith Awards Program, launched in 1991, has as its goal the encouragement of a more insightful and spirited public debate about government, politics and the press.
---The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting (the winner receives $25,000, and five finalists receive $10,000) recognizes pioneering work by teams of journalists from across the country. It honors investigative reporting that best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics.
---The Goldsmith Book Prize is awarded to the trade and academic books that best fulfill the objective of improving democratic governance through an examination of the intersection between the media, politics and public policy.
---The Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism is given annually for outstanding contributions to the field of journalism, and for work that has enriched our political discourse and our society.

Goodreads Choice Awards The only major book awards decided entirely by readers -- granted in these categories: Fiction, mystery and fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, paranormal fantasy, science fiction, romance, horror, memoir & autobiography, history & biography, nonfiction, food & cookbooks, humor, graphic novels & comics, poetry, debut Goodreads author, young adult fiction, young adult fantasy, middle grade & children's, and picture books. See lists of current nominees and previous winners.

Governor General's Literary Awards (Canada’s highest literary honor, with winners chosen in seven categories for books in both French and English). Each winner receives $25,000 (Canadian).

The Gracies. These Alliance for Women in Media awards recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment. They also acknowledge the individuals who have made inspirational contributions to the industry.

Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public ($5,000, plus travel expenses to meeting, American Chemistry Society, for noteworthy presentations through a medium of public communication to increase the American public's understanding of chemistry and chemical progress)

The Grammys Are Built on a Delusion (Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 2-6-23) [About music, not writing, but noteworthy about awards culture.] People like Harry Styles—"white, well-connected singers of tasteful pop and rock—are exactly who win Album of the Year Grammys. The kind of people who don’t win include rappers (a hip-hop artist last took Album of the Year 19 years ago) and Black women (you’d have to go back to 1999 for that)....Genteel-seeming music, made largely with analog instruments, hewing closely to classic songwriting templates, tends to win. Music that is obviously based in electronic recording and production, that experiments and provokes, usually doesn’t."

Grantham Prize for Reporting on the Environment($75,000, reportedly the largest cash prize for journalism in the world). Grantham Awards of Special Merit each carry a $5,000 cash prize. You can read entries from the website.

Grants and awards for illustrators and authors (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators)

Grateful American Book Prize (cash award, $13,000, in honor of the original 13 colonies) A unique award for excellence in writing, storytelling and illustration for absorbing works of literature (fiction or nonfiction) for 7th to 9th graders about American events and personalities that have shaped U.S. history since the country's founding. Author and publisher David Bruce Smith founded the award hoping to draw as much attention in schools to history as were going to math and science.

Great American Fiction Contest (Saturday Evening Post) For stories between 1,500 and 5,000 words long. $500 ($100 for runners-up) and publication in the magazine and online.

The Great American Read The list of America’s 100 'most-loved books' brought to you by The Great American Read. But see What’s the best American novel? A PBS vote is a revealing look at our (limited) taste. (Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 10-29-18) "PBS’s The Great American Read aspired to name the country’s favorite novel from a curated list of 100 titles.... The votes are in and it’s official: We loved our childhoods. Or at least those moments in our childhoods when we could escape adult supervision and read a book."

Great Lakes Book Awards. These seem to have ended after 2008.

Griffin Poetry Prize (Griffin Trust) awarded in two categories: Canadian and International (writing in the English language). Awards of CAD$65,000 go to one Canadian and one international poet as well as CAD$10,000 to each of the seven shortlisted poets (four international and three Canadian).

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The Grimmys (The Society of Professional Obituary Writers, for the best writers in the field). Categories: Best short form obit, best long form obit, Best obit of an ordinary Joe/Jane, Obituary writer of the year, and The Alana Baranick Award for Lifetime Achievement in Obituary Writing. Winners receive a tombstone-shaped trophy with a Memento Mori logo.

The GrubStreet National Book Prize ($5,000 to three rotating genres: fiction, nonfiction, or poetry--for a second, third, etc., but not first, book)

Gründler Book Prize (The Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University) An award of $1,000 to the author of a monograph in any area of medieval studies that is judged by the selection committee to be an outstanding contribution to its field.

Guardian First Book Awards (UK, to new writers of fiction and non-fiction)

Gumshoe Awards (Mystery Ink's awards for crime fiction)

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Hackney Literary Awards ($5,000 in prizes for poetry and short fiction--$2,500 national and $2,500 state levels: 1st place, $600; 2nd, $400; 3rd, $250). The Morris Hackney family also sponsors a $5,000 prize for an unpublished novel.

Half the World Global Literati Award (NEW! $50,000 literary award for original work with a central woman protagonist--to a short story, novel or screenplay written in English, judged to have portrayed one or more well-rounded female protagonists as the central character.

Hammett Prize (International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch, for literary excellence in the field of crime-writing, for a book published in the English language in the US and/or Canada)

Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction (University of Alabama School of Law), to a published work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change)

Harper's Bazaar short-story competition

Hastings Center Awards for Excellence in Journalism on Ethics and Reprogenetics. Three winners for an award for an article that recognizes investigative or interpretive articles that explore ethical questions raised by advances at the intersection of assisted reproduction technologies and genetics. A first prize of $6,000 and two runners-up of $3,000 each.

Hatchet Job of the Year Award (The Guardian's annual celebration of bookish snark)

The Haven Foundation: Supporting Freelance Artists in Need. Stephen King’s foundation provides aid (in amounts up to $25,000) to writers and artists who, through tragic events and no fault of their own, are unable to work.

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Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize ($10,000 awarded annually by Goethe-Institut each spring to honor an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA)

Hemingway Foundation PEN Award for a first work of fiction by an American author ($10,000, and residencies), now administered by PEN/New England.

Health Insurance (PEN's list of organizations that give writers and artists access to health insurance)

Hollywood: The big annual awards programs in the entertainment industry: Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys.
• What's an EGOT? The most coveted achievement in Hollywood explained (Olivia Singh, Insider, 7-28-2020) Only a select few stars have reached EGOT status by earning one of all four of these: Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys. Only 16 people are on the list of EGOT winners, including Whoopi Goldberg, Mel Brooks, Audrey Hepburn, John Legend, and Rita Moreno. Included: photos of all EGOT winners.
---Wikipedia list of EGOT winners
• Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Emmys, Oscars, Grammys, Guilds, Festivals & More (Tom Tapp, Erik Pedersen, Deadline)
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards (Wikipedia) Awards of an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom.
• Critics' Choice Awards An awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics' Choice Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement.
• The Emmys (Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, ) are awarded for achievements in particular sectors of the television industry. See Wikipedia entry.
• The Golden Globe Awards (Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 105 voting members) recognize excellence in both American and international film and television. Awarded in January, they often seem to foreshadow how the Academy Awards will go.
• The Gotham Awards (Film & Media Institute; formerly Independent Filmmaker Project, or IFP) American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City (voted on by juries of 34 collective writers, critics, and programmers).
• The Grammys (originally called Gramophone Award). The Grammy Award, or just Grammy, is presented by the Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry. See Wikipedia entry.
•'The Oscars' (Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 9000 voting members) are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry. See Wikipedia entry.
• Peabody Awards, or Peabodys honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media. Programs are recognized in seven categories: news, entertainment, documentaries, children's programming, education, interactive programming, and public service. See Wikipedia entry.
• Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. See Wikipedia entry and FAQs about the Tonys.

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Hopwood Contests There are three Hopwood contests: The Hopwood Award Theodore Roethke Prize, the Hopwood First- and Second-Year Contest, and the Graduate and Undergraduate Hopwood Contest.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest (Winning Writers) Awards of $3,000 each to first prize winners for fiction (any short work of fiction) and for essays (any short work of nonfiction), for works up to 6,000 words, plus $100 gift certificates from Duotrope, and 10 honorable mentions ($200 each).

The Hugo Awards are an important set of literary awards voted on by members of the current World Science Fiction Convention and presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. Awards for best novel, best novelette, best short story, best series, best related work, best graphic story, best dramatic presentation (long-form), best dramatic presentation (short-form), best editor (long form) best editor (short form), best professional artist, best semiprozine, best fanzine, best fancast, best fan writer, best fan artist, best art book, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
---Genre Grapevine on the Hugo Awards’ “not eligible” problem (Jason Sanford, Genre Grapevine, January 2024) Once again, the Hugo Awards are making international news. And once again, not in a good way. The "Hugo Award stats revealed that a number of writers and works were kept off the award’s final ballot for no valid reason. One of the biggest shockers was that Rebecca F. Kuang’s acclaimed fantasy novel Babel, which won the Nebula Award for Best Novel, was left off the final ballot despite earning 810 nomination votes, enough to place it third on the list of nominated novels." See also Worldcon Intellectual Property Announces Censure of McCarty, Chen Shi and Yalow; McCarty Resigns ( Mike Glyer's News of SF Fandom, 1-30-24) and Hugo Award nominations raise questions Jane Friedman on The Hot Sheet, 1-31-24) Others also listed as ineligible for Hugo Awards: Xiran Jay Zhao, Neil Gaiman, and Paul Weimer.
---Attack the Bloc: The Hugo Awards Controversy (Emmaline Soken-Huberty, Gildshire, 8-28-19)
---Sci-fi’s right-wing backlash: Never doubt that a small group of deranged trolls can ruin anything (even the Hugo Awards) (Arthur Chu, Salon, 4-6-15) Lazy democracy is like an open comments section -- left unmoderated and unguided, the worst people take over
---The Sad Puppy Takeover (Brooke Gladstone interviews Arthur Chu, On the Media radio, 4-17-15) The Hugo Awards are science fiction writing's highest honor, and this year conservative fans, concerned with the liberal leanings of recent awards, banded together to nominate their sci-fi ideals. Brooke speaks with actor and writer Arthur Chu about how the awards controversy reflects a larger history of cultural backlash.
---Freeping the Hugo Awards (Susan Grigsby, Daily Kos, 4-12-15) "The Nebulas are awarded by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The Hugos are nominated and awarded by fans of the genre who are members of Worldcon, making them basically a popularity contest." This piece is about how a group of conservative people ("Sad Puppies"--and not necessarily sci fi readers) gamed the system, stacking the ballot for Hugos with some unlikely candidates with acceptable attitudes toward white males (and fewer heroes who are woman or people of color). (See also What Is Gamergate, and Why? An Explainer for Non-Geeks

Hunger Mountain Prizes. Hunger Mountain, the Vermont College of Fine Arts’s Journal for the Arts, is accepting submissions for four prizes ($1,000 each and publication): the Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize, the Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize, the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize, and the Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing.

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. The first national award presented to published writers of African descent by the national community of black writers -- with prizes for the highest quality writing in the categories of fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction, poetry. Three President's Choice Awards are presented at the same annual event: the North Star Award (to individuals whose writing and/or service to the writing community serves as a beacon of brilliant accomplishment and as an inspiration to others), the Madame C.J. Walker Award (to businesses that have shown exceptional innovation in supporting and sustaining Black literature), and the Ella Baker Award (for demonstrating exemplary support of the Hurston/Wright Foundation as it strives to unlock the power of literature to strengthen, sustain and promote the diverse cultural life of all communities).

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The Heinz Awards recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions in the areas of: arts and humanities, environment, human condition, public policy, and technology, the economy and employment. These are not awards you can apply for. See New Yorker’s Roz Chast stunned by $250,000 Heinz Award for her ‘uncompromising’ work (Michael Cavria, Washington Post, 4-23-15). Chast received $250,000 and one of six Heinz Awards, which regularly go to “exceptional Americans, for their creativity and determination in finding solutions to critical issues.” Chast won for her cartoon memoir Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir , which "provides an unflinching look at the increasingly common struggles faced by adult children caring for parents as they age and lose their health and independence,” said the Heinz statement, noting that Chast “details the realities of aging and end-of-life care—from dealing with the tragic effects of dementia to managing the high costs of elder care to reconciling her own personal feelings of guilt, exhaustion and love.”

Herblock Prize & Lecture for excellence in editorial cartooning (The Herb Block Foundation). The winner receives a tax free $15,000 cash prize as well as a sterling silver Tiffany trophy.

• High school writing contests
---The 20 Best Writing Contests for High School Students (Melissa Brinks, SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips, PrepScholar, 8-25-19)

---The Ultimate Guide to Student Writing Contests (Betsy Potash,We Are Teachers, 7-26-18)
---33 Writing Contests for Teens (Publication & Cash) (BookFox, June 2016)
---The CollegeVine Guide to High School Writing Contests (Kate Sundquist, CollegeVine, 10-31-16)
• Mayborn National Biography Writing Contest (for high school or community college students)
• National Peace Essay Contest (U.S. Institute for Peace)
• Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest (awards of $1000, $500, and $300 scholarships for first, second, and third prize)
• Student Stowe Prize ($1,000). The Student Stowe Prize, established by the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in 2012, recognizes outstanding writing by United States high school and college students that is making a tangible impact on a social justice issue critical to contemporary society. Prizes Issues may include, but are not limited to, race, class and gender. Entries must have been published or publicly presented prior to submission. See Student Prize Winners.

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William Hill Sports Book of the Year: 25 years of runners and riders (Graham Sharpe, The Guardian, 10-24-14). Wikipedia's list of winners (£24,000, plus prestige) makes a good gift-shopping list for sports loving friends and relatives. For a few years there was also a William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year (Wikipedia info).

Hillman Prizes in Journalism, prestigious journalism awards by the Sidney Hillman Foundation for books that illuminate the great issues of the day. See, for example, 2019 Hillman Prizes for book, magazine, newspaper, broadcast, Web, and photo- journalism, opinion and analysis. The Foundation also awards monthly Sidney Awards for an outstanding piece of investigative journalism that fosters social and economic justice. And the Foundation presents The Sol Stetin Award for Labor History.

Historical fiction, awards for

(you'll find good reading lists here):
• Historical Novel Society awards
• James Fenimore Cooper Prize (chosen for its literary quality and historical scholarship, by The Society of American Historians, award $2,000 and a certificate)
• Grateful American Book Prize. $13,000 cash award (honoring the 13 original colonies) for excellence in writing, storytelling and illustration for children’s historical nonfiction and fiction focused on the events and personalities that have shaped the United States since the country’s founding.
• Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People (Canadian Children's Book Centre)
• David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction ((Langum Charitable Trust)
• The Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction (Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, $5,000)
• Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
• Walter Scott Prize (this £25,000 award for historical fiction, sponsored by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, is awarded annually in June at the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival in Melrose for a book first published the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth)

History of Education Society awards
• History of Education Society Prize $750 biennially to the author of an article judged to be the most distinguished scholarly essay in educational history—broadly defined to cover a wide range of educational and cultural institutions inside and outside the United States (this includes work on schools and universities, teachers, students, and families)—published in any journal over the previous two-year period.
• The Henry Barnard Prize given biennially for the best essay in educational history by a graduate student. This recognition brings with it an honorarium of $500 and publication in the Society’s journal, the History of Education Quarterly.
• History of Education Society Outstanding Book Award the book judged to be the most outstanding book on the history of education published during the previous year. Please ask your publishers to nominate and send your book to the committee for consideration.

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•A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L •M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z

IABC Gold Quill Awards (global awards recognizing outstanding achievement in communication, sponsored by International Association of Business Communicators). A complex, expensive award submission process.

ICIJ awards (Center for Public Integrity, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) Recognizing both the impact of ICIJ’s investigations and ICIJ’s innovative approach to cross-border (transnational) investigating reporting. cash prizes to honor transnational investigative reporting. Some wonderful categories: Meet the investigators, financial, EPPY awards, best collaborative/investigative/enterprise reporting, The Implant Files, West Africa Leaks, Fatal Extraction, Evicted and Abandoned, etc.

IDA Documentary Awards (International Documentary Association awards, dedicated to the documentary genre, celebrating the best nonfiction films and programs of the year)

Idea Grants. National Association of Science Writers grants ($1,000 to $50,000) to individuals or groups for projects and programs designed to help science writers in their professional lives and/or to benefit the field of science writing).

• Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (Boyd Tonkin's story for The Independent, 7-12-14), for translated works by living authors first published in the UK during the preceding year. Supported by Arts Council England (along with Booktrust and Champagne Taittinger), the £10,000 reward is split equally between the original author and his or her translator. Tonkin's story makes this award's process sound more transparent than that for the Nobel, but I sure had trouble finding information about it. Another story: Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2014: Our long-list reveals a fictional eco-system of staggering diversity .

Indexing, awards for
• ASI Excellence in Indexing Award (American Society for Indexing, $1,000 to indexer; certificate to indexer and to publisher. Purpose two-fold: for indexers, to provide and publicize models of excellence in indexing; for publishers, to encourage greater recognition of the importance of quality in book indexing. Formerly the ASI/EIS Publishing Award and the ASI/H.W. Wilson Award. See Award Recipients to read what makes for a great index. (Sample pages from selected award-winning indexes can be downloaded as PDF files from the highlighted title links.)
• Hines Award honors members who have provided exceptional service to American Society for Indexing. Here are All ASI awards. Order of the Kohlrabi — recognizes ASI members who have served ASI above and beyond the call of duty.
• Wheatley Medal (Society of Indexers, UK)

"Indie" awards of various stripes

including awards for self-published books and small-press publications

• Axiom Business Book Awards
• ALLi Award and Contest Ratings (Alliance of Independent Authors). Links to contests geared to indie authors, who may be susceptible to vanity and/or cash-leeching contests--so contests are rated "Recommended," "Mixed," or "Caution."
• Benjamin Franklin Awards (over fifty categories recognizing excellence in both editorial and design) Administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) with help from over 150 book publishing professionals including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, designers, publicity managers, and editors. "All entrants receive direct feedback on their entries. The actual judging forms are returned to all participating publishers." (This is often one of the most valuable benefits of a competition, as entrants may learn their book's strengths and weaknesses from the comments.
• Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature (CLMP, Community of Literary Magazines and Presses) Celebrating books and magazines (and publishers) that make a significant contribution to our literary culture -- awarded in the categories of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, magazine/general excellence, and magazine/best debut.
• The Indie Author Project ("Connecting indie authors, libraries, and readers"). "In an effort to further encourage strong relationships between indie authors, local libraries, and readers, BiblioBoard and Library Journal are partnering with librarians across the U.S. and Canada to mobilize the annual Indie Author Project contests....BiblioBoard and Library Journal provide the marketing materials, submission and hosting software, as well as support in facilitating the judging process. This turn-key approach allows for libraries to focus on their primary role of engaging with authors, promoting the contest, and increasing awareness of the writing resources available in their communities." See especially Jane Friedman's article (5-28-19) Identifying the Best Self-Published Books by State: The Indie Author Project. "The Indie Author Project identifies the best self-published fiction by state; thirteen states participate so far." Library Journal and BiblioBoard also sponsor the library program known as SELF-e, launched in 2015 to "make self-published ebooks available to libraries nationwide. Any author can submit their work for inclusion in SELF-e (at no cost); Library Journal curates what ebooks go into the national SELF-e collection. Books not selected are still accessible to local library patrons through state collections" (with no remuneration but exposure and visibility)."Winners receive cash prizes, marketing and promotion in Library Journal, and of course print and ebook (paid) sales to state public libraries, among other benefits." And Jane interviews Ran Walker, winner of the 2019 award and author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BZ93B65/ref=nosim?tag=writandedit-20"target="_blank">Daykeeper</a> and other titles.
• Independent Publisher Book Awards ("Ippie" awards)
• Awards that Indie and Self-Published Authors Can Apply to for 2015 (BiblioCrunch)
• Book Awards for Self-Published Authors (Joel Friedlander's list, The Book Designer). Listed if they accept self-published books--so listing is not necessarily an endorsement of the competition.
• Readers Choice Awards (TCK Publishing) recognizing indie, self-published, and traditionally published authors -- ask your fans to vote for you)
• Best Indie Book Award An annual international literary award contest recognizing independent authors in twelve major genres: action/adventure, fantasy/paranormal, literary/mainstream, mystery/suspense/thriller, nonfiction, novella/short story collection, romance or science fiction/dystopia, young adult, children.
• Eric Hoffer Book Award for the Small, Academic & Independent Press A grand prize of $2500 and prizes within 18 categories, separate press distinctions, the Montaigne Medal, the da Vinci Eye, and the First Horizon Award.
• SCBWI Spark Award (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) recognizes excellence in a children’s book published through a non-traditional publishing route.
• Independent Publisher Book Awards, the "Ippies" (open to authors and independent publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and intended for the North American market) National awards in 75 categories, plus regional and e-book awards. With so many awards (and fees of $75 for each category applied for), you might doubt the cost-vs-value of each award, but authors who win can speak of award-winning books. Specialized awards include: Nautilus Book Awards (for print books that inspire and connect our lives as individuals, communities and global citizens--see guidelines for entering); Moonbeam Awards (open to authors, illustrators, and publishers of children’s books written in English or Spanish for the North American market); Axiom Awards (business book awards in 21 categories); and Living Now Book Awards (to the year’s best lifestyle, homestyle, world improvement and self-improvement books and their creators--from cooking and gardening to spirituality and wellness).
• Guardian Opens up Prizes for Self-Published Authors (Miral Sattar, BiblioCrunch, 4-29-14). See The all-new monthly literary prize – for self-published authors (Alison Flood, The Guardian, 4-8-14)
• Sarton Women's Literary Awards (for women's memoir, women's fiction, and women's historical fiction-- from small/independent publishers, university presses, and author-publishers (self-publishing authors)
•Indie Author Project Regional Contests Through these contests, libraries are helping local authors get the recognition they deserve for writing great books. Each book that is submitted to the contest must be:
--- Indie-published
--- In an adult fiction or young adult fiction genre
--- Written by a resident of the contest's region
--- Available in either ePUB (strongly recommended) or PDF format.
• INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards (Foreword Reviews). More than 100 booksellers and librarians determine the winners after a larger group of finalists is culled by our editorial staff--honoring the best in indie book publishing, with awards to more than 250 winners in 66 categories.
• National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) open to all English language printed books available for sale, including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors. Awards in many categories, including addiction & recovery, coffee table books, divorce, erotica, fantasy, fitness, green living, home and garden, leadership, military fiction, picture books, religion, relationships, steam punk, true crime, western, young adult.
• The Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Award $8,000 to Grand Prize Winner, $1,000 to First Prize Winner. Categories: mainstream literary fiction, genre fiction, nonfiction reference, inspirational, life stories (including biographies. autobiographies, family histories, and memoirs), early readers/children's books, middle grade/young adult books, and poetry.
• Kirkus Prizes, $50,000 prizes for fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature, also open to independently published works.
• Indie Book Awards (Next Generation Indie Book Awards). For indie book authors and publishers-- including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors. $1,500 prizes for best fiction book and best non-fiction book, $750 for second best fiction book and non-fiction book, and $500 for third best fiction book and non-fiction book (plus trophies).
• Indies Choice Book Awards (ICBA), chosen by indie booksellers across U.S., in these categories: Best Indie Buzz Book (fiction), Best Conversation Starter (nonfiction), Best Author Discovery, Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book (fiction), Best New Picture Book, Most Engaging Author.
• IndieReader Discovery Awards (for self-published and independently published authors). See Writer Beware Award Alert
• Indiefab Book of the Year Awards (Foreword Reviews)
• Shelf Unbound Writing Competition (for best independently published book)
• See Indie Reader Discovery Awards FAQ.
• National Indie Excellence Awards (sponsored by book shepherd Ellen Reid)
• The Pushcart Prize (best of the small presses, short stories, poetry, and essays have been represented in Pushcart's annual collections)
• Rubery Book Prizes (£1500 for Book of the Year, or about $2000, £37 to enter) An international book award for the best books by indie writers, self published authors, and books published by independent presses. Accepts fiction (all genres), young adult, children’s, biographies, non-fiction, self-help, cookery, poetry, photography etc.
• Contest and Award Fakes. Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America on how to spot scams, whether it's worth entering, questionable or fee-charging publishers, and contest mills--which make money on the front end, via entry fees.
• Contest scams and competitions to be wary about
• Are Book Award Worth It? (Kate Bandos)
• The Pros and Cons of Contests (IBPA, June 2008)

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Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources reporting awards (The Frank Allen Field Reporting Award)

International Latino Book Awards Annual awards given to authors, translators, and illustrators for books written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. "About one-third of our entries come from major publishers. Others come from medium-sized and small publishers or are self-published titles." Many awards given for children's picture books and books for young adults, plus other categories.

PW story: These awards were established in 1997 by actor Edward James Olmos and publishing executive Kirk Whisler with the goal, according to the organizers, of “providing Latinos more access to resources to help improve their futures and to help mainstream America view the Latino community in a more accurate, less stereotypical way.”

"Though books published by Astra, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Random House, and Scholastic also won numerous awards, ILBA’s objective is to honor books from smaller presses and to elevate authors who might otherwise be overlooked by mainstream publishing. That is why so many awards are presented and, over the past two decades, more than 3,700 authors and books have won awards."

~Los Angeles Celebrates Spanish Books (Ed Nawotka, Publishers Weekly, 9-2-22)

International Photography Awards.
---30 Incredible Photos That Won The International Photography Awards 2020 (Mirna Huhoja-Dóczy, Bored Panda)

International Prize for Arabic Fiction

International Mathematical Union awards, prizes, and special lecture include the Leelavati Prize, which recognizes outstanding public outreach work for mathematics (for increasing public awareness of mathematics as an intellectual discipline and the crucial role it plays in diverse human endeavors).

The International Radio Playwriting Competition (BBC World Service and the British Council) Open to new and established writers, provided they live outside the UK and are aged over 18. Entrants should write a radio play of approximately 53 minutes in length on any subject. The play should have a maximum of six central characters. There must be no central roles for children.

International Society of Family History Writers and Editors Excellence-in-Writing Competition (with a focus on genealogy and family or local history)

International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award (a €100,000 literary award for a novel of high literary merit written in or translated into English -- an international cooperative library effort in which nominations are made by libraries in capital and major cities throughout the world). See rules and conditions.

Investigative Reporters and Editors awards (IRE)
• Philip Meyer awards (Q&A) recognize the best work using techniques that are part of precision journalism, computer-assisted reporting, and social science research. (Wikipedia entry, with winners) One of the defining characteristics of good investigative reporting eligible for an IRE Award is that it uncovers information that others have tried to keep hidden. The Meyer Award is designed to recognize work that explores significant societal problems that haven't necessarily occurred because of attempts to keep the problems hidden.
• Golden Padlock Award, a badge of shame, recognizing the most secretive publicly funded agency or person in the United States, for government at all levels, local to federal. A list of finalists announced in early June.
• The Don Bolles Medal (recognizes investigative journalists who have exhibited extraordinary courage in standing up against intimidation or efforts to suppress the truth about matters of public importance)
IRE Ring of Honor
Celebrating members who have made a significant contribution to the organization and to investigative journalism.

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Ig Nobel Prizes. Administered by Improbable Research (research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK). Among award winners: 2018 ( a team that demonstrated that most people who use complicated products do not read the instruction manual (literature prize)...doctors who investigated whether riding a rollercoaster can help pass a kidney stone (medicine prize); The definite article: acknowledging ‘The’ in index entries, Glenda Browne's article in The Indexer, for her paper on the many ways "the" causes problems for anyone who tries to put things into alphabetical order. Those qualified may join The Luxurious Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. See also Paul Krugman's 24/7 lecture ("24 seconds of impenetrable jargon, followed by a 7-word explanation of your field"). And check out Nose hairs, dead spiders and licking rocks are among this year’s Ig Nobel Prize-winning topics (Catherine Nicholls, CNN, 9-15-23)

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The Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction (University of Iowa Press, for a book-length manuscript of literary nonfiction originally written in English). Collections that include previously published periodical articles are eligible as long as the author has retained copyright. Deadline: August.

The Ippy Awards. Independent Publisher Book Awards, a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry, open to authors and publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and intended for the North American market.

Ippies, which appear to end after 2017, a New York City area competition recognizing excellence among journalists, photographers, graphic artists, editors and publishers of the ethnic and community press, given by the Center for Community and Ethnic Media, an iniative of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Ironic and humorous awards (Wikipedia's list)

The Izzy Award (named for maverick journalist I.F. "Izzy" Stone). Presented by the Park Center for Independent Media annually for "outstanding achievement in independent media," the Izzy Award goes to an independent outlet, journalist, or producer for contributions to our culture, politics, or journalism created outside traditional corporate structures.

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The logic of the alphabetical order goes awry in a few places. Sometimes the first name, sometimes the last name, determines alphabetical order.

Rona Jaffee Foundation Writers' Awards (six awards of $30,000 each to emerging women writers) The foundation identifies and supports women writers of exceptional talent, in the early stages of their writing careers. Offers grants to writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to make writing time available and provide assistance for such specific purposes as child care, research and related travel costs.

Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize ($7,500) for fiction by an American woman, whether novel, short stories, or experimental writing.

James Joyce Award (an overview on Wikipedia, of an award from the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) of University College Dublin (UCD), and not just to writers. Listen to this delightful acceptance speech by Brandon Stanton, photographer and blogger for Humans of New York.

James Tait Black Memorial Prizes . Britain's oldest literary awards. Two prizes, each of £10,000 (about $14,500), are awarded annually by the University for the best work of fiction and the best biography written in English and published or co-published in the UK the previous year.The only awards of their kind to be presented by a university, they have an international reputation for recognizing excellence in biography and fiction.

Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) Awards

Japan-U.S. Creative Artists Program 2012, residencies sponsored by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts to published U.S. poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to live in Japan and pursue creative projects. A monthly stipend of 400,000 yen for living expenses, 100,000 yen a month as a housing supplement, and up to 100,000 yen a month for professional support services (totaling roughly $7,000 or enough to live on in Japan. Extremely competitive.

John Jay College of Criminal Justice/Harry Frank Guggenheim Awards for Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting. (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Center on Media, ?Crime and Justice). $1,500 awards in two categories: Single Story and Series, honoring investigative, feature, analytical, and enterprise journalism that has had a significant impact on public understanding of criminal justice issues. Stories must be published in a newspaper, magazine or online news outlet in the U.S. Awards presented in conjunction with the Harry F. Guggenheim Annual Symposium on Crime in America.

The Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction, the UK's most prestigious nonfiction award (worth £20,000 to the winning author), for the best nonfiction published in the UK, from biography, travel and popular science to the arts and current affairs. "All the best stories are true." (Administered by Colman Getty Consultancy). See piece by the Guardian's Alison Flood, Biography dominates Samuel Johson prize longlist. ("A wide range of life stories loom large among the 18 finalists for the £20,000 prize.")

Journalism awards. See
---George Foster Peabody Awards
List of American Journalism Awards (Wikipedia)
---George Polk Awards
---Livingston Awards judge print, broadcast, and online entries against one another
---National Journalism Awards
---Pulitzer Prizes
--- MediaShift list (Bianca Fortis, 4-5-18) of current media and journalism awards, including deadlines for applying.

Joyce Carol Oates Prize (New Literary Project) Awards $50,000, recognizes annually a midcareer fiction writer who has earned a distinguished reputation and the approbation and gratitude of readers. While there are numerous prizes for emerging writers, this prize is for an already emerged author of national consequence—short stories and/or novels—at the relatively middle stage of a burgeoning career.

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Robert F. Kennedy Book Award to the book which "most faithfully and forcefully reflects Robert Kennedy's purposes - his concern for the poor and the powerless, his struggle for honest and even-handed justice, his conviction that a decent society must assure all young people a fair chance, and his faith that a free democracy can act to remedy disparities of power and opportunity."

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards celebrating excellence in investigative journalism on a wide spectrum of social justice issues. Judged by peers in the media, professionals and students are recognized in twelve domestic and international categories. There are also European and high school journalism awards.

Kennedy Center Honorees A huge honor, recognizing "living individuals who throughout their lifetimes have made significant contributions to American culture through the performing arts. The primary criterion is excellence, and artistic achievement in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, and television is considered." See https://www.kennedy-center.org/pages/specialevents/honors, a timeline of honors and honorees.Best of all: Watch Watch videos of extraordinary performances from 40 years of The Kennedy Center Honors.

Sophie Kerr Prize (half of the income from her bequest to Washington College, valued at $61,000 in 2014, is awarded to the graduating senior demonstrating the best potential for literary achievement, for both creative and critical writing.

Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest a.k.a.the Alfred Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest, now thirty years old. See WikiCU entry and The Worst Bad Poem? There’s a Contest for That (James Barron, NY Times, 11-18-18) An annual student competition at Columbia University seeks the rottenest of rotten rhymes and blank verses. The contest was named for the poet known for “Trees,” a 12-line verse published in 1913 (“I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree,” it begins). See also the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest.

Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism. Fellowships give mid-career journalists the time and training they need to learn to produce multimedia projects. See FAQ.

Kiriyama Prize for outstanding books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia

Kirkus Prize, a new prize. See FAQ andKirkus Announces 3 New $50,000 Prizes for Literature (Leslie Kaufman, NY Times, 5-28-14). A $50,000 prize for fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature.

Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism (ended after 2011 awards)

Knight Community Information Challenge (grants to fill community information voids)

Knight Digital Media Center week-long boot camps in multimedia skills for traditional journalists at the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California Berkeley.

Knight Foundation Funding Initiatives (to encourage journalism & media innovation, engaged communities, and fostering the arts)

• Knight Foundation Grants to transform communities and journalism (John S. and James L. Knight)
• Knight International Journalism Award (recognizing media professionals who demonstrate a passionate commitment to excellent reporting that makes a difference in the lives of people around the world--sponsored by the International Center for Journalists)
• Knight News Challenge
• Knight Arts Challenge in South Florida, Philadelphia and Detroit, seeking ideas and innovation in the arts from nonprofits, companies and individuals
• Knight Community Information Challenge (strengthening journalism, increasing government transparency) Inform. Educate. Engage.
• The Victor K. McElheny Award ($5,000, recognizes outstanding coverage of science, public-health, technology, or environmental issues at the local or regional level, honored at a ceremony hosted by the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT.
• Black Male Engagement

Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism , sponsored by the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships and The Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University. Brings journalists, researchers, scholars, and policy-makers together with public audiences to explore new ways to ensure that sophisticated environmental reporting thrives in the West. See The Crisis in Environmental Watchdog Journalism, report from Nov. 2010 symposium.

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Lambda Literary Awards, awarded to the finest lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans literature available in the United States. The “Lammy” is the most prestigious, competitive, and comprehensive literary award offered specifically to LGBT authors. Offered in 25 categories: LGBT (anthology, children's/young adult, debut fiction, drama, graphic novel, nonfiction, science fiction, studies); LESBIAN (erotica, general fiction, memoir/biography, mystery, poetry, romance); GAY (erotica, general fiction, memoir/biography, mystery, poetry, romance); BISEXUAL (fiction, nonfiction); TRANSGENDER (fiction, nonfiction, poetry). SPECIAL AWARD CATEGORIES:
Pioneer Awards to individuals who have broken new ground in the field of LGBT literature and publishing
Trustee Award honors a distinguished individual who, through their literary work, has made a considerable contribution to a wider awareness and understanding of the lives of LGBT people.
Emerging Writer Award (previously Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award, two awards of $1,000 each)
Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize ($5,000)

Lannan Literary Foundation, a private family foundation dedicated to promoting cultural freedom, diversity, and creativity, supports lucrative literary awards and fellowships and
literary grants (supporting publishers and distributors, literary journals, residency programs, educational programs, and literary centers).

Lascaux Prizes in Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction (Lascaux Review)

Latino Book Awards (International)

Authors, translators, and illustrators are honored for their books written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. About one-third of our entries come from major publishers. Others come from medium-sized and small publishers or are self-published titles.

Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for humour writing ($15,000 for the best book of humour written by a Canadian and published in the current year; four runners-up receive cash prizes of $1,500).

Gilder Lehrman National Book Prizes. The Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Book Prizes for outstanding books in American History are among the most prestigious awards for history writing in the United States:
• The Lincoln Book Prize ($50,000, awarded annually, in partnership with Gettysburg College) for the best book (the finest scholarly work in English) on Lincoln or the Civil War era. When submissions carry similar merit, preference is shown for work on Abraham Lincoln or the common soldier, or work that reaches a broad literate public.
• The Frederick Douglass Book Prize ($25,000 awarded annually, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University) for an outstanding book about slavery or abolition.
• The George Washington Book Prize ($50,000 awarded annually, in partnership with Washington College and Mount Vernon) for outstanding published works that contribute to a greater understanding of the life and career of George Washington and/or the founding era.

LGBTQ-Related Awards
• The Association of LGBTQ Journalists awards (NLGJA)
---Excellence in Journalism Award In addition to Journalist of the Year, awards are presented for HIV/AIDS coverage, written news, written feature, written opinion/editorial, written sports, radio, television, documentary, photojournalism, online journalism, blogging, LGBTQ media and student journalism.
---Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism For innovative approaches for investigative reporting.
---Randy Shilts Award for LGBTQ Coverage to honor journalists and news organizations who consistently bring stories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to life in mainstream media outlets
---Lisa Ben Award for Achievement in Features Coverage to honor a journalist whose body of work is distinguished by insight and impact through engaging features on LGBTQ individuals, the LGBTQ community or LGBTQ issues
---Jeanne Córdova Award recognizes the achievement of an LGBTQ woman for a current body of work in journalism and/or opinion, with an emphasis on but not exclusively coverage of issues of importance to the LGBTQ community, in any medium and on any platform.
---NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have made a positive impact on their newsrooms by increasing diversity and improving coverage of the LGBTQ community.
---Legacy Award recognize an outlet, publication or news organization that has exhibited innovative, high-quality and sustained news coverage of the LGBTQ community over an extended period of time.
---LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame honors individuals who made exemplary contributions through their careers to NLGJA’s mission of promoting fair and accurate coverage of issues affecting the LGBTQ community.

• American Library Association awards on LGBTQ theme:
---Rainbow Round Table Award for Political Activism (American Library Association) honors librarians, library related organizations (including libraries, library staff, library boards, library friends), and other individuals or groups (public or private) that have demonstrated excellence in the area of LGBTQIA+ activism.
• Stonewall Book Awards The first and most enduring award for LGBTQIA+ books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Rainbow Round Table (formerly the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table). Since Isabel Miller's Patience and Sarah received the first award in 1971, many other books have been honored for exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.
• Newlen-Symons Award for Excellence honors a librarian, library staff member, library, library board, and/or library friends group who have designed programs and/or initiatives responsive to the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community.

• Sisters in Crime awards on LGBTQ theme:

---Sisters in Crime Pride Awards
---Pride Award for Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writers An annual grant of $2,000 for an emerging writer in the LGBTQIA+ community. See also the Dorothy Cannell Scholarship (a $1,000 scholarship offered each year to an aspiring or published mystery author who is a member of the Sisters in Crime GUPpy or “Great Unpublished” chapter).

• Polari Prize (UK, awarded annually) for (1) a first book which explores the LGBTQ+ experience and (2) the overall Polari Prize for non-debut talent. Writers must be born or based in the UK and Ireland.

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Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Prizes of $3,500 each to Virginia authors of poetry, fiction, nonfiction (and, in the case of nonfiction, by any author about a Virginia subject), and for literary lifetime achievement.

Lincoln Forum Book Prize (a distinguished book published on Abraham Lincoln in which he is a central figure). See also Platt Family Essay Contest

Lit Mag Contests 101: What to Watch for and Where to Submit (Authors Guild) Advice and links to three sets of listings:
• Authors Guild's Calls for Submissions (monthly)
• Poets & Writers Writing Contests, Grants & Awards
• NewPages Big List
of Writing & Book Contests

The Livingkindness Foundation Prize for Social Justice Writing by a Woman of Color (International Women's Writing Guild)

Loeb Awards also known as Gerald Loeb Awards for Business Journalism (UCLA Anderson School of Management), considered "business journalism's highest honor." Here are submissions hub and winners since 1958. Individual journalists and media outlets can submit entries in 12 competition categories.

Literary Awards (American Writers Museum's list of most prestigious awards)

Livingston Awards (Wallace House, University of Michigan) ($10,000) American journalism awards issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting--"the largest, all-media, general reporting prizes in America."

Literal Latté writing contests
---K. Margaret Grossman Fiction Award ($1,000, $500, and $300 for a short story of up to 8,000 words)
---Short Short Contest ($500)
---Poetry awards ($1,000, $300, and $200)
---Essay awards ($1,000, $300, and $200)
---Food Verse Contest ($500, for unpublished poems with food as an ingredient. 2,000 words max, any style or subject)

Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage (2003-2006) The only world prize for literary reportage was brought to life by the cultural quarterly Lettre International in 2003 with the financial support of the Aventis Foundation and was presented annually up until 2006. The Goethe-Institut was a partner of the project. Three pieces of reportage were awarded with cash prizes amounting to US$50,000, $30,000, and $20,000.

Library of Congress prizes and fellowships
• Poet Laureate
• John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity The Kluge Prize recognizes and celebrates work of the highest quality and greatest impact that advances understanding of the human experience.
• Gershwin Prize for Popular Song celebrates the work of an artist whose career reflects lifetime achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding.
• Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction to honor an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination. The award seeks to commend strong, unique, enduring voices that, throughout long, consistently accomplished careers, have told us something about the American experience. (from 2009 to 2012, the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for fiction)
Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry A privately funded $10,000 poetry award given biennially under the auspices of the Library of Congress. The Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry recognizes the most distinguished book of poetry written by an American and published during the preceding two years.

Library of Congress Literacy Awards (Read.gov) honor nonprofit organizations that have made outstanding contributions to increasing literacy in the United States or abroad. By recognizing current achievements, the awards seek to enable any organization or program that does not operate on a for-profit basis to strengthen its involvement in literacy and reading promotion and to encourage collaboration with like-minded organizations. Each organization may only apply in one prize category. Evaluated based on innovation, sustainability, replicability, measurable results, and evidence-based practice. See Library of Congress announces $200,000 in literacy prizes (Ron Charles, Washington Post Style Blog, 8-30-14)
• Rubenstein Prize ($150,000) to an organization that has made outstanding and measurable contributions in increasing literacy levels and has demonstrated exceptional and sustained depth and breadth in its commitment to the advancement of literacy
• American Prize ($50,000) to an organization that has made a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels or the national awareness of the importance of literacy in the United States.
• International Prize ($50,000) to an organization or national entity that has made a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels (may be given to an organization in a country outside the U.S.)
• Best Practice Honorees ($5,000)

Literal Latté writing contests
---K. Margaret Grossman Fiction Award ($1,000, $500, and $300 for a short story of up to 8,000 words)
---Short Short Contest ($500)
---Poetry awards ($1,000, $300, and $200)
---Essay awards ($1,000, $300, and $200)
---Food Verse Contest ($500, for unpublished poems with food as an ingredient. 2,000 words max, any style or subject)

• Livingston Awards ($10,000, Wallace House, University of Michigan) This American journalism award (sometimes called the "Pulitzer for the Young") is issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting. The award judges print, broadcast, and online entries against one another The Clurman Award (named for Richard M. Clurman) honors on-the-job mentors who stand out for nurturing, critiquing and inspiring young journalists.

• Locus Guide to Science Fiction Awards (1971-2009). Superseded by the Science Fiction Awards Database

Logan Science Journalism Program (polar hands-on science at Toolik Field Station, Alaska, or biomedical hands-on science at Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole)

Los Angeles Times Book Prizes in several categories: Biography, Current Interest, Fiction, First Fiction (Art Seidenbaum Award), Graphic Novel, History, Mystery/Thriller, Poetry, Science & Technology, Young Adult Literature. There is also a Robert Kirsch Award and an Innovator's Award.

Louie Awards (Greeting Card Association) Celebrating the art, editorial, and design of greeting cards and invitations.

J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project, co-administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation:
• The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize (a $10,000 award) recognizes superb examples of nonfiction writing that exemplify literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.
• The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award ($30,000) is given annually to aid in the completion of a significant work of nonfiction. Every year, one or two award winners receive an award of at least $25,000, and a finalist may receive a $5,000 award.
• The Mark Lynton History Prize ($10,000) is awarded to the book-length work of narrative history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression. The prize is one of three awards given as part of the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize. Sponsored by the family of the late Mark Lynton, a historian and senior executive at the firm Hunter Douglas in the Netherlands. A Wikipedia entry provides more background and a list of winners.

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MacArthur Fellows Program (the "genius grant"). As described by Cecilia Conrad, for the foundation, in Five myths about the MacArthur ‘genius grants’ (Washington Post, 9-20-13). You don't apply for these grants. A couple stories about them: Want Geniuses? Welcome Immigrants (Frank Bruni, NY Times, 9-23-17). The MacArthur Foundation responded to Trump’s frequent demonization of immigrants ("some are rapists") with a little math: "Of the 965 geniuses (or, more properly, MacArthur fellows) to date, 209 were born outside the United States..." a href="http://time.com/money/4946447/macarthur-genius-grant-fellowship-winners-money/"target="_blank">Here’s How 6 ‘Genius’ Grant Winners Spent Their Life-Changing Prize Money (Kristen Bahler, Time, 10-11-17)

Macavity Awards (Mystery Readers International, for best mysteries in four categories: best mystery novel, best first mystery, best mystery-related nonfiction, best mystery short story)

The Peter Mackler Award for Courageous & Ethical Journalism honors reporters and editors who have demonstrated a commitment to fairness, accuracy and speaking truth to power, and a matching commitment to asserting the right to publish or air that story in countries where independent media is under threat.

Maggie Award of Excellence (Georgia Romance Writers) This award for romance novels published the previous year is awarded at the annual Moonlight and Magnolias conference for romance writers held in Georgia.

Man Asian Literary Prize (annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, written in English or translated into English--$30,000 USD to writer, $5,000 to translator, if any). Long list of 10-15 titles announced in October, shortlist in January, winner in March.

Man Booker Prize(s) (distinguished awards for contemporary fiction, to writers from the British Commonwealth and Ireland). (I've listed this under both M and B!)

The Marfield Prize ($10,000, National Award for Arts Writing, given annually by the Arts Club of Washington to nonfiction books about the arts written for a broad audience. The prize "celebrates prose that is lucid, luminous, clear, and inspiring—writing that creates a strong connection with arts and artists." Or as one news story put it, "writing unburdened by academic jargon."

Richard J. Margolis Award of Blue Mountain Center combines a one-month residency at Blue Mountain Center with a $5,000 prize, awarded annually to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom and concern with social justice.

Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts annually since 1998, and taped by PBS). See list of recipients.

The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference is associated with various Mayborn contests and opportunities, including cash awards and publishing contracts for the Mayborn Writing Competition for best Reported Narrative, Personal Essay, and Book Manuscript. See also the Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing ContestMayborn and the Young Spurs Writing Contest (history writing with Bio, Big Thoughts, & the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum)

Mayer Foundation Grants to “needy individuals who are distressed or suffering as a result of poverty, low income or lack of financial resources.” Not exclusively focused on artists or writers, but they receive the majority of grants.

The Victor K. McElheny Award honors one work of journalism--print, digital, or broadcast--with a $5,000 prize foir outstanding local and regional coverage of science, public-health, technology, or environmental issues, at a ceremony hosted by the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT. See Knight Science.

The McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize (Writer's Center, Bethesda, MD, $500, for U.S. writers only)

Medill-sponsored awards (Medill Northwestern University)
• The Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism (to the individual or team of journalists, working for a U.S.-based media outlet, who best displayed moral, ethical or physical courage in the pursuit of a story or series)
• John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism (honors the best public interest magazine journalism of the previous year)
• The Ida B. Wells Award (honors media executives whose actions demonstrate a commitment to a diverse newsroom or coverage of minorities in American journalism)

Mercantile Library Center for Fiction awards including the
• Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize ($10,000 for the best debut novel of the year, and $1,000 to shortlisted authors)
• Maxwell E. Perkins Award (to an editor, publisher, or agent who over the course of their career has discovered, nurtured, and championed writers of fiction)
• The Clifton Fadiman Medal ($5,000, to honor a book, by a living American author, which deserves renewed recognition and a wider readership.
• Roger Shattuck Prize for Criticism (devoted to the support and encouragement of emerging critics--two critics receive $5,000)

Miami University Press Novella Prize awarded annually to a novella-length manuscript of original fiction (18,000–40,000 words). The winner receives $750, a standard contract, publication and 10 copies of the book.

Mobile Journalism Awards (#MojoAwards (Smart Film School) Awards for the best mobile stories produced by reporters with smartphones. Categories: Documentary • Crisis Reporting • Mobile Journalism.) Winners receive prizes and have their work screened at international festivals.On Robb Montgomery's Linked-In page: "This is the fifth edition of the Mobile Journalism Awards and the festival attracts entries from international journalists, media students, journalism educators, and others who have a talent for non-fiction storytelling in film. Past winners have included broadcast reporters, student journalists and freelancers." [This award is new to me, so I have no way of knowing how legitimate it is. It's produced by a "charitable organization" and asks for donations, which makes me leery.]

Modernist Studies Association Book Prize for the book that made the most significant contribution to modernist studies that year. There is also an MSA First Book Prize and a prize for the best MSA edition, anthology, or essay collection.

The Molly National Journalism Prize, an annual national print or online journalism award of $5,000 for a piece published in a U.S.-based pub,with two honorable mentions of $1,000 each, to be presented by the Texas Democracy Foundation and the Texas Observer in memory of Molly Ivins.

Montreal International Poetry Prize ($50,000 for one poem, in English). As reported by Poets&Writers, New Fifty-Thousand-Dollar Poetry Prize Has Global Ambitions (G&A, Prize Reporter, 4-4-11)

Inge Morath Award (Magnum Foundation) A $5,000 grant given to a woman photographer under the age of 30 to support the completion of a long-term documentary project.

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Mystery, thriller, suspense novel, and crime fiction awards

If nothing else, this section should give you a leg up, choosing what books to buy or check out of the library when you're in the mood for a little suspense.

• Stop, You're Killing Me! On this excellent awards page, click on any award and you'll get the names of award winners over time).
• Crime Fiction Awards: Recognizing the Best Mysteries, Suspense Novels, and Thrillers (formerly Mystery Book Awards, listed by Omnimystery). They include many more awards and prizes than are listed here.
• Agatha Awards (Malice Domestic, honoring the traditional mystery)
• Anthony Awards for mystery and detective fiction, presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. Awards for best novel, best first novel, best paperback original, best short story, best critical or nonfiction work, best children's/YA novel, best anthology, best novella (8,000-40,000 words)
• Arthur Ellis Awards (Canadian literary awards for best Canadian crime and mystery writing, from Crime Writers of Canada)
• Audies, presented by Audio Publishers Association (APA)

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• Barry Awards for best works of crime fiction (judged by Deadly Pleasures' editorial staff, presented at Bouchercon)
• Bony Blithe Awards An annual Canadian award celebrating traditional, feel-good mysteries--aka the Bloody Words Light Mystery Award. The award was retired in 2021, but the awards list may help you find something good to read tonight.
• Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence
• The Daggers (eleven of them) are presented by The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) for the very best in crime and thriller writing, with separate awards for works in translation. Only British publishers can submit entries for the Dagger Awards. The thriller novels can be set in any period and include, but are not limited to, spy fiction and/or action/adventure stories.
• Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense (a writing contest for published and unpublished authors of romantic suspense, mystery, suspense and thrillers with romantic subplots, from the Kiss of Death chapter of Romance Writers of America)
• The Dilys Award (given annually from 1993 until 2014 by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers most enjoyed hand selling, named for Dilys Winn, the first mystery-specialty bookseller in U.S.
• Edgar Allen Poe Awards (called The Edgars) Prestigious awards for mystery fiction and nonfiction presented each spring by Mystery Writers of America, in several categories, including Grand Masters, best mystery novel, best first novel by an American author, best paperback original, best fact crime, best critical biographical, best short story, best juvenile, best young adult, Mary Higgins Clark Award (for best book in MHC tradition)

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• The Hammett Prize, presented by International Association of Crime Writers (IACW) for literary excellence in the field of crime-writing (fiction or nonfiction), as reflected in a book published in the English language in the US and/or Canada.
• The Hillerman Prize, honoring Tony Hillerman, awarded to the best debut mystery set in the U.S. Southwest
• Lefty” Awards (Left Coast Crime “) are chosen by registered members of each Left Coast Crime convention, presented in these categories: best humorous mystery novel, best historical mystery novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial), best mystery novel, best debut mystery novel.
• Macavity Awards, named for T.S. Eliot's "mystery cat," chosen by the members of Mystery Readers International
• McIlvanney Prize (Bloody Scotland’s annual prize awarded to the best Scottish crime book of the year--authors must be born in Scotland, live there, or set their books there)

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• Mystery Writers of America (MWA) awards.

---The Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality.

---The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing (might go, for example, to a librarian, a blogger, and book reviewer.

---The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honor “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.”

---See also The Edgars, in alphabetical order, above.
• Ned Kelly Awards ('The Neds'), honoring Australia's best published crime fiction and true crime writing, presented by the Crime Writers’ Association of Australia (CWAA)

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• The Nero Award, presented by The Wolfe Pack, for the best American mystery in the tradition of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories
• Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident)
• The Petrona Award (UK, for the best Scandinavian crime novel of the year)
• Shamus Awards awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best private eye novels and short stories (in various categories) first published in the United States.
• Sisters in Crime awards, in particular the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, an annual grant of $2000 to an emerging writer of color, and the Pride Award for Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writers An annual grant of $2,000 for an emerging writer in the LGBTQIA+ community. See also the Dorothy Cannell Scholarship ( a $1,000 scholarship offered each year to an aspiring or published mystery author who is a member of the Sisters in Crime GUPpy or “Great Unpublished” chapter).
• Thriller Awards , literary awards for crime fiction (best novel, first novel, paperback original, short story, young adult,, e-book original) presented by the International Thriller Writers at the annual ThrillerFest conference.

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NAACP Image Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (television, recording, literature, motion picture and writing & directing), as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.

NAMLE Media Literate Media (MLM) Awards (National Association for Media Literacy Education) designed to interest mainstream media in doing, covering or including media literacy in their work by recognizing outstanding contributions made by mainstream media professionals with national reach. Winners for 2015, for example, for 2021, and all Past NAMLE award winners.

Narratively's inaugural Profile Prize for surprising and awe-inspiring stories about one-of-a-kind people or groups. Cash prizes ($3,000 and $1,000) for winners, plus publication in Narratively). Launched in 2023.

Narrative Prize ($4,000) awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative.

NASW awards (National Association of Science Writers):
• Science in Society Journalism Awards (National Association of Science Writers, or NASW) honor and encourage outstanding investigative and interpretive reporting about the sciences and their impact for good and ill. $2,500 to winners in six categories: Book, Science Reporting-Short, Science Reporting-Long, Science Reporting-Series, Science Reporting for a Local or Regional Market.
• Diane McGurgan Service Award recognizes volunteers whose efforts for NASW go beyond the call of duty.
• Excellence in Institutional Writing Awards to recognize high-caliber, publicly accessible science writing produced on behalf of an institution or other non-media organization, in two categories: short form (a single piece or story package up to 1,000 words or a single broadcast up to 2 ½ minutes long) and long form (a single piece or story package of more than 1,000 words or a single broadcast more than 2 ½ minutes long). Platform-independent.

National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) communication swards. Four $20,000 cash prizes were given for creative, original works that address issues and advances in science, engineering and/or medicine for the general public. This was a 15-year program supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation with the goal of encouraging innovative, cross-disciplinary research and inquiry. A series of annual interdisciplinary conferences ended in 2017, and the final report was published by the National Academies Press in 2018. For more information, visit NAKFI’s You Tube channel.

The National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communication present prizes to science journalists and research scientists who have developed creative, original work that addresses issues and advances in science, engineering, and/or medicine for the general public.

NAGC Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Awards (selected by the National Association of Government Communicators, for employees or contractors who have produced a communication product for a federal, military, state, regional, county, municipal, or other government entity). Helpful evaluations for competitors, and awards in many interesting categories, including annual reports, website, news release, infographic, calendar, display, community engagement forum, technical or statistical report, social media campaign (paid advertising) and social media outreach (unpaid), mobile advertisement, public service announcement (PSA), photographer's portfolio, photojournalist's portfolio, most improved publication. The year I won for "best portfolio" they took the excellent photo (with purple background) that appears on my website. (It's time to use a more current photo.) Lots of interesting products.

National Biography Award ($20,000, awarded annually, open to Australian citizens and permanent residents who have published a work of biography or autobiography, memoir)

National Book Awards (National Book Foundation, $10,000, prestigious literary awards in four genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature), plus two lifetime achievement awards. See winners, alphabetical by genre (also showing former categories) and How the National Book Awards Work (guidelines are issued in April for that year's books). Winners are selected by five-member, independent judging panels for each genre and awarded in November. Roughly 1500 books a year are nominated.
---In 2013, Women writers sweep National Book Foundation's '5 Under 35' awards (USA Today story).
---National Book Awards Entry Rules & Guidelines.
---The Globalization of the National Book Awards (Alexandra Alter, NY Times, 1-31-18) 'Starting this year, the National Book Foundation will recognize works in translation, opening up a distinctly American literary award to writers working in other languages. The new category marks a radical departure for awards, which began in 1950 “to celebrate the best of American literature." ...The prize will be given jointly to authors and translators, and will be limited to fiction and nonfiction works by living authors that are published in the United States."

National Book Critics Circle awards:
• National Book Critics Circle awards for fiction, biography, poetry, criticism, general nonfiction, and autobiography
• Frequently asked questions
• Past NBCC award winners and finalists (first page of two or more)
• Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing (awarded only to a member of the National Book Critics Circle)
• The Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. Named after the first president of the NBCC, the award is given annually to a person - a writer, publisher, critic, or editor, among others - who has, over time, made significant contributions to book culture. Past winners have included Dalkey Archive Press, Joyce Carol Oates, PEN American Center, Pauline Kael, Studs Terkel, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bill Henderson, John Leonard, Louis D. Rubin Jr., Jason Epstein, William Maxwell, Leslie A. Marchand, Robert Giroux, Alfred Kazin, Elizabeth Hardwick, Toni Morrison, and the Library of America.
• John Leonard award (honoring an author's first--debut--book)

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National Cartoonists Society awards

---The Reuben Award goes to the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (chosen by a secret ballot of the members, and named after Rube Goldberg) It is the highest honor the profession bestows. (It was previously called the Billy DeBeck Memorial Award, and the recipient received an engraved silver cigarette box.)
---The Gold Key honors the recipient as a member of the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame.
---The Gold T-Square is awarded for 50 years as professional cartoonist.
---The Silver T-Square is awarded, by unanimous vote of the NCS Board, to persons who have demonstrated outstanding dedication or service to the Society or the profession.
---The Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award is given for a lifetime of outstanding and accomplished work to a cartoonist who has not previously won a Reuben (the one exception being the posthumous award to Charles M. Schulz, a unique Golden Caniff for his outstanding contribution to the artform).

National Council of Teachers of English: NCTE Children’s Book and Poetry Awards
---The Charlotte Huck Award (for fiction that has the potential to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder)
---The Orbis Pictus Award ( the oldest children’s book award for nonfiction)
---Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children (to honor a living American poet for their aggregate work for children ages 3-13)

National Geographic Society's Eliza Scidmore Award for Outstanding Storytelling recognizes individuals who use immersive storytelling to make complex ideas, issues, and information relevant and accessible. The award is named for writer and photographer Eliza Scidmore who, in 1892, was the first woman elected to the National Geographic board.

National Humanities Medals honor individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens' engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects. Up to 12 medals awarded each year by the President of the United States.

National Jewish Book Awards (Jewish Book Council), presented in more than 18 categories, including American Jewish studies, "biography, autobiography, and memoir," contemporary Jewish life and practice, fiction, history, modern Jewish thought and experience, debut fiction, scholarship, Sephardic culture, women's studies, writing based on archival material, young adult literature. One nonfiction book is awarded the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award. There are naming opportunities for some as-yet named awards for various categories. A Wikipedia page lists award winners in various categories.

National Journalism Impact Award (National Women's Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation, NWCAVE.org)

National Magazine Awards , aka the Ellie Awards (American Society of Magazine Editors, ASME, in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism), print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy journalistic enterprise and imaginative art direction. Awards are presented in 20 categories: General Excellence, News, Sports and Entertainment; General Excellence, Service and Lifestyle; General Excellence, Special Interest; General Excellence, Literature, Science and Politics; Design; Photography; Feature Photography; Magazine Section; Personal Service; Leisure Interests; Single-Topic Issue; Website; Multimedia; Video; Reporting; Feature Writing; Essays and Criticism; Columns and Commentary; Public Interest; and Magazine of the Year. See also the
---ASME Next Awards for Journalists Under 30
---National Mature Media Awards (for the best marketing, communications, educational materials and programs for adults 50 and older)
---ASME Award for Fiction (to celebrate the historic link between literary fiction and magazine journalism)
---ASME Awards for Photography and Illustration

National Medal of the Arts (National Endowment for the Arts)

Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts invites nominations from the public for the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government.When the award program began in 1984, it was envisioned that the medal would honor the extraordinary accomplishments of those engaged in the creation and production of the arts in the United States - people and organizations who have made a significant impact on the nation's culture--including individuals who, through their creativity, inspiration, and hard work, have significantly enriched the cultural life of our nation.
---Nomination form (online only; no nominations by mail).

National Outdoor Book Awards for outstanding writing and publishing in 10 categories: history, literature, children, nature, natural history, instructional, adventure guidebook, nature guidebook, design, and outdoor classic. These prestigious awards are sponsored by the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, and Idaho State University.

National Press Foundation Awards
---Innovative Storytelling Award ($5,000, recognizes digital journalism of the highest quality that re-invents the way stories are told to present a compelling audience experience)
---Technology in Journalism Award ($5,000, to recognize individuals or organizations that develop, adapt or creatively apply specific tools or technologies in the gathering and reporting of impactful journalism of the highest quality)
---Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award ($5,000, recognizes significant achievements that enhance the quality of journalism in the United States)
---Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons ( $2,500, for U.S.-based editorial cartoonists for work that exhibits power to influence public opinion, plus good drawing and striking effect)
---Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress ($5,000, to recognize U.S.-based journalists whose work shows thoughtful appraisal and insight into the workings of the U.S. Congress and that represents the highest standards of journalism)
---The Feddie Reporting Award ($5,000, to recognize outstanding reporting about the impact of federal laws and regulations on local communities)
---Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast ($5,000, given to a U.S.-based broadcaster for a body of quality work in video or audio journalism that represents the highest standards of journalism)
---W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award ($2,500, to honor persons who have, through their vision and leadership, strengthened American journalism and furthered the efforts to establish the highest quality in American journalism)
---Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting, ($10,000, to honor excellence in mental health reporting)
---Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy Writing ($2,000 to a U.S.-based journalist for the best writing on the subject of energy)

National Press Photographers Association competitions (by photojournalists, for photojournalists--for members only): Best of Photojournalism (for Photo Editing, Still Photography, Web Site, and TV News Video Photography and Editing); NPPA Solo Video Contest (for Photo Editors, TV Photographers, Solo Videojournalists, and TV Editors); Monthly News Clip Contests; and Monthly Multimedia Contest.

National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards (for serial essays, columns, blogs)
---Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award
---Legacy Award (for significant long-term contributions)
---Will Rogers Humanitarian Award (to a columnist whose sustained work in civic journalism produces tangible benefits for the community)
---Sitting Duck Award (bestowed each year on the crème de la crème of the most ridiculed newsmakers in America) Previous winners have included Roseann Barr, Kato Kaelin, Ann Coulter (“for cheapening political discourse in America”), Sarah Palin, and Donald Trump ("like a politically ambitious four-year cicada, the mogul not only passes but surpasses the duck test quadrennially").

Nautilus Awards, for books & audiobooks for children and teens--books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living, and positive social change, that change the world or change lives; silver and gold awards for books that contribute to the fields of high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership, as well as to the worlds of art, creativity and inspiration)

Jesse H. Neal Awards (Association of Business Information & Media Companies, ABM). An array of awards, for Best Single Article, Best Subject Related Series of Articles, Best Subject-Related Package, Best Profile, Best Commentary, Best News Coverage, Best Technical Content, Best Instructional Content, Best Single Issue of a Magazine, Best Theme Issue of a Magazine or Newspaper, Best Website, Best Cross-Platform Package, Best Single Issue of a Tabloid/Newspaper, Best Blog, Best Range of Work by a Single Author, Best Newsletter, Best Use of Video, Best Use of Mobile, Best Webcast, Best Use of Social Media, Best Media Brand (Overall Editorial Excellence). Major awards include G.D. Crain, Jr. Award (to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the development of editorial excellence in the business media, $1000), Timothy White Award (recognizes exemplary leadership in the face of challenges and pressures that editors face daily, to an editor whose work displays extraordinary courage, integrity and passion), McAllister Editorial Fellowship and the McAllister Top Management Fellowship (awarded annually to an editor and an executive, respectively).

Nebula Awards for excellence in science fiction writing (a major award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, SFWA). In 2019, see Some Reactions to the 2018 Nebula Award Finalists (Cora Buhlert's blog, 2-28-19) Five of the six indie finalists "are very different from the other finalists in style, subgenre, etc… They’re all either military leaning space opera or outright military SF of the “Pew pew” type, which isn’t traditionally something the Nebula electorate tends to go for, though there are exceptions, e.g. Charles E. Gannon and Jack McDevitt...Furthermore, all six nominated indie authors (one story had two authors) plus one hybrid author are members of a Facebook group for indie authors called 20Booksto50K." An organized campaign?

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The Neustadt International Prize for Literature ($50,000). This American award, awarded every two years to an author for their entire body of work, is the most prestigious international award after the Nobel Prize. It is sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary magazine World Literature Today. It's one of the few international prizes for which poets, novelists, and playwrights are equally eligible. Winners have included novelist and short story writer Edwidge Danticat, novelist Nuruddin Farah, poet Joao Cabral de Melo Neto, and playwright Max Rudolf Frisch. The NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature ($35,000) is awarded every other year to a living writer or author-illustrator with significant achievement in children’s or young-adult literature. Made possible through the generosity of Nancy Barcelo, Susan Neustadt Schwartz, and Kathy Neustadt and sponsored by World Literature Today, the NSK Prize celebrates literature that contributes to the quality of children’s lives.

Newbery Medal This literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

New Millennium Writings Awards. Twice-annual prizes ($1000) in four categories: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and short-short fiction.

New Voices grants (a 2010 J-Lab program to seed innovative community news -- citizen media -- ventures in the U.S.)

The New York City Book Awards honor books of literary quality or historical importance that evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City, which must play an essential role beyond that of the setting. A worthy book, whether academic, literary, or popular, must be well written and engaging and should shed some new or unusual light on New York City.

New York Foundation for the Arts. An extensive national directory of awards, services, and publications for artists (over 4,500 arts organizations, 3,600 award programs, 4,700 service programs, and 900 publications for individual artists). NYFA also provides grants to small and medium-size organizations in New York state. Check out Grant Opportunities on the NYFA blog.

New York Historical Society book prizes:
---Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History ($50,000 awarded for a nonfiction book on American history or biography, in alternate years, distinguished by its scholarship, its literary style and its appeal to a general as well as an academic audience)
---The New-York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize ($10,000 for the best children’s historical literature in the United States, encouraging authors to continue to create engaging and challenging narratives that provide a window into the past for middle readers and their families)
---The Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History at the New-York Historical Society ($50,000 for the best book on military history in the English-speaking world, without restrictions as to time, and distinguished by its scholarship, its contribution to the literature, and its appeal to both a general and an academic audience).

New York Press Club Awards open to individuals and news organizations based or operating in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and to individuals working elsewhere on behalf of New York metro-area news organizations. Awards unique to the New York Press Club competition include the Gabe Pressman “Truth to Power” award honoring an individual whose body of work challenges the power establishment and/or defends journalists

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (these Australian literary prizes range in value from $5,000 to $40,000)

New Visions Award (Lee & Low Books) Writing contest for middle-grade/YA novels and graphic novels by writers of color and native nations.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards

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The Nib: Waverley Awards for Literature (given by the Waverly Library Council of Bondi Junction, a Sydney suburb). The award recognizes excellence in research in creating a literary work and comes with a $20,000 AUD (US$14,447) prize. Also awarded annually: the Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize (awarded to all shortlisted authors) and the People's Choice Prize.

Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting (Academy Nicholl Fellowships, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences), an international screenwriting competition established to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters

Nieman Fellowships (prestigious fellowships for experienced print, broadcast and online reporters, editors, photographers, producers, editorial writers and cartoonists)

Nieman Foundation Awards:
• Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism ($20,000) honors investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served. These stories may involve state, local or national government, lobbyists or the press itself
• Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers (one $10,000 award and two for $1000, to encourage fairness in news coverage by America's daily newspapers (the Taylor family published the Boston Globe).
• J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project. Awards are given in three categories:
---The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize ($10,000) recognizes superb examples of nonfiction on an American topic that exemplifies the literary grace, commitment to serious research and social concern that characterized the work of the award’s namesake.
---The Mark Lynton History Prize ($10,000) is awarded to the book-length work of history on any subject that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression.
---The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award (two $25,000 prizes) is given annually to aid in the completion of a significant work of nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern.

NIHCM Awards The National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation confers generous, highly prestigious journalism awards on winners in these categories:
--- General Circulation Journalism Awards recognize excellence in health care reporting and writing on the financing and delivery of health care and the impact of health care policy. The General Circulation Journalism Award ($20,000) recognizes excellence in traditional print reporting (for publications in general circulation) and the Trade Journalism Award ($15,000) recognizes excellence in health care reporting and writing on the financing and delivery of health care and the impact of health care policy. Each is judged by an independent panel of current and former journalists.
--- Research Award ($20,000) recognizes outstanding published work from researchers furthering innovation in health care financing, delivery and organization or the implementation of health care policy. It is judged by an independent panel of experts.
--- The Digital Media Award ($20,000) recognizes excellence in digital media that improves understanding of health care topics through analysis grounded in empirical evidence. It is judged by an independent panel of experts. Entry is limited to digital content produced specifically for an online audience, which may include video, graphics and/or multimedia. Entries should not be largely the same as stories that ran in print publications or that were broadcast on television or radio.
--- The Television and Radio Journalism Award ($20,000) recognizes excellence in television and radio reporting on health care issues and policy. It is judged by an independent panel of current and former journalists.

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Nobel Prizes
• The List of All Nobel Winners (Nobel Prize) Nobel Prizes in Literature Final deliberations are secret and highly nontransparent. Read Nomination and Selection of Nobel Laureates. The names of the nominees cannot be revealed until 50 years later. In the nomination archive, you can search among nominations for the years 1901-1965, now revealed according to the 50 years rule. Alfred Nobel left no explanation as to why the Peace Prize was to be awarded by a Norwegian committee while the other four prizes were to be handled by Swedish committees. The Nobel Peace Prize and the awarded Laureates have frequently caused controversies as they in many cases have increased public focus on international or national conflicts.
• But, first we’ll take this W (Bhakti Shringarpure, Africa Is a Country, 10-8-21) Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Nobel Prize for Literature win raises questions about the role of the LitNobel and how they construct what we think of and buy as African literature. The Nobel has always favored the whitest and the most European of all literature.
• Louise Glück Should Refuse the Nobel Prize for Literature. Here’s Why. (Peter Maass, The Intercept, 10-7-2020) The Swedish Academy, which selects the Nobel winner, is a corrupt institution that has tolerated genocide denial and sexual assault.
• The ugly scandal that cancelled the Nobel prize (Andrew Brown, The Guardian, 7-17-18, a Long Read) Sweden’s literary elite has been thrown into disarray by allegations of sexual harassment and corruption. "It seems possible that the king of Sweden, who has ultimate responsibility for the academy, will simply close the whole thing down this summer, with potentially disastrous consequences for the Nobel prize in literature. The Nobel Foundation, which funds the prize, is refusing to keep doing so until the academy is cleaned up."
In memory of Vera Rubin, the woman the Nobel Prize forgot (Rachel Feltman, Popular Science, 12-27-16) Vera Rubin, who essentially created a new field of astronomy by discovering dark matter, was a favorite to win the Nobel Prize in physics for years. But she never received her early-morning call from Stockholm. On Sunday, she died at the age of 88. And it cannot be awarded posthumously. Most of the Universe, Rubin discovered, is invisible to us, yet this material has had a profound effect on literally everything. Dark matter is still technically theoretical, which is why, it is argued, she could not get the prize. But "the men who discovered dark energy—no less important than dark matter, but no less 'theoretical' either—were honored with the prize in 2011. And their observations took place a good 20 years after Rubin did her work."
• The ‘Doctor Zhivago’ Nobel Dust-up (Tina Jordan, NY Times, 10-24-18) Pasternak turned down his Nobel in 1957, when the Soviet Union threatened to oust him for accepting it. Here's what went down.

North American Travel Journalists Association awards, honoring the “best of the best” from travel media (writers, photographers, video journalists) and travel promotion submitted by travel journalists, travel magazines, public relations agencies and destination marketing organizations (DMOs/CVBs)

The NYC Big Book Awards (many, many awards, for independently and traditionally published authors, publishers, big and small presses) $99 for the first book entry/category, $79 for each additional category, and here were winners for 2022 in a gazillion special categories, including Adult Coloring Books.

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#OakesAward. John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism ($5,000 prize, given annually for news reporting that makes an exceptional contribution to the public’s understanding of environmental issues, presented in the fall at Columbia Journalism School)

Oklahoma Book Awards Books considered for this award must have an Oklahoma-based theme, or entrants (authors, illustrators, or designers) must live or have lived in Oklahoma. Categories: children/young adult, design/illustration, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry

Online Journalism Awards, administered by the Online News Association, honor excellence in digital journalism around the world. Six awards that come with prize money honor general excellence in online journalism, investigative data journalism, science reporting, community-centered journalism, public service, and climate change. The Online Journalism Awards are open to websites, areas of websites and all digital platforms, including smart phones, e-readers and tablets, where journalists have originated the content or selected and amplified it.

Online Media Awards (somewhat British-oriented). Interesting categories: Chairman's award; online editor of the year; digital writer of the year; best site for news-led journalism; best specialist site for journalism; best local/regional news site; best national news site; best campaigning/investigative journalism; best commentary/blogging; best video journalism; best designed site; best Twitter feed; best use of social media; best use of crowd sourcing or citizen journalism; best brand development; best commercial innovation.

Op Eds and Editorial Writing (awards for)

---Pulitzer Prizes for Editorial Writing A good places to read examples of the best editorial writing.
---Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest (American Philosophical Association)
---CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Writing Columns or Opinion Pieces Each year the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards recognize hundreds of institutions whose talented staff members advanced their institutions last year through innovative, inspiring, and creative ideas.
---ASJA Award for Opinion/Op Eds (American Society of Journalists & Authors)
---SPJ Award for Editorial Writing (Society of Professional Journalists)

Orange Prize for Fiction, now Women's Prize for Fiction A £30,000 prize, which celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world, by any woman writing in English, for a book published in UK.

Oregon Book Awards

Orwell Prize, Britain's most prestigious prize for political writing -- with prizes for the book, the journalism, and (since 2009) the blog. See A brief history . Not to be confused with Orwellian Prize.

‘Orwellian Prize’ for inaccuracy awarded to the Daily Mail for “journalistic misrepresentation” (Craig Silverman, Poynter 1-30-12)

Overseas Press Club awards (22 awards, some of them sponsored). Learn who past recipients were.

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Paddypower Political Book Awards for the very best in political writing and publishing. Appears to have expanded, to become the Paddy Power & Total Politics Political Book Awards Sponsored by Paddy Power, a leading UK and Ireland betting and gaming company, and politicos.co.uk, an online political bookstore, according to Biographers International. Categories: political book of the year, debut political book of the year, political biography of the year, polemic of the year, political history book of the year, international affairs book of the year, practical politics book of the year, political humor and satire book of the year, political fiction book of the year, World War One book of the year.

Page International Screenwriting Awards, second only to the Nicholl Fellowships, according to Mike Kuciak, who writes of it.

Paris Review prizes. Winners are selected from the stories and poems published in The Paris Review each year.
• The Plimpton Prize for Fiction (an award of $10,000 given to a new voice published in The Paris Review, reflecting Plimpton's commitment to discovering new writers of exceptional merit).
• The Paris Review Hadada Award (presented each year to “a distinguished member of the writing community who has made a strong and unique contribution to literature")
• The Terry Southern Prize for Humor (recognizes humor, wit and sprezzatura as important qualities of good writing in general, especially writing online--in memory of Terry Southern, known for his uproarious fiction and journalism and such screenplays as Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider)
• The Aga Khan Prize (latest entry was 2004)
• Bernard F. Conners Prize for Poetry (latest entry was 2004)

Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism (the $10,000 Ancil Payne award honors courageous reporting and difficult ethical decisions that make a difference in the community but are often invisible to readers, listeners, or viewers). University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

Peabody Awards, the world's oldest annual honor in electronic media, especially for excellence in radio and television broadcasting. The Peabodys honor distinction and achievement in broadcast journalism, documentary film making, educational and children's programming, and entertainment. The Peabody was first awarded in 1941 for radio programs from 1940; TV awards were added in 1948 and awards for material distributed on the Web were introduced in the 1990s. Wikipedia lists Peabody Award winners by year. Administered by the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

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Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative (Moment Magazine awards of $5000 to encourage young journalists to write in-depth stories about a modern manifestation of anti-Semitism or another deeply ingrained prejudice.)

PEN American literary awards

---The PEN America Literary Awards have been cancelled (2024) (Dan Sheehan, LitHub, 4-22-24) The $75,000 from the Jean Stein award went instead to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

A follow-up to The PEN Awards and World Voices Festival Are on the Brink of Collapse (Sheehan, 4-17-24) "With the PEN America Literary Awards ceremony less than two weeks away, 29 writers and translators (out of 87 nominees) have now withdrawn from consideration for 10 different awards due to what they see as PEN’s inadequate response to the unfolding genocide in Gaza. This includes 9 of the 10 nominees for the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Award, the most lucrative and prestigious of the five major awards." Here, fyi, were the finalists (PEN).

"Their actions are a protest against PEN America’s stance on the Israeli military’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians. This catastrophic campaign has led to the often-targeted killings of Palestinian writers, professors, and journalists and their families, while PEN America has remained shamefully unwilling to speak out against the systematic nature of these crimes."

Awards administered by PEN America include:
• PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature ($50,000) to a writer of any genre for their body of work. Multigenre.
• PEN/Jean Stein Book Award ($75,000) for a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact, which has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence.
• PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Literary Oral History ($10,000) recognize literary works of nonfiction that use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement.

• PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers ($2,000 to 12 writers) recognizing twelve emerging fiction writers for their debut short story..
• PEN/Hemingway Award for debut novel ($10,000) for a debut novel of exceptional literary merit by an American author.
• PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection ($25,000) to an author whose debut collection of short stories represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise for future work.
• PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay ($15,000) for a seasoned writer whose collection of essays is an expansion on their corpus of work and preserves the distinguished art form of the essay.
• PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction ($10,000) for a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective that illuminates important contemporary issues.
• PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award ($10,000) for a work that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of the physical or biological sciences and communicates complex scientific concepts to a lay audience.
• PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards for Master American Dramatist, Playwright in Mid-Career, and Emerging Playwright ($7,500 and $2,500). Three awards to honor a Grand Master of American Theater, playwright in mid-career, and emerging playwright.
• PEN Open Book Award ($10,000) an author of color who has, prior to the submitted book’s publication, not received wide media attention. Multigenre.
• PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography ($5,000) for a biography of exceptional literary, narrative, and artistic merit, based on scrupulous research.
• PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry ($5,000) for a new and emerging American poet with promise of further literary achievement. Alternates with the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry To a poet whose distinguished collection of poetry represents a notable and accomplished literary presence.

• PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000) for an author of a nonfiction book about sports
• PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000) to a writer for a lifetime of writing about sports and its dimensions of character and action
• PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ($5,000)
for an author of an unpublished work of children's or young-adult fiction
• PEN Translation Prize ($3,000) for a book-length translation of prose from any language into English.
• PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000) for a book-length translation of poetry from any language into English

• PEN/Nora Magid Award ($2,500) for a magazine editor whose high literary standards and taste have, throughout his or her career, contributed significantly to the excellence of the publication he or she edits
• PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants ($2,000-$4,000) to promote the publication and reception of translated international literature in English
• PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature ($5,000) for a work-in-progress translation of narrative prose from the Italian into English

Am not sure if the following PEN awards are still being given.
• PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction (founded by Barbara Kingsolver, $25,000) awarded biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships.)
• PEN/W. G. Sebald Award for a Fiction Writer in Mid-Career ($10,000). Honors an author who has published at least 3 significant works of literary fiction, either novels or short story collections, with the promise of more to come

• PEN/Steven Kroll Award Honoring the Author of an Illustrated Children’s Book ($5,000). To an American or U.S.-based writer for an exceptional story illustrated in a picture book.
• PEN Emerging Writers Awards ($2500), to two promising writers — one fiction writer, one nonfiction writer--at a crucial early moment in their careers
• PEN Open Book Award ($5,000). To an author of color who has not received wide media coverage.
See also English PEN awards.

PEN/Faulkner Foundation awards. Awards administered by the foundation:
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction ($15,000 to winner, $5,000 to finalists). Honors the best published works of fiction by American citizens in a calendar year
• PEN/Malamud Award ($5,000). To honor excellence in the art of the short story.

PEN Writers Emergency Fund, plus a list of additional resources for writers (including emergency funds, crisis advice and advocacy, health insurance, government programs, emergency shelter and food provisions)

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PEN Northwest Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency (a seven-month residency, stipend $5,000, in southwest Oregon's back country; competition open to poets, fiction writers, or creative nonfiction writers)

PEN/New England's Hemingway Foundation PEN Award for a first work of fiction by an American author.

Pen-Oakland Literary Awards. The "Blue-Collar" PEN issues the Josephine Miles Award (to honor writers of exceptional works often not acknowledged by the mainstream literary community), a Literary Censorship Award (honoring authors of literature of conscience who may have suffered censorship, efforts to discredit or failure to distribute/review their work based on philosophical or cultural content), and the Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award. Awards described generally in NY Times Bay Area blog entry, The ‘Blue-Collar’ PEN Awards (Felicity Barringer, 12-4-09).

Pen Translation Fund grants (to promote the publication and reception of translated world literature in English)

Maxwell E. Perkins Award, to honor the work of an editor, publisher, or agent who over the course of his or her career has discovered, nurtured and championed writers of fiction in the United States (presented by the Center for Fiction, Mercantile Library, NYC, in honor of Perkins, one of the publishing industry's most important editors).

Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards . Phi Beta Kappa issues three awards, each of which carries a $10,000 prize.

---Christian Gauss Award, for a work of literary scholarship or criticism. To be eligible, a literary biography must have a predominantly critical emphasis.

---Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, for “scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity." Biographies of public figures may be eligible if their primary critical emphasis is on the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity.

---Phi Beta Kappa Science award, for superior books by scientists written to illuminate aspects of science for a broad readership. To be eligible, biographies of scientists should include substantial critical emphasis on their scientific research.

Plutarch Award for best biography of the year, as chosen by fellow biographers (Biographers International Organization, award launched in 2013).

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The Podcasting, Seriously Award Fund supports independent BIPOC, Queer and Trans audio professionals in submitting their work to media/journalism awards, in partnership with the Online Journalism Awards. Apply to Fund.

Poets & Writers funding for readings/workshops

Polari Prize (UK, awarded annually) for (1) a first book which explores the LGBTQ+ experience and (2) the overall Polari Prize for non-debut talent. Writers must be born or based in the UK and Ireland.

The George Polk Awards (Long Island University) for intrepid journalism, honoring insights, exposés, stories that probe beneath the news, photojournalism. Interesting history.. See also if they are still giving George Polk grants for investigative journalism, because so many journalists have been laid off.

Posen Foundation's international fellowship in Jewish fiction writing and scholarship. To be eligible for this new $40,000 fellowship, writers must be at work on a Jewish-themed novel or short story collection, and should not yet have published their first book. Also eligible: doctoral students writing their dissertations on subjects related to modern Jewish history and culture.

Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award ($12,500 grant to support the work of a promising early-career nonfiction writer on a story that uncovers truths about the human condition, sometimes with a runner-up prize of $4,000, awarded by NYU Journalism Institute). A story supported by this award: Australia Is Deadly Serious About Killing Millions of Cats (Jessica Camille Aguirre, NY Times, 4-25-19) Feral felines are driving the country’s native species to extinction. Now a massive culling is underway to preserve what’s left of the wild.

Prime Minister's Literary Awards (Australia, for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, Australian history, YA fiction, children's fiction). Up to $100 000 is awarded in each category—$80 000 for the winning entry and $5,000 each for a maximum of four shortlisted entries. All prizes are tax-free. See entry guidelines.

PRISM Awards honor productions that are powerfully entertaining but also accurately depict substance abuse and addiction and mental illness: prevention, treatment and recovery in film, television, interactive, music, DVD, and comic book entertainment (sponsored by Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. in collaboration FX Network and other national cable television partners. See award categories.

Prison writing awards.

---PEN America's annual prison writing contest Imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works every year to PEN America’s annual Prison Writing Awards, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population. Anyone incarcerated in a federal, state, or county prison in the year before the September 1 deadline is eligible to enter. Read previous winners in one of Prison Writing Awards anthologies or read winning entries in this archive of previous winners. Read about the contest in Words Behind Bars: Pen America’s Prison Writing Awards
---PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship commissions writers—emerging or established—to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate. The goal: to ignite a broad, sustained conversation about the dangers of over-incarceration and the imperative to mobilize behind rational and humane policies.
---Prison Writing: A curated collection (The Marshall Project) Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the criminal justice conversation.

---Koestler Arts, UK: The Power of Writing in Prison "You get a sense that for many of them it’s the first time they’ve found their pens and realised that a blank piece of paper can be a window or an escape tunnel." ~ Joelle Taylor, Koestler Awards judge

Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing ($100,000)

Prix Italia (prestigious international competition, with awards for excellence in radio, TV and Web programs (drama, documentaries, music and performing arts)

Project Report (a contest for nonprofessional, aspiring journalists to tell stories that might not otherwise be told, shown as short video journalism on YouTube, sponsored by the Pulitzer Center and Sony)

Prometheus Awards (Libertarian Futurist Society) honor libertarian fiction by science fiction writers whose books examine the meaning of freedom. A second award, the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, honors classic libertarian fiction. Award winners listed here.

PROSE Awards (American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence) recognize achievement in professional and scholarly publishing, with awards for distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. Sponsored by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division of the Association of American Publishers (AAP). See Behind the scenes of the PROSE Awards judging (Kate Kolendo, Elsevier, 1-29-13).

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Awards. Silver Anvil awards (the "Oscars" for PR) recognize the best public relations programs of the year and the highest standards of performance in the profession. Bronze Anvil Awards recognize individual items or components of programs or campaigns — media kits, annual reports, newsletters, blogs, podcasts, social media, video programs, PSAs, speeches or websites — that contribute to the overall success of public relations programs and campaigns. Individual Awards are given in five different categories (Gold Anvil, Outstanding Educator, Patrick Johnson Aware for Distinguished Service to PRSA, Paul M. Lund Public Service Award, Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in International Public Relations. Awards are presented both nationally and in local chapters.

The PublishingTriangle Awards ( the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction; the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction; the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction, the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction; the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry and the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry; the Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian and Gay Playwriting; and the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement)

Pulitzer Prizes The prestigious Pulitzer Prizes are awarded annually by Columbia University for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. Prizes of $10,000 are awarded to twenty winners, and one gold medal is awarded to a newspaper (though an individual may be named). Prizes in Letters are for books published in the United States: fiction, biography, general nonfiction, history, and poetry.

See In 2020, podcasts will be able to win Pulitzers (oh, and radio too) (Laura Hazard Owen, NiemanLab, 12-6-19) The Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting (an "experimental category") will be “for a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest, characterized by revelatory reporting and illuminating storytelling,” and “U.S. newspapers, magazines, wire services and online news sites that publish regularly,” as well as independent American producers and U.S. radio broadcast outlets, will be eligible to enter submissions. Read about other changes over the years. From an e-letter: "There was no prize for what the Pulitzer folks call "feature writing" — now usually referred to as narrative journalism — until 1979. Investigative reporting has been honored since 1953, but under various names. International reporting was first recognized for a prize in 1942; before that it was called, interestingly, "Telegraphic Reporting - International."
---Pulitzer Prize winners by category (over the years)
---Pulitzer Prize winners, by year

---The key to writing a Pulitzer Prize-winning story? Get emotional (Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, The Conversation, 4-10-17)
---These 30 Pics Won Pulitzer Prize for Photography and Not Without a Reason (Irmante Sungailaite, Bored Panda, 2021) Be ready and be quick! Some amazing black and white photos.
---The 17 Pulitzer board members are meeting right now. Here’s what we know about them (Rich Edmonds, Poynter, 4-13-18).

---Michael Cunningham explains the selection process for the fiction prize in this article: Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury: What Really Happened This Year (7-9-12), when no fiction prize was given.

---CJR (Spring 2016) reports on women and people of color being shut out of American journalism’s most prestigious award in 100 years of data, in an issue that also tells the story of Janet Cooke, The fabulist who changed journalism (and who returned her Pulitzer after admitting she'd made up the story she won it for.

Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award (Sigma Delta Chi Foundation), honoring a person or persons who have fought to protect and preserve one or more of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Honorees do not have to be journalists.

PUMA Creative Catalyst Award (PUMA and BRITDOC, for an international documentary filmmaker with a story to tell, but not necessarily the resources to do it -- developed to give filmmakers the funds to develop trailers for their films). Apply at BRITDOC. See finalist trailers.

Purpose Prize (Encore.org, second acts for the greater good). Purpose: To invest in people over 60 who are changing the world. Prize: $100,000 awards to advance their work. See what’s possible in the second half of life by learning more about how previous Purpose Prize winners, all in their encore careers, solve critical problems in education, health care, the environment and more. (Not just for writers, but one writer friend just won one, so I list it here.)

Pushcart Prize Series (best of the small presses, anthology published annually since 1976)

Pushkin House Prize For the very best non-fiction writing on Russia, published in English (including translation). Celebrates books that combine excellence in research with readability.

Poetry Awards, lists of, with links:

Attention: Poets aspiring to be published: Be aware that there are many scam poetry contests out there, trying to get your money. Among links below are guides to finding the legitimate poetry contests. Above all: Sign nothing granting or selling all future rights to your poetry.

***Poets & Writers' detailed list of contests, grants, and awards
• Poetry Society of America links to poetry contests, residencies, conferences, bookstores, and organizations promoting poetry.
• Wikipedia list of poetry awards from around the world
• Poetry awards and contests (fuller list of awards, on Poetry and Verse page of this website)
• Legitimate poetry contests and awards
• Poetry Awards and Contests (Writers and Editors site)
• Calls for Submissions (Authors Guild's monthly announcements of submissions deadlines for a particular month include many poetry contests)
• Legitimate poetry contests vs. contest scams

Specific poetry awards in U.S.
• Aiken Taylor Award
• Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards ($1,000)
• Griffin Poetry Prize, Canada's most generous prize.
• Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards (Claremont Graduate University) The $100,000 Kingsley Tufts award. established by his widow, Kate Tufts, is for mid-career poets who have previously published books of poetry. The Kate Tufts Discovery Award ($10,000) goes to a first-time poet. See FAQs.
• Rattle Poetry Prize ($10,000 to winner and $200 to ten finalists, for U.S. poets)
• Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships (The Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine) $25,800 prize, to encourage the further study and writing of poetry. Open to all US poets between 21 and 31 years of age.
• Fuller list of poetry awards and contests (on this, the Writers and Editors website)

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Rachel Carson Environment Book Award (Society of Environmental Journalists, SPJ)

Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder Contest. Intergenerational teams of two or more compete in a poetry, essay, photography and dance contest "that best expresses the Sense of Wonder that you feel for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful to your eyes." Co-sponsored by EPA, Generations United, The Dance Exchange, National Center for Creative Aging, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc.,

Radio/Media Awards Directory (AIR wiki, Association of Independents in Radio)

Dan Rather Medal for Demonstrating “News and Guts”

University Will Honor Courageous Journalists With Dan Rather Medal For Demonstrating “News and Guts” (School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin).

RBC Taylor Prize for excellence in literary nonfiction, $25,000 to the Canadian author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception ($2,000 to runners up).

Reading the West Book Awards (sponsored by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association, honoring adult and children’s titles that exemplify the best in writing and/or illustrations whose subject matter is set in the region or invokes the spirit of the region--awarded in several categories)

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (annual award given to the author of the book voted most outstanding by students in grades 4 through 8 in participating Illinois schools)

Residencies. Skim the alphabetical listings on this page for various residencies and guides to residencies.

Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing ($10,000 advance and publication by Restless Books) will alternate yearly between accepting unpublished fiction and nonfiction submissions, beginning with fiction in 2015. Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. Fiction submissions can take the form of a novel or a book-length collection of short stories. Nonfiction submissions can take the form of a memoir, a collection of essays, or a book-length work of narrative nonfiction. The submission should address some combination of identity, the meeting of cultures and communities, immigration and migration, and today's globalized society.

RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence (Religion News Association) $11,000 in prizes for religion journalism excellence in several categories, under general headings: Daily newspapers, Nondaily newspapers and magazines, Online only/digital, All-media (including Religion story of the year; Feature writing//Supple Award; Enterprise, series and serials//Renner Award), Broadcast, Books, and Student reporting (Student religion reporting//Chandler Award). See Contest FAQs.

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Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (National Cartoonists Society). Chosen by secret ballot of NCS members. The board of directors chooses (by unanimous vote) recipients of the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award.

Reynolds Center Awards and Scholarships

The Ridenhour Prizes (which each carry a $10,000 stipend) r ecognize those who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. They memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling of the whistleblower and investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour
• Courage Prize is presented to an individual in recognition of their courageous and life-long defense of the public interest and passionate commitment to social justice.
• Book Prize honors an outstanding work of social significance from the prior publishing year. The prize also recognizes investigative and reportorial distinction.
• Prize for Truth-Telling goes to a citizen, corporate or government whistleblower, investigative journalist, or organization for bringing a specific issue of social importance to the public's attention.
• Documentary Film Prize is given to a documentary film that in the view of the judges best reflects the legacy of Ron Ridenhour–journalist, whistleblower, truth-teller and social activist. The Prize seeks to recognize a documentary that defends the public interest, advances or promotes social justice, or illuminates a more just vision of society.

River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize (for a book-length manuscript of literary nonfiction -- award: $1,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press)

Rita Awards (Romance Writers of America), awards for outstanding published romance novels and novellas -- a huge contest with many competitors, plus several other awards. But in 2019 things go awry: Romance Writers of America Cancels Awards Program (Concepción de León, NY Times, 1-7-2020) The awards, which recognize “excellence in published romance novels and novellas,” are typically given during the trade organization’s annual conference in the summer. But in a statement released on Monday, the R.W.A. said that many had “lost faith” in its ability to conduct a fair contest, leading participants to withdraw. Courtney Milan, whose criticism of another writer’s book led to punishment from the Romance Writers of America, said that the group canceling this year’s awards program “is the first right decision I’ve seen RWA make in this whole debacle.” For more on RWA's story, see Romance novels and novelists.

Rockower Awards (the Simon Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism). Awards for Excellence in Writing (categories include) for Excellence in Commentary, for Excellence in Single Commentary, for Excellence in Personal Essay, for Excellence in Editorial Writing, for Excellence in Enterprise or Investigative Reporting, for Excellence in News Reporting, for Excellence in Social Justice Reporting, for Excellence in Feature Writing, for Excellence in Arts and Criticism News and Features, for Excellence in Special Sections or Supplements, for Excellence in Organizational Newsletters, for Excellence in Writing About Women, for Excellence in Writing About the Global Russian-Speaking Jewish Community, for Excellence in Writing About Jewish Heritage and Jewish Peoplehood in Europe, for Excellence in Overall Graphic Design, for Excellence in Graphic Design: COVER, for Excellence in Photography, for Outstanding Digital Outreach, for Excellence in a Multi-Media Story, for Excellence in Blogging. And The David Frank Award for Excellence in Personality Profiles, The Rambam Award for Excellence in Writing About Health Care, The Jacob Rader Marcus Award for Journalistic Excellence in American Jewish History, The Noah Bee Award for Excellence in Illustrating and/or Editorial Cartooning.

Romance writing workshops, conferences, and writing contests (Once Upon a Romance site)

Robinson Prize (every year the American Copy Editors Society honors one copy editor whose work demonstrates exceptional effectiveness with $3,000, a plaque, and national recognition)

Rosemary Awards, "for worst open government performance." See a particularly enlightening NSA article about the Rosemary Awards in 2015. The National Security Archive established the "not-so-coveted" Rosemary Award in 2005, named for Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon's secretary, who claimed in testimony that she accidentally erased 18-and-a-half minutes of a crucial Watergate tape. "Bestowed annually to highlight the lowlights of government secrecy, the Rosemary Award has recognized a rogue's gallery of open government scofflaws, including the CIA, the Treasury Department, the Air Force, the FBI, the Justice Department, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper." Among tidbits on this page: "The unfortunate silver lining of Hillary Clinton inappropriately appropriating public records as her own is that she likely preserved her records much more comprehensively than her State Department colleagues, most of whose e-mails have probably been lost under [State Department CIO Steven] Taylor's IT leadership."

Rowley Prize for Best Proposal for First Biography to be Awarded at Compleat Biographer Conference in 2014 (honoring Hazel Rowley)

Royal Nonesuch Humor Writing Contest (Mark Twain House & Museum). Submit 7,000 words or less of any original work of humor, humorous essays and stories.

Royal Society book prizes (UK, $$$). The writer must be a resident of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, or have been a resident in the UK or ROI for the past three years.
• Companions of Literature, the highest award bestowed by the RSL, was inaugurated in 1961, and is held by up to ten writers at any one time.
• RSL Encore Award (UK, £10,000) for the best second novel of the year.
• RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction annual awards for first-time writers of non-fiction. Two awards – one of £10,000, one of £5,000 – are offered to support writers to complete their first commissioned works of non-fiction.
• RSL Ondaatje Prize, an annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.
• The Benson Medal Awarded to those who have offered sustained and outstanding service to literature.
• V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, an annual prize of £1,000 goes to the best unpublished short story of the year. The winning entry is also published in Prospect Magazine and the RSL Review.
• Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize (was Winton Prize), celebrating the best in popular science writing (authors of six shortlisted books each receive £1,000 and the winner receives £10,000). Open to books written for a non-specialist audience, hundreds of entries are submitted by publishers from all over the world.
• Royal Society's Young People's Book Prize, celebrating the best books that communicate science to young people (authors of six shortlisted books each receive £1,000 and the winner receives £10,000). The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books were named the Rhône-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books from 1990 to 2000, and the Aventis Prizes for Science Books from 2001 to 2006.

Ruderman Foundation Awards for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, a journalism contest devoted exclusively to recognizing excellence in the coverage of people with disabilities and disability issues. Administered by the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ). In 2019 the contest the NCDJ administered was called the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability

Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize ($100,000 annually). This prestigious award honors a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition (administered by the Poetry Foundation).

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St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Awards ($2500, to encourage artists early in their career--supporting well-defined endeavors such as finishing a commissioned score, preparing works for an exhibition, traveling for arts research, or completing a piece of writing) and Distinguished Artist Award ($5,000 to an artist--in music, literature, or visual arts--who has demonstrated outstanding talent and an exceptional diversity of accomplishment--and are recognized for their contributions as teachers, mentors, or advocates)

St. Francis College Literary Prize ($50,000 to midcareer authors, for a 3rd to 5th published work of fiction, awarded every two years)Salamander Fiction Prize ($1000, $500 plus publication, for a short story)

Saltire Society Literary Awards Scotland's National Book Awards honor books in six categories written by Scottish authors or with subjects relating to Scotland. Winners in each category receive £2,000 ($2,576) and are eligible for the overall Saltire Scottish Book of the Year, which is worth £5,000 ($6,440).

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature ($100,000 to an emerging writer whose work has demonstrated a fresh vision and evidence of further growth, for a book of literary merit that stimulates an interest in themes of Jewish concern. Fiction and nonfiction books are considered in alternate years. Administered through Jewish Book Council.

San Francisco Foundation Literary Awards The Joseph Henry Jackson and Mary Tanenbaum Literary Awards offer $2,000 to emerging literary artists in the Bay Area based on the submission of an unpublished manuscript in-progress. Submissions may be in any one of the following literary forms: fiction (novel or short stories), nonfictional prose, poetry, and spoken word.

Santa Fe Writing Program Literary Awards (SFWP awards, $1500 and no-obligation book contract; two runner-ups receive $500 each) "So we’ll take full- length manuscripts, collections short or long, excerpts, and essays. We don’t care about what the big presses believe to be “marketable,” we want to see excellence in writing, no matter the form it takes. Past winners have ranged from flash fiction to memoir to magical realism to literary fiction to essays."

Sarton Women's Book Awards (honoring May Sarton and women's lives, sponsored by Story Circle Network. Awards presented annually in five categories: Memoir, Nonfiction (biography, collective biogarphy, edited diaries, scholarly studies of women's lit), Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult and New Adult Fiction.

SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition (Society of American Travel Writers Foundation). Here's a page showing judge's comments for 2015 awards. Sometimes it is worth submitting to a competition just to get the comments! It is not easy to join SATW.
SATW.

Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability The first national journalism contest devoted exclusively to disability coverage, with awards of $5,000, $1500, and $500. Accepts print, broadcast, and online entries. Administered by the National Center on Disability and Journalism, headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. See first award given (NCDJ: A series exposing the routine failure on the part of police to protect the developmentally disabled at California care institutions is the inaugural winner of the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability). See also Awards for writing about disabilities.

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers) recognize student achievement in the visual and literary arts in 28 categories, including poetry, graphic design, fashion, science fiction, video game design and more--allowing creative teens to earn recognition, exhibition, publication and scholarships. The Portfolio Gold Award includes a $10,000 scholarship. See Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.

Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism ($5,000 awards to winners in three categories: one to a freelance journalist covering international news, one to a reporter living and working in the developing world or a country in transition and one to recognize the unsung work of news fixers.

Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and the Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) are offering An Investigative Reporting Partnership (AIR, Feb./March 2012) ." The Schuster Institute is an investigative reporting center housed at Brandeis University outside Boston, with a focus on social justice and human rights issues. FIJ grants money ranging between $5,000 and $10,000 to freelance reporters. Together they're offering something, but I couldn't find where you apply. Try this release and FIJ's grant application page.

Science and Technology Awards Wikipedia page on Lists of science and technology awards (in various specific fields).

***Science Fiction Awards Database. Replaced the Locus Guide to Science Fiction Awards (1971-2009)

Shaw Prize Offers Shaw Laureates in the fields of astronomy, medicine and life sciences, and mathematical sciences. See also Wikipedia entry

Shear Book Prizes (Society for Historians of the Early American Republic) Book prizes to original monographs (and sometimes books) that deal with the period 1776-1861 in America. Books prizes: SHEAR Best Book, James Broussard Best First Book, and James Bradford Best Biography Prize.

Shortform Science Writing, Best of (SciShortForm, Medium and National Association of Science Writers) The best science writing online, curated quarterly. Nominations crowdsourced. To nominate a story, tag @SciShortform on Twitter with a link to the piece. See Roundups of previous Best Science Shortform Writing

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Screenwriting competitions and awards

• Austin Screenplay and Teleplay Competition (see all the awards presented at the Austin Film Festival)
• Big Break Screenwriting Contest (Final Draft)
• BlueCat (Fellini award of $5000 is given to an international screenwriter from outside the US.)
• CineStory Foundation Fellowship (cash, plus a one-year fellowship and screenwriting retreat in which you are paired with a mentor, a Hollywood professional)
• LaunchPad (Tracking Board and Coverfly)
•Nicholl Fellowships (Up to five writers each win $35,000 fellowships from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• PAGE International Screenwriting Awards competition ($25,000 grand prize)
• Save the Cat Screenplay Challenge
• Script Pipeline Screenwriting Contest
• Screencraft Screenwriting Competitions, Fellowship and Film Fund
• Slamdance Screenplay Competition
• Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab (this one features a five-day writing retreat with top professional screenwriters, plus financial support)
• TrackingB screenwriting contest

• Book Pipeline (Script Pipeline) A place to submit novels, nonfiction, and other published works that deserve adaptation for film and television. Are there others?

Roundup articles
• Best Screenwriting Contests to Supercharge Your Career in 2019/2020
• Choosing the Best Scriptwriting Contest for You (FilmScripting.Com).
• International Screenwriters' Association (ISA) rolling list of competitions.
• Most Significant Screenwriting Contests (user-ranked through MovieBytes "Report Card" system) Check out the Comments on each contest.
• Screenwriting Contests & Markets Online (Movie Bytes round-up of some contests and fellowships available for film and TV writers)
• Screenwriting Contests, Directory (MovieBytes), which can be viewed through different filters. See also its very useful Screenwriting Contests Calendar and its long list of most significant screenwriting contests.
• The Top 10 Screenwriting Contests: An Industry Exec’s P.O.V. (Mike Kuciak, Authors in Your Pocket, 3-9-11)

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Scribes Awards for legal writing (The American Society of Legal Writers)

Scripps Howard Awards in Journalism (worth a total of $180,000 and trophies), in 2014 included the Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize for Investigative Reporting ($20,000), the Roy H. Howard Award for Public Service Reporting ($10,000), Distinguished Service to the First Amendment ($10,000), Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Storytelling ($10,000), the Digital Innovation Award ($10,000), Jack R. Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth Local Coverage ($10,000), Jack R. Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth National and International Coverage ($10,000), the Jack R. Howard Award for In-Depth Radio Coverage ($10,000), the Breaking News Award ($10,000), the Community Journalism Award ($10,000), the Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting ($10,000), the William Brewster Styles Award for Business/Economics Reporting ($10,000), the Walker Stone Award for Editorial Writing ($10,000), the Photojournalism Award ($10.000, the Charles E. Scripps Administrator of the Year Award ($10,000), and the Charles E. Scripps Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year Award ($10,000). See more details here for 2014.

Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition, $20,000 cash, $80,000 in prizes for TV and movie screenwriting

Scripter Awards (given to both author and screenwriter for the best adaptation of the printed word into film, by the University of Southern California in support of USC Libraries). "Dozens of cinematic adaptations are eligible each calendar year for the Scripter Award. " See past winners .

Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting (USC Annenberg)

Seymour Medal honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year.

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing ($25,000 CAD for the winner, $2500 for finalists), awarded annually by Writers' Trust of Canada to a nonfiction book that captures a political subject of interest to Canadian readers and enhances our understanding of the issue.

The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is a major new English-language literary award to celebrate creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in the United States and Canada. The winnerwill be awarded $150,000 US dollars. Four finalists will each receive $12,500 US dollars. The prize is open to novels, short story collections and graphic novels written by women and non-binary writers for an adult audience. Self-published books or books submitted by authors directly are not eligible.
By putting the work of women writers in the spotlight — and by creating charitable grants and mentorships for marginalized and underrepresented writers — this new annual literary award will acknowledge, celebrate and promote fiction by a wider, more diverse, and inclusive group of women and non-binary writers.
---New Carol Shields prize for fiction will award $150,000 to female author--specifically, women and non-binary writers in the United States and Canada (Marsha Lederman, Globe & Mail, 2-7-2020) "Carol Shields earned Hanover College’s top writing prize when she graduated from the Indiana school in 1957. She did not, however, receive it. The committee gave the prize to the second-place student instead. Because he was a he." Hence this big prize for women from the author of the multi prize-winning The Stone Diaries. The prize, open to non-binary writers, will also include books in translation from French in Canada and from Spanish in the United States. Further, it has a mentorship component, proposed residencies and other awards.
---New Literary Prize Will Award Over $100,000 to a Female Novelist (Concepción de León, NY Times, 2-7-2020) "The Carol Shields Prize is an effort to raise the visibility of women writers, in part with a sum that far exceeds many other book awards.... It is a sum that dwarfs the prize money for literary awards such as the Booker Prize (50,000 pounds, roughly $65,000), the Pulitzer Prize for fiction ($15,000) and the National Book Award ($10,000). The Nobel Prize for literature is one exception, with laureates receiving nearly $1 million....In addition to the grand prize, four finalists will each receive 12,500 Canadian dollars, about $9,400....Books published in English in the United States and Canada will be eligible, including those translated from Spanish or French. Writers must be citizens and current residents, for at least five years, of the United States or Canada.
---Carol Shields Prize for Fiction (Wikipedia entry)

Society for History in the Federal Government awards. Six annual prizes for historical publication and work furthering the understanding and history of the federal government:
--Henry Adams Prize (for an outstanding major publication on the history of the federal government)
--George Pendleton Prize (for an outstanding major publication produced for or by a federal history program);
--James Madison Prize (for excellence in an article or essay that deals with any aspect of the history of the federal government);
--Charles Thomson Prizes (for excellence in an article or essay that deals with any aspect of the history of the federal government written in or for a federal history program);
--Thomas Jefferson Prize (Documentary Edition or Research Aid), excellence in documentary editions and research tools within the previous two calendar years
--John Wesley Powell Prize (commemorates the explorer and federal administrator whose work demonstrated early recognition of the importance of historic preservation and historical display)

Society for Neuroscience Science Journalism Student Award (expenses to travel to SfN meeting)

Society for Technical Communications (STC) awards (worth entering for the evaluations alone)

Society of Environmental Journalists annual awards for reporting on the environment. The Nina Mason Pulliam Award for the "best of the best" environmental reporting will award $10,000 to one entry selected from the first-place winners of SEJ's Awards for Reporting on the Environment. SEJ's Awards for Reporting on the Environment in seven categories: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market; Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Small Market; Outstanding Beat Reporting, Large Market; Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market; Rachel Carson Environment Book Award (nonfiction book); Outstanding Explanatory Reporting: A story, series or occasional series that illuminates a significant complex environmental subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, storytelling and clear presentation; Outstanding Feature Story: One environmental interest story not directly tied to a recent news event with an emphasis on storytelling, while also including an explanatory aspect that sheds light on our environment and gives details to concepts or ideas.\

The Society of Midland Authors awards. Since 1915 this juried competition has presented awards for excellence to authors and poets. The competition is open to authors and poets who reside in, were born in, or have strong ties to the 12-state Midwestern Heartland (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). Awards are presented for adult fiction and nonfiction, biography and memoir, poetry, and children's fiction and nonfiction. See Society of Midland Authors Celebrates 100 Years (Claire Kitch, PW, 5-7-15)

Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) awards
— National awards, fellowships, and internships. These include
• Sunshine Award for important contributions in the area of open government. Winners are selected from nominees; self-nomination is allowed.
• Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award. Sigma Delta Chi Foundation recognizes, with a $10,000 award, accomplishments on behalf of First Amendment freedoms by an individual, group of individuals or an organization
• Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing (SDX Foundation awards $75,000 to an editorial writer to help broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world--the award can be used to cover the cost of study, research and/or travel in any field)
• Heroes of the 50 States (State Government Hall of Fame-- a joint venture by SPJ and the National Freedom of Information Coalition to recognize long-term contributions of individuals to open government in their respective states)
• Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information Internships (two awards annually; one intern works in the offices of the Society’s First Amendment legal counsel in Washington, D.C., the other in SPJ's national HQ in Indianapolis)
— National SPJ contests
— National SPJ Honors (public) and for members
— National chapter awards
— National contests (discontinued) (First Amendment Awards and Helen Thomas Award)
— Local and regional SPJ contests

Soros Aftermath Project Grant. A Documentary Photography Project grantee, a nonprofit organization committed to telling the other half of the story of conflict—the story of what it takes for individuals to learn to live again, to rebuild destroyed lives and homes, to restore civil societies, to address the lingering wounds of war while struggling to create new avenues for peace. (I'm not sure who does what here, but check it out.)

Soros (Justice) Media Fellowships

Sperber Biography Award for biography or autobiography of a media professional (Fordham University Department of Communications and Media Studies)

Spur Awards for distinguished writing about the American West, Western Writers of America.

State Awards Lists for Children's Books (Bound to Stay Bound Bookstore)

The Story Prize ($20,000) given annually for a short story collection for books published in the previous year. Publishers, authors, or agents may submit two copies of a book. Books published between January through June must be submitted by July 1. Books published from July through December must be submitted by November 15. There is a $75 submission fee.

The TED Prize (awarded to an individual with a creative, bold vision to spark global change). By leveraging the TED community’s resources and investing $1 million powerful idea, each year the TED Prize supports one wish to inspire the world. Award for 2015 goes to Dave Isay of StoryCorps. Listen to Charmian Gooch of Global Witness (TEDblog, 3-5-14) on global corruption’s hidden players: global corruption "is driven by our international banking system, by the problem of anonymous shell companies, by the secrecy that we have afforded big oil, gas and mining operations and, most of all, by the failure of our politicians to back up their rhetoric.”

Telly Awards (honoring the very best film & video productions, groundbreaking online video content, and outstanding local, regional, & cable TV commercials and programs)

Terrain.org's environment-themed writing contest $500 first place award in each genre. A $15 submission fee per story, essay or article, or set of 3-5 poems (or single long poem).

Theatre Book Prize ( £400 to the author, from the Society for Theatre Research for a book in English, of original research into any aspect of the history and technique of the British theatre, but not restricted only to authors of British nationality nor to books solely from British publishers.

Third Coast Festival, sponsored by the Richard H Driehaus Foundation.

Awards (described here) include:
---Best Documentary Awards ($4,000; $3,000; $2,000; and up to 2 honorable mentions ($1,000).
---Best Director Award ($1,000)
---Best News Feature ($1,000)
---Best New Artist Award ($1,000)
---Radio Impact Awards ($1,000)
---The Little Mermaid (new, created by Ira Glass, $1,000) recognizes a single documentary or story that is FUN in subject matter and style. (Length eligibility 3-60 minutes)
See Entry guidelines and Frequently asked questions.

Third Coast Audio Festival -- Best of the Best Short Docs (2014 winners) Great listening!

Thoth Awards (Public Relations Society of America, National Capital Chapter, recognizes outstanding public relations in the capital area, in 50 categories)

Thurber Prize for American Humor ("recognition of the art of humor writing in the United States")

Tiny Memoir Contest for Students: Write a 100-Word Personal Narrative (NY Times, 9-21-23) Teenagers are invited to tell a true story about a meaningful life experience in just 100 words.

The Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting , awarded annually (along with $5,000) by the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University for the best national or local political reporting of the previous year in any medium or on any platform – print, broadcast or online.

To the Lighthouse Poetry Prize (prize $1000 plus publication by Red Hen Press, awarded for the best unpublished poetry collection by a woman)

Travel Writing, Awards for (in section on Travel Writing)

Trio House Press awards.

Trio Award for First or Second Book for emerging poets for a book of poems contributing in an innovative and distinct way to American poetry.

The Louise Bogan Award for poets at any level of publication.

The Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award (aka narrative nonfiction, $1,000).

Award winners receive $1000 and twenty copies of their book, along with assistance in marketing the book.

The Truman Capote Literary Trust fellowships and awards. Through the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa and the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University. An annual prize of $30,000 is administered by the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa and a lifetime achievement award worth $100,000 was administered through the Stanford University Creative Writing Program. The latter was awarded to Alfred Kazin (1996) and George Steiner (1998). The Annual Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin was for the best book of literary criticism written in English that year. Arvin was a critic, much admired by Capote, who taught at Smith College but lost his job when his homosexuality became public knowledge.

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UK Writing Competitions (Prizemagic)

The U.S.A. Songwriting Competition ($50,000 in cash and merchandise, honoring songwriters, composers, bands, and recording artists everywhere, regardless of nationality or country origin)

V V

VCU Cabell First Novelist Award ($5,000 for an annual prize for a first novel published during the previous year, and attendance of author, editor, and agent at Virginia Commonwealth University event)

Veterans Writing Award (Syracuse University Press, Institute for Veterans and Military Families). A new award, open to open to U.S. veterans and active duty personnel in any branch of the U.S. military and their immediate family members -- who submit unpublished full-length novels or short story collections in manuscript form. "Although work submitted for the contest need not be about direct military experience, we seek original voices and fresh perspectives that will expand and challenge readers' understanding of the lives of veterans and their families."

The View From Your Window contest archive (Andrew Sullivan) This is not really about writing awards, but it's interesting, even somewhat addictive. So I post it, and this interesting commentary on one photo.

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Will Rogers Medallion Awards recognize excellence in Western literature and media (in many categories). All works must represent an accurate reflection of Western Americana, or cowboy and ranch life, historical or contemporary. Historical accuracy is crucial where applicable. Books are judged on their literary quality as well as cover art. All visual arts will be judged based on their visual quality of the same criteria.

Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction (now officially the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction - the UK's only literary prize for comic writing). In 2011 an American captured the prize: Gary Shteyngart (Washington Post profile by Neely Tucker).

Wolfson History Prizes, worth £25,000 (about $39,000), given annually for two or three exceptional works published during the year, with an occasional oeuvre prize (a general award for an individual's distinguished contribution to the writing of history). Awarded to a book published in the United Kingdom within the current calendar year by an author who is a British subject at the time the award is made and who normally resides in the UK. (Presented by Britain’s Wolfson Foundation.)

Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize, and then Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction). This annual UK award, for fiction by women writing in English, for books published in the UK and submitted by UK publisher, celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world. The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze known as a ‘Bessie,’ created by the artist Grizel Niven. Both were anonymously endowed. Sponsors now include Deloitte, NatWest and Baileys.

Women Writing the West Awards (for members only)
---Willa Literary Award recognizes the best in literature each year, featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the North American West (defined as all of North America west of the Mississippi River, including Alaska and Hawaii).
---Laura Short Fiction Award (in honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder and exclusive to WWW members) for the author’s original work, featuring a female protagonist and be set in the American West.
---Downing Journalism Award for a western-themed nonfiction article or essay published in a commercial or literary North American publication
---WWW High School Writing Contest for unpublished short written works in nonfiction, fiction, or poetry/songwriting (contestants must be high school students in grades 9-12 and age 13 – 19).

WonderMark Awards are given for documents that are the opposite of plain language, that are hard to understand, much less use. This is "your chance to tell the world what’s not plain. Forms, signage, websites. Disclaimers, instructions, legal documents. All the things you encounter in daily life." Nominate them! The winner for 2010: the I-94 Form, the document visitors from other countries must fill out when they come to the U.S. Here's How to submit a WonderMark nomination.

Carter G. Woodson Book Awards are presented at the huge annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) for the most distinguished social studies books written for young readers that treat topics related to ethnic minorities and race relations sensitively and accurately.” The awards are given at three levels: elementary (K-6), middle (5-8) and secondary school (7-12), with an Honor award given to runners-up at each level. See Winners for examples.

Writers' Conferences & Centers (a searchable, member-based international directory, for which listings are available to the public, apparently run by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs) You can also search for Writing Programs.

Writer's Digest writing competitions:
• Writer's Digest Competitions
---Annual Writer's Digest Competition
---Personal Essay Awards
---Poetry Awards
---Short Short Story Competition
---Self-Published Book Awards
---Self-Published E-book Awards

FICTION: Contemporary, romance, fantasy, science fiction, mystery/thrillers, young adult

---Short Short Story Competition

NARRATIVE NONFICTION: History, Philosophy and insight, Politics and Social Science, True crime books, Biographies, Autobiographies, Memoirs, Family Histories PRESCRIPTIVE/INFORMATIVE NONFICTION: Entertainment;Self-Help & Personal;Development, Inspirational; Religion & Spirituality, Cultural, and Social Issues; Health, Fitness, & Dieting; Lifestyle; Politics & Social Sciences; Cookbooks, Food, & Wine; Business & Money; Parenting & Relationships; Education & Teaching; Crafts, Hobbies & Home, Garden & Farm.
• Winners of the 2021 competition

The Writers Guild Awards (Adapted and Original Screenplay, Drama, Comedy and New TV Series, TV-Radio Writing Award Script, Paul Selvin Award, Documentary Screenplay Award, New Media Writing Awards, Videogame Writing Award)

Writers' Trust of Canada presents 10 annual prizes to writers at various stages of their careers working in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's literature. In total, winners receive $196,000, finalists receive $43,000, and an additional $60,150 is given to jurors. Awards (in Canadian dollars) include
---Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction (winner, $60,000; finalists, $5,000).
---Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize (winner, $25,000; finalists, $2,500)
---Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award (Winner, $25,000)
---Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People (winner, $20,000)
---Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life (winner, $20,000)
---Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize (winner, $10,000; finalists, $1,000)
---Writers’ Trust Distinguished Contribution Award
---Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing (winner, $25,000; finalists, $2,500)
---RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers (winners, $5,000; finalists, $1,000)
---Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers (winner, $4,000)

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Yale Environment E360 Young Writers Awards Yale Environment 360 and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation are accepting entries for our first Young Writers Awards. The awards ($2,000 and $500) will honor the best nonfiction environmental writing by authors under the age of 35. Articles should focus on topics related to the natural world, with an emphasis on subjects related to land conservation, forests and plants, or natural places. The writing can be either an essay or a reported piece, but should have a personal voice and point of view.

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Wag's Review (awards of $1,000 to $100 for top prizes, plus publication, weighed against $20 entry fee per item of poetry, essay, or fiction).

Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism (USC Annenberg)

Washington Book Publishers Book Design and Effectiveness Competition (recognizes, celebrates, and encourages excellence in bookmaking across the greater Washington, D.C., book publishing community--publisher must be located in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia)

The Wattys See WattPad, which connects a global community of 85 million young readers and writers through the power of story (varying genres, and "complete or ongoing" (serials).

The Watty Awards are Wattpad's longest-running annual event, the company’s annual global writing competition, which is open to writers in nine languages across 11 genres. See official rules for entering and FAQ. Awards are given in several languages, and rules change from year to year. In 2023, eligibility depends on whether your story is Complete (a category for all languages) or Ongoing (a category for English submissions only). Wattpad seeks out, rewards, and uplifts the storytellers who choose to share their stories on Wattpad every year, in various categories:

The Originals (for the trailblazers who changed the game, defied genres and categories, broke the rules, experimented with form, and created one-of-a-kind stories on Wattpad)

The Breakthroughs (for the up-and-comers in storytelling)

The Storysmiths (stories that wowed us with their commitment to the craft and mastery of style, plot, and character development)

The Hidden Gems (emerging writers with potential)

The Heartbreakers (masters of tugging on heartstrings)

The Worldbuilders (imaginative storytellers who constructed thrilling new places and transported readers to them)

The Heroes, The Change Makers (stories from underrepresented points of views), The Contemporaries, The Revisionists, The Wild Cards, The Poets, and Fans' Choice.

The Webby Awards, an international award honoring excellence on the Internet -- for over 100+ Website, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile & App categories -- presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Two honors are presented in every category: The Webby Award and The People's Voice Award. This is different from the next listing:

Weblog awards for 2011 (Bloggies) and for 2012 the URL is http://2012.bloggi.es/

Carole Weinstein Poetry Prize ($10,000 annual prize to a poet with strong connections to central Virginia).

Wellcome Trust Book Prize (£25 000 award each year for the finest fiction or nonfiction book centered on medicine, and published by a U.K publisher)

Western Heritage Awards (National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum) Wrangler awards (bronze sculptures of a cowboy on horseback) are presented for top works in Western music, film, television and literature. Wikipedia pages show winners for Film and Television, Literary, Music, and Special Categories .

Western History Association: Donald L. Fixico Award (new in 2018, $1000) recognizes innovative work in the field of American Indian and Canadian First Nations History that centers Indigenous epistemologies and perspectives. Books that address Indigenous history in the United States and Canada are eligible.

Western States Book Award (Wikipedia entry) was awarded annually in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and translation (and lifetime achievement), 1984-2003.

Western Writers of America (Literature of the West for the world)
• Spur Awards categories: Best Western traditional, contemporary, first, nonfiction-historical (to 1940), nonfiction-historical (1940 and after), nonfiction-biography, short fiction, short nonfiction, juvenile fiction, juvenile nonfiction, drama script (fiction), documentary script (nonfiction), storyteller (for best children’s picture book less than 3,000 words), poem, or song. Plus the Lariat award to honor a company or individual who has shown exceptional support for WWA and for the literature of the West.
• The Owen Wister Award, for Lifetime Achievement in Western history and literature. The Saddleman award, also a lifetime achievement award, may go to a writer or nonwriter (such as John Wayne, Clint Eastwood).

Whitbread Book Awards, now Costa Book Awards. See entry there.

White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) awards See Past Winners here.
• Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage
• The Merriman Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for Print
• The Merriman Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure for Broadcast: (winner in 2020, CNN for “FBI. Open the door.” reporting on Roger Stone)
• Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability (new in 2020, $10,000), recognizes an individual or newsgathering team for coverage of subjects and events of significant national or regional importance in line with the human and professional qualities exemplified by the late Katharine Graham, the distinguished former publisher of The Washington Post. Judges will look for excellence in stories with fairness and objectivity in selecting a recipient, and special consideration will be given to reporting undertaken despite adversity. Yamiche Alcindor of PBS NewsHour won in 2020.

• Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists (new in 2020, based on a single piece of visual journalism, $1,000 and the honor)

• See also the separate entry (under C) for the new Collier Prize for State Government Accountability ($25,000), for coverage of state government, focusing on investigative and political reporting.

Whiting Foundation grant and awards
• Whiting Awards ($50,000 each, given annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays, based on accomplishment and promise). Sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation. See Wikipedia's list of prizewinners. The Foundation does not accept applications or unsolicited nominations. Rather, we invite nominators from across the country whose work brings them in contact with individuals of extraordinary talent to propose a single candidate each.
• Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant ($40,000 awarded to writers in the process of completing a book of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction). Eligibility: Creative nonfiction writers under contract with a traditional publisher in the UK, US, or Canada.
• Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes awards grants in amounts ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 for literary magazines in print (medium-size, smaller, or in development) or primarily online.
• Keynotes from the annual Whiting Awards ceremonies (transcripts of speeches from "an extraordinary roster of authors" from three decades of awards ceremonies--worth checking out!).

Wikipedia pages on literary awards:

• American non-fiction literary awards

• American Literary Awards
• Awards by magazines
• Awards by newspapers
• List of journalism awards
• List of American journalism awards
• List of poetry awards
• List of richest literary prizes
• List of vanity awards

• Literary awards by genre and type
• Literary awards by magazines and newspapers

• Non-fiction literary awards (not just American)
• Types of awards
• Short story awards

William E. Colby Award goes to a first work of fiction or nonfiction that makes a significant contribution to the public’s understanding of intelligence operations, military history, or international affairs. A $5,000 honorarium, currently administered by the Tawani Foundation in Chicago, is presented at the annual William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium hosted by Norwich University.

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (cosponsored by the Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation). Every other year two prizes of $5,000 each are given for works of fiction and creative nonfiction--awards “intended to encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan legacy of originality, vitality, and stylistic innovation.”

Windham Campbell Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and Drama. An unrestricted grant of $150,000 and a certificate, awarded by Yale University, to give writers the opportunity to focus on their work independent of financial concerns. Administered by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the award is open to English-language writers from anywhere in the world, at all stages of their careers , so long as they have one published book or one professionally produced play to their credit. Up to nine prizes awarded annually. Writers can be nominated for a body of significant work or for outstanding promise. The award's endowment is from the estate of writer Donald Windham. Sandy Campbell was his companion of 45 years. See A Writer’s Estate to Yield $150,000 Literary Prizes (Charles McGrath, NY Times, 6-17-11)

Winning Writers (four literary contests in western Massachusetts that accept published and unpublished works): the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, the North Street Book Prize (for self-published books), and the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest.

Witter Byner Foundation for Poetry. Grants from $1000 to $10,000 for organizations and, though Poet Laureate and Library of Congress, for individual poets.

Women's Fiction Writers Association Star Award Two categories: Women's fiction generally and Outstanding debut.

Writer's Digest Writing Competitions (Pricing and Deadlines) In six categories: Annual writing competition (poetry and manuscripts); Self-published book awards; Self-published e-book awards; Personal essay awards; poetry awards; and short short story competition.

Short story prizes

and prizes for novellas

• A Guide to Short Story Contests in 2020 (Aerogramme Writers' Studio) For updates, deadlines, and news about the contests, follow Aerogramme on Facebook or Twitter.
• Agatha Awards (includes Malice Domestic's aware for mystery short stories)
• American Short Fiction contest
• Association of Writers & Writing Programs, AWP Award Series includes the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction ($5,500). See Guidelines.
• BBC National Short Story Award . Prestigious award for the very best short stories from British writers--worth £15,000 for the winner for a single short story, £3,000 for the runner-up, and £500 each for three further shortlisted authors.
• Best American Short Stories (anthology published annually by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• CBC Short Story Prize For citizens and residents of Canada. The winner will receive a writing residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point, a cultural hub on Toronto Islandm and will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books. Entering the CBC Short Story Prize? Heather O'Neill has 5 tips for you (CBC Books)
• Commonwealth Short Story Prize (unearths, develops and promotes the best new fiction from across the British Commonwealth--writers from Nigeria, Canada, India, Pakistan, the UK,m and other parts of the Commonwealth). Regional winners of the Commonwealth Book Prize receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £10,000. Regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize receive £1,000 and the overall winner receives £5,000. In 2014 the organization will stop offering a book prize and concentrate on the short story--see eligibility and entry rules.
• Drue Heinz Literature Prize ($15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press for a novella or a collection of at least three short stories)
• Gemini Magazine short story contest (award of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine)
• Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (€25,000, the world's most lucrative award for a single short-story collection -- see Frank O'Connor short story award pits UK authors against international stars (Alison Flood, The Guardian, 5-31-13). See also Submission Guidelines.
• Giller Prize. Scotiabank's Giller Prize is Canada's largest literary prize: $50,000 to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English and $5,000 to each of the four other finalists.
• Glimmer Train Press holds contests for fiction, in these categories: Fiction Open, Family Matters, Very Short Fiction Award, Short Story award for new writers. Check the list of 25 winners and finalists for all Glimmer Train contests.
• Hackney Literary Awards ($5,000 in prizes for poetry and short fiction--$2,500 national and $2,500 state levels: 1st place, $600; 2nd, $400; 3rd, $250).
• Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, $1500 for first place winner, $500 each for second and third place. See Guidelines.
• L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest for new writers of science fiction and fantasy. Prizes of $1000, $750 and $500 are awarded every three months. From the four quarterly 1st Place winners each year, a panel of judges select one story as the grand prize winner. The writer of the grand-prize-winning story receives the L. Ron Hubbard Golden Pen Award and an additional $5000 cash prize.
• Macavity Award for Best Mystery Short Story (Mystery Readers International)
• Miami University Novella Prize awarded to a novella-length manuscript of original fiction (18,000–40,000 words). Winner receives $1,000, a standard contract, publication and 20 copies of the book.
• Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction ($1500 and publication in Colorado Review, for a short story).
• Orlando Prizes (AROHO, A Room of Her Own Foundation), for four Orlando prizes of $1,000 each and publication in The Los Angeles Review awarded twice yearly for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay by women writers.
• PEN/Malamud Award ($5,000). To honor excellence in the art of the short story.
• PEN Robert W. Bingham Prize awards a cash stipend of $25,000 to an exceptionally talented fiction writer whose debut work -- a first novel or collection of short stories published in the award year -- represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise.
• Poets & Writers excellent links to LOTS of short story contests and awards
• Posen Foundation's international fellowship in Jewish fiction writing and scholarship. To be eligible for this new $40,000 fellowship, writers must be at work on a Jewish-themed novel or short story collection, and should not yet have published their first book.
• Raymond Carver Short Story Contest ($1500, from Carve Magazine). See Q&As with winners.
• Rea Award for the Short Story ($30,000 to a living American or Canadian writer whose work has made a “significant contribution to the discipline of the short story form.” Sponsored by the Dungannon Foundation.
• Stella Kupferberg Memory Short Story Prize, sponsored by the long-running New York radio show. Winner gets $1000, a free 10-week course with Gotham Writers, and the winning work performed by an actor and published on Electric Literature.
• The Story Prize (an annual book award, including $20,000, for the best short story collections written in English and published in the U.S. during a calendar year). Here's the Story Prize website.
• The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award (UK). The largest award for a single short story in the world: £30,000 for the winning story, £1,000 for five other shortlisted writers. Poets & Writers reports that U.S. writer wins big for Detroit story. American author Jonathan Doerr won for his second collection, Memory Wall (see Q&A with Doerr on Amazon site. Will these awards continue? Read Why are so many literary prizes closing? (Ellen Peirson-Hagger, New Statesman, 7-22-22)
• Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival, $1,500 for a work of fiction of less than 7,000 words, from a writer who has not yet published a book of fiction.
• Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition (in less than 1,500 words), worth $3,000, publication in Writer's Digest, and a trip to its conference.
• Young Lions Fiction Award (sponsored by The New York Public Library) A $10,000 prize awarded each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories. This prize is part of the Library's Young Lions program, a membership group for people in their 20s and 30s who are committed to supporting the organization and to celebrating young writers and artists who are making an impact on this city's cultural life.
• Zoetrope All-Story Short Fiction Contest
• David Nathan Meyerson Prize for Fiction ($1,000 for a book of fiction, either a novel or collection of stories, with publication in Southwest Review, sponsor of the competition).
• Deadlines for writing competitions, by month (About.com, fiction writing)

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Getting Funded, Generally

• Authors Publish Subscribe to get free copy of Submit, Publish, Repeat, as well as reviews of publishers seeking short stories, poetry, essays, and books.
• Awards and prizes, in alphabetical order (Writers and Editors)
• The Best Free Literary Contests (Winning Writers)
• Duotrope Up-to-date publication and agent listings, submission trackers, custom searches, deadline calendars, statistical reports, and extensive interviews.
• Erika Dreifus's Grants, Fellowships, and Awards (writer and resource maven) and Erika Dreifus's blog. Curating fee-free (AND paying) calls and competitions—plus other resources—for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
• Funds for Writers Hope Clark's valuable tips and tools for writers. Her free weekly newsletter reaches 40,000 subscribers. See her Archive, Funds for Writers
• Poetry Bulletin (Emily Stoddard) Deadlines, ideas, and tools to revise and publish your poetry book. Plus submission fee support and a free spreadsheet to track your submissions.
• Poets & Writers: Writing Contests, Grants & Awards
• The Practicing Writer 2.0 Erica Verrillo's blog: marketing, literary agents, book promotion, editing, pitching your book, how to get reviews, etc.
• WriteJobsPlus (WJ+, Patreon) Creating daily opportunities for writers.

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Getting funded: Fellowships and Grants

Specific fellowships and grants
Guides to grants and fellowships
Getting funded
Grant proposal writing and editing
Grant funding resources
Books on fundraising and grant proposal writing

Specific fellowships and grants

We are not always consistent in how we file grants alphabetically. If you are looking for (example only) the Sam Jones grant and don't find it under Jones, try looking under Sam.

Terminology:

A scholarship is financial aid to support a student's basic undergraduate studies. Scholarships may be granted based on academic or extracurricular merit, on financial need, or on desired qualities (for example, state residence, academic achievement, athletic ability, group affiliation, ancestral background. or involvement in a particular extracurricular activity).

Fellowships are a type of grant that allows you to receive funding while pursuing specific academic interests. While many fellowships are geared toward post-graduate study, there are also some undergraduate fellowships.

• ABE Fellowship Program for Journalists (stipend of up to $23,500, including airfare) supporting U.S. and Japan-based researchers focusing on contemporary issues)
• Above the Fray Fellowship (NPR and the John Alexander Project, $24,000), a 3-month international reporting fellowship designed to give a promising radio journalist the opportunity to cover important but under-reported stories internationally. Any topic area.
• ABSW Investigative Science Journalism Fellowship (Association of British Science Writers, UK) to encourage investigative science journalism within the UK and to enable a journalist experienced in investigative journalism to carry out a detailed investigation.

• Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting (an international screenwriting competition established to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters)
• Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships (launched in 2019) Awards of $50,000 - $100,000 to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that engage their fellow residents, including youth, with poetry, helping to address issues important to their communities. See Mellon Foundation Grants $4.5 Million to Academy of American Poets (Peter Libbey, NY Times, 1-30-2020) The money will help the organization fund its program for poets laureate in cities and communities around the United States.
• ACES Education Fund (American Copy Editors Society awards five scholarships to attend ACES’ skill-building national conference)
• ACLS Competitions and Deadlines (American Council of Learned Societies
• AHCJ health journalism fellowships, internships, training, and grants (Association of Health Care Journalists)
• AHCJ Reporting Fellowships on Health Care Performance
• AHCJ/CDC Health Journalism Fellowships for journalistic training sessions on epidemiology, global disease prevention efforts, pandemic flu preparedness, climate change, vaccine safety, obesity, autism and more).
AHCJ professional development fellowships (Association of Health Care Journalists). Among fellowships available:
---National Cancer Reporting Fellowships (AHCJ and National Cancer Institute)
---AHCJ Reporting Fellowships on Health Care Performance
---AHCJ Fellowship on Comparative Effectiveness Research (AHCJ and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute)
---AHCJ International Health Study Fellowships (six months, supported by the Commonwealth Fund) to support highly-experienced journalists who have projects in mind to compare a segment, process or program of the American health care system to that of another country’s system. For 2019, the focus will be on developed European countries in comparison with the United States’ health care system.
---AHCJ Journalism Fellowships on Women’s Health (new, with support of the Office on Women’s Health, part of the Department of Health and Human Services)
---AHCJ-NLM Health Journalism Fellowships (AHCJ and the National Library of Medicine) AHCJ selects journalists to spend a week on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
---Full list of AHCJ fellowships here.
• Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowships (grants of $40,000 for 12 months, $20,000 for 6 months) open only to U.S. citizens who are fulltime print journalists, or to non-U.S. citizens who work fulltime for U.S. print publications, either in America or abroad. Includes Cissy Patterson Fellowship for Science and Environmental Journalists.
• American Mosaic Journalism Prize (Heising-Simons Foundation, for cxcellence in long-form, narrative, or deep reporting. The prize recognizes journalism’s critical ability to foster greater understanding and empathy, and aims to recognize and empower freelance journalists with an unrestricted cash award of $100,000.)
• AP-NORC Journalism Fellowship Program ($80,000 plus benefits, with funding from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation), designed to address the need for more journalists with the skills required to do research-based enterprise reporting. AP-NORC fellows have focused on a range of topics, including long-term care and disaster recovery and community resilience. The 2018-2019 Journalism Fellow will focus on the economics of Americans working longer.
• The American Prospect Writing Fellowship ($33,000 for two years), for journalists at the beginning of their career, the opportunity to spend two full years at the magazine in Washington, D.C., developing their journalistic skills.
• The AP-NORC Journalism Fellowship ($80,000 stipend, travel expenses, plus benefits) to encourage research-based enterprise reporting. Past fellows have focused on a range of topics, including long-term care, disaster recovery, and community resilience.

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• Arthur F. Burns Fellowship (an exchange program of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ): each year 20 outstanding media professionals from the United States and Germany are funded to report from and travel in each other's countries)
• Artists' Fellowships (New York Foundation for the Arts). $7,000 cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York, with awards granted in 15 disciplines)
• Artist Trust Fellowship Awards 10+ merit-based awards providing $7,500 to practicing professional artists of exceptional talent and ability. The award is given to artists working in all artistic disciplines.
• Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy provides a seasoned Canadian journalist with the financial means to pursue a year-long investigation into a current policy issue -- a generous fellowship for a Canadian journalist who has achieved distinction in reporting on policy issues.
• Australian American Health Policy Fellowship This very generous fellowship for a stay of 6 to 10 months in Australia conducting research and working with Australian health policy experts on issues relevant to both countries is suspended for 2018-19, as it undergoes a formal review.
• Bakeless Camargo Residency Fellowship (provides eight former Bread Loaf conference attendees with a month-long working residency at The Camargo Foundation in the picturesque seaside town of Cassis, France)
• Banff Investigative Journalism Intensive This residency program teaches nonfiction writers and journalists to use investigative research techniques as they create compelling narratives.
• Binders Bursting with Fellowship Opps (Facebook group)
• Bringing Home the World: International Reporting Fellowship Program for Minority Journalists (International Center for Journalists) sends U.S. minority journalists overseas to cover stories that resonate with their local communities.
• Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence Program ($20,000 & office space at the BPL's Central Library) For children’s book writers who have not published more than 3 books
• California Documentary Project (CDP), a competitive grant program that supports the research and development and production stages of film, audio, and digital media projects that seek to document California in all its complexity. CDP Next Gen grants up to $15,000; R&D grants up to $10,000; proeudtion grants up to $50,000.
• California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships (USC Annenberg).2018-2019 Journalism Fellow will focus on the economics of Americans working longer. See Reporting on Health
• David Carr Fellowship. The New York Times is sponsoring a fellowship that will bring an outside journalist to The Times to pursue the kind of work that made David’s career so exceptional. Candidates should have at least three years of experience and be eager to experiment with creative ways of storytelling.
• Rosalynn Carter Fellowships For Mental Health Journalism ($10,000 and journalists are not required to leave their current employment)
• Center for Jewish History fellowship programs
• Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute Reporting Award (NYU) supports a work of journalism in any medium on significant underreported subjects in the public interest. Maximum award, $12,500.
• Congressional Fellowship Program The American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship Program is a highly selective, nonpartisan program devoted to expanding knowledge and awareness of Congress; $50,000 stipend and travel costs for 9 months practical experience on congressional staff. See answers to FAQs.
• Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY (City University of New York)
---The Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program supports ambitious and in-depth reporting projects
---Resilience Fellowship Program for mid-career journaloists. Focuses on the science of climate change and resilience — a system’s capacity to absorb disturbance and still retain its basic function and structure. Award: a week-long immersion in resilience science in New York, several all-expenses-paid weeklong and weekend boot camps, a three-year project for working journalists interested in strengthening their coverage of climate change and other environmental issues.
---The McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism (stipends of up to $15,000 for ambitious reporting on U.S business and the global economy--$5,000 a month to report in-depth business and economic stories)
• CUNY Urban Reporting Grants Program ($5,000 to $15,000 to assist in the reporting and writing of investigative stories that take aim at important social, political or economic problems in the New York metropolitan area).
• Cullman Center Fellowships. Up to 15 fellowships a year are awarded to outstanding scholars and writers –- academics, independent scholars, journalists, and creative writers -- whose work will benefit directly from access to the collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Fellows received a stipend of up to $70,000, an office, a computer, and full access to the Library's physical and electronic resources.
• Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative ($5,000, Moment Magaine, with Judea and Ruth Pearl and other journalists) An investigative journalism project that encourages young reporters (22 to 38) to cover modern manifestations of anti-Semitism and other deeply ingrained prejudices.
• Dart Asia Fellowships offer senior journalists and their editors in Asia an opportunity to improve coverage of tragic events. Seeks applications from teams: a senior journalist and an editor applying from one organization together. (Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, Columbia University)
• Dart Center Ochberg Fellowships give senior and mid-career journalists the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of trauma and improve coverage of violence, conflict and tragedy. The annual Dart Center Academic Fellowships, offered each summer, provide in-depth training to journalism educators. (Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, Columbia University)
• Data & Society Fellows Program ($25,000, New York City-based two days a week for 10 months, projects that work toward a future in which the values that shape technology are visible and intentionally chosen with respect for human dignity. Study the website to decide if you qualify for one of the four categories addressed.
• Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships Individual artist fellowships and opportunity grants ($3,000 to $6,000)for artists that are Delaware residents, 18 years of age or older, not enrolled in a degree-granting program.
• The Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism Grants provide grants of up to $10,000 for ambitious investigative and explanatory journalism projects on critical health issues facing underserved communities.
• The Dennis and Shirley Feldman Fellowship (National Press Club Journalism Institute) awards a graduate journalism student a one-time stipend of $5,000 to help defray tuition costs.
• Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) fellowships in three formats: residential ($10,000 a month, 8 months, and a one-time $10,000 to relocate); nonresidential ($20 stipend, paid over 8 months) ; and institutional ($20,000 to the company or institution). RJI "invites proposals from people and organizations who wish to partner with us on practical innovative projects for local news. ."
• Economic Hardship Reporting Project commissions op-eds, personal essays, investigative reports, rich narrative features, podcasts, nonfiction cartoons, photo essays and documentaries that raise awareness about income inequality and economic unfairness in America. See Economic Hardship Reporting Project seeks story pitches that personalize poverty (Carly Stern, Nieman Storybord, 9-2-2020) "Mine your life," says managing director David Wallis; think about what you’re an expert in and share that story.
• Equal Voice Journalism Fellowships and Scholarships (Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families, deepening media coverage on issues that affect children, youth and families, particularly the disadvantaged).
• EGU Science Journalism Fellowships The European Geosciences Union fellowships enable professional journalists to report, in any European language, on ongoing research in the Earth, planetary or space sciences, with successful applicants receiving up to €5000 to cover expenses related to their projects. Products may be published in any European language. December deadline
• Fellowships in Global Journalism C$10,000 (about half of tuition) toward 8 months mentoring for your first year covering your specialty in major media, for 20 "outstanding professionals, scholars, and specialized freelancers from around the world" -- Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto)
• Fellowship in Investigative Journalism (American University and the Center for Public Integrity) $24,000 stipend for U.S. citizen or permanent resident, Master's degree awarded.
• FIRE newsroom grants. Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (FIRE) grants exclusively serve freelance investigative journalists reporting for English-language outlets, offering two programs to investigative freelancers—a Virtual Newsroom and an Editorial Consultancy. The Virtual Newsroom offers a range of services, from open-records coaching and trained research assistance to legal review. In some cases, Virtual Newsroom recipients also receive a stipend from $2,500 to $10,000 each. The Editorial Consultancy is like having a one-hour meeting with a friendly editor.
• Alfred Friendly Press Partners (this 30-year-old program places international journalists from developing countries and emerging markets in U.S. newsrooms for six months)
• Fulbright Scholar Program (research and teaching opportunities for U.S. scholars and professionals and visiting scholars, sponsored by the U.S. State Department).
• Fund for Investigative Journalism grants, up to $10,000 to defray the expenses of an investigation that uncovers wrongdoing by powerful people or institutions. The fund reviews applications in the fall. Applicants must include a letter of commitment from a news outlet to run the articles.(supported by Scripps Howard Foundation).

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• Furthermore grants in publishing. Grants from $500 to roughly $15,000 for nonfiction book publishing about the city; natural and historic resources; art, architecture, and design; cultural history; and civil liberties and other public issues of the day. "In geographical reach we are drawn— but in no way limited— to New York City and to New York State and its Hudson Valley." Grants apply to writing, research, editing, design, indexing, photography, illustration, and printing and binding. Individual writers may not apply; applicants must be 501(c)3 organizations.
• German Exchange Programs and Fellowships for Journalists. At least six institutions and organizations offer opportunities for American journalists to work and/or study in Germany: - American Council on Germany; Arthur F. Burns Fellowship; Fulbright Commission; German Marshall Fund, Rias Commission, Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program.
• Peggy Girshman Idea Grants (National Association of Science Writers) Available to individuals or groups for grants of up to $15,000 to support projects and programs that will help science writers in their professional lives and/or benefit the field of science writing.
• Global Investigative Journalism Network guide to grants and fellowships (Go there for details on Nieman Fellowships at Harvard, John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford, American Council on Germany Journalism Fellowships, Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship, The Fulbright Program, The Knight-Wallace Fellowships, Fellowships in Global Journalism through the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, Investigative Reporting Fellowship through American University and the Center for Public Integrity, The Reporting Award from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program, Yale World Fellows, The Logan Nonfiction Program, and Banff Investigative Journalism Intensive. Plus a number of international and specialty fellowships.)
• Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship brings young and mid-career professionals from designated countries to the United States for a year of non-degree graduate-level study, leadership development, and professional collaboration with U.S. counterparts.
• International Women's Media Foundation. Pitching the IWMF: Focus on undercovered issues, think big and dare to stretch (Carly Stern, Nieman Storyboard, 10-22-2020) For 30 years, the International Women's Media Fund has helped fund women journalists and ambitious projects around the world. Read this annotation of a successful project pitch to the IWMF The project pitch that won funding from the International Women’s Media Foundation (Stern, 10-23-2020) "Don't start from the grant; start from the story," says reporter Ylenia Gostoli
• James Jones First Novel Fellowship was established in 1992 to “honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture as exemplified by (the writings of) James Jones.” A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a novel-in-progress by a U.S. writer who has not published a novel. First runner-up will receive $3,000, second runner-up will receive $2,000.
• Kaiser Media Fellowships in Health Reporting ((for journalists in all media to study health policy issues)
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of History (short-term fellowships for post-doc research in New York City in American history)
• Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Mini-Fellowships for Global Health Reporting ($10,000 to journalists to research and report on global health issues, especially those related to HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria -- currently on hiatus)
• LaSalle Storyteller Award n unrestricted grant of $10,000 given to a Washington State artist engaged in storytelling through their artistic discipline. The 2018 Award will recognize an outstanding literary artist working in fiction.
• Library of Congress Scholars in Residence. The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress offers residential fellowships to scholars and practitioners from all fields and all levels to make use of the Library's vast collections and digital resources.
https://www.loc.gov/programs/john-w-kluge-center/scholars-in-residence/
• The Lizzie Grossman Grant for Environmental Health Reporting (Society of Environmental Journalists, up to $5,000 to cover eligible expenses)
• Marguerite and Lamar Fellowship for Writers and Musicians ($5,000 + residency in an apartment in Carson McCullers’s childhood home)
• New America Fellows Program invests in thinkers—journalists, scholars, filmmakers, and public policy analysts—who offer inventive perspectives on the major challenges facing our society.
• The Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship For New Parents ($1,000, and a full year of promotion and the publication of the winning story by Brain, Child magazine,to encourage writers to produce new works of quality fiction at the very busiest point in their parenting journey--for a parent of at least one child under 10 years of age)
• Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships Among the largest awards offered to young poets in the United States, the $25,800 prize is intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry and is open to all U.S. poets between 21 and 31 years of age.
• Shakespeare’s Sister Fellowship, $10,000 from ARHO (A Room of Her Own Foundation for Women : Writers : Artists)
• Grants for works in progress (UK authors) Grants to assist writers with research costs or to 'buy time' are awarded twice a year through the Authors' Foundation and the K Blundell Trust. From 2015 grants totalling £230,000 will be awarded each year.
• Guggenheim Fellowships. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awards up to 220 fellowships a year to "men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.” These American fellowship grants are awarded through two annual competitions, one for U.S. and Canadian citizens and permanent residents (deadline September 15) and one for citizens and permanent residents of Latin America and the Caribbean (deadline December 1). The performing arts are excluded, but composers, film directors, and choreographers are eligible. Applicants: Learn more here. The average amount for grants in 2008,says Wikipedia, was about $43,200. Wikipedia lists Guggenheim fellows by year.

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• Hodson Trust-John Carter Brown Fellowship (supports work by academics, independent scholars, writers, filmmakers, novelists, or creative and performing artists working on significant projects relating to the literature, history, culture, or art of the Americas before 1830)
• Hubert H. Humphrey Program (a program for young and mid-career non-U.S. journalists with limited or no prior experience in the United States, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State)
• Huntington Library Fellowships
• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) fellowships and scholarships
---David Dietz Fellowship
---R-CAR Fellowship (for data journalism bootcamp)
---Freelance Fellowship
---Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship
• The International Reporting Project (IRP) fellowships (offers IRP Fellowships for U.S. journalists to cover neglected, “under-reported” health stories of global importance (on topics such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, water-related diseases, maternal and child health or new scientific research aimed at reducing the impact of global diseases). IRP also offers nine-month International Reporting Project (IRP) Fellowships to report on religious issues.
• International Writers Fellowship at Brown University awards a one-year fellowship to Brown's Program in Literary Arts for an international writer or poet who faces personal danger and threats to their livelihood. Fellowships cover the costs of relocation and the writer's expenses in the U.S., and provide an office on the campus of Brown University for ten months. Deeply practical in nature and intention, the International Writers Fellowships will allow persecuted writers to establish a new environment in which to pursue their work.
• IRE, Esri partner to offer fellowships for mapping training (Investigative Reporters and Editors)
• James Jones Fellowship for a First Novel. Annual fellowship of $10,000 for a work-in-progress of fiction (novella, or collection of closely linked stories) by a U.S. writer who has not yet published a novel
• James Reston Reporting Fellowships (Northeastern University) Four undergraduate college students nationwide win this prestigious fellowship each year. They work in The New York Times newsroom, reporting stories and learning from some of the world’s best journalists.
• The Journalists in Aging Fellows Program , sponsored by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and and the Journalists Network on Generations, for journalists who wish to cover aging issues and/or who work for ethnic media outlets serving U.S. communities.
• Kiplinger Fellowship Digital media training fellowships at Ohio State University, with short-term fellowships from the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism for journalists who want to use social media to build a stronger following, develop new sources and better cover their beats.
• Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism (a comprehensive business journalism fellowship, for an academic year at Columbia University)
• Knight International Journalism Fellowships (sponsored by the International Center for Journalists, designed to create lasting, tangible improvements in the way journalism is practiced around the world).
• Knight Science Journalism Fellowships for self-motivated journalists who hope to improve their coverage of science, technology, medicine or the environment. Each year 10 to 12 journalists devise their own plan of study, auditing courses at MIT and Harvard, attending lectures and colloquia, and interviewing faculty members. (See fellowship website.))Fellows receive a stipend of $65,000 plus tuition and benefits (rising to $70,000 in 2015-16). Update for 2015-16 (11-17-14). See MIT stories, Advancing the Field, Engaging the Public (in which you can read profiles of fellows, by clicking on link by their name); Knight Fellowship has made its mark on science journalism (MIT News, 2-26-13)

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• Knight Visiting Nieman Fellowships, short-term research opportunities to individuals interested in working on special projects designed to advance journalism in some new way. Candidates need not be practicing journalists, but must demonstrate the ways in which their work at Harvard and the Nieman Foundation may improve the prospects for journalism’s future.
• John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford (for professional journalists, $60,000) 20 fellows from around the world are selected and brought together for 10 months at Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Immersed in the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the region, they are inspired to let go of old assumptions and learn new ways of thinking and working.
• Knight-Wallace Fellowships at the University of Michigan exceptional journalists from the U.S. and abroad share a life-changing experience: devise a personalized study plan, with a year of study, including twice-weekly seminars, at the University of Michigan, plus news tours to Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey. $70,000 stipend.
• Kyoto Prize Journalism Fellowship. Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) awards spring and fall fellowships to working journalists who want to advance their knowledge in technology, sciences, and the arts. Fellows interview the latest Kyoto Prize laureates and interact with top journalism students at Point Loma Nazarene University.
• Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant Up to $2,500 to women and trans* artists in Greater Philadelphia to fund art for social change projects.
• Leon Levy Biography Fellowships ($60,000 stipend). Fellows must participate in monthly seminars and other programs at the Leon Levy Center for Biography at The Graduate Center, CUNY. There are also Biography Dissertation Fellowships for PhD candidates.
• Ira A. Lipman Fellowship in Journalism and Civil and Human Rights ($10,000
• Local Investigations Fellowship (NY Times interactive, 2022) The nation’s local newsrooms have been gutted, even as the problems of the communities they serve — political corruption, economic disparities, crumbling roads, tensions between police and citizens — have become more evident. Editors who once oversaw hundreds of journalists in cities and suburbs now make do with dozens, or fewer. This program is a one-year investigative reporting fellowship to develop the next generation of great reporters to do this essential type of accountability journalism at the local level.
• MacDowell Colony residency fellowships (for residencies year-round, on a 450-acre estate in Peterborough, New Hampshire, of up to two months for emerging and professional artists in fields of architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts). See answers to frequently asked questions . The Edward MacDowell Medal has been presented annually since 1960 by the MacDowell Colony to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the arts.

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• Marine Biological Laboratory fellows and MBL funding opportunities.
• Mayborn Fellowship in Biography
• Mayo Clinic-Cronkite Fellowship Overview Up to 15 experienced medical journalists a week of interactive discussions, hands-on learning and experiential activities at the Mayo Clinic and the Cronkite school, designed to bolster the knowledge and skills that top professional journalists need to cover medicine (Phoenix, May).
• McCloy Fellowships in Journalism (travel & stipend for U.S. journalists to explore Europe-based stories of their own design, sponsored by the American Council on Germany)
• The McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism provides fellowships of up to $15,000 to veteran journalists “to support high-impact, ambitious coverage of critical issues related to the global economy, finance and business.”
• Medicine in the Media (NIH's free but selective annual training opportunity to help develop journalists' and editors’ ability to evaluate and report on medical research--geared to staffers, not freelancers)
• Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers, one $3,000 award each spring for literary or creative nonfiction proposals only (no poetry or fiction).
• Metcalf Fellowships. The Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting offers an Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists(at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography). Fellowships include
---Environmental Reporting Fellowships, diversity fellowships for early-career minority journalists (provide traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic minority journalists with an opportunity to learn basic science, gain environmental research and reporting skills, and apply new knowledge and skills in an environmental reporting assignment)
---Metcalf-Yale Forum Fellowship for Climate Change and Business Reporting.
• MetLife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellowship (for journalists who cover issues in aging and/or who work for ethnic media outlets). Administered by the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and New America Media (NAM); underwritten by the MetLife Foundation (awards $100K for year two of media fellowships). Here's a list of recent fellows.
• Jenny McKean Moore fellowship and workshop (a creative writing fellowship for a poet or novelist, who teaches a free community workshop for local adults, at George Washington). Explained in A Daughter Remembers Jenny Moore
• Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship (Council on Foreign Relations) A 9-month fellowship with a stipend of $65,000 and a modest travel grant--recipient must have distinguished credentials in journalism and must have covered international news as a working journalist for print, broadcast, or online media widely available in the United States.
• National Arts Journalism Fellowship for mid-career journalists (temporarily suspended)

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• National Cancer Reporting Fellowships
• National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS) grants and prizes (including the Elizabeth Eisenstein Essay Prize for the best academic journal article or book chapter published by a member of NCIS).
• National Endowment for the Arts grants
• National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. See also NEA grants for organizations, Translation projects ($12,500 to $25,000, supporting projects for the translation of specific works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English; and partnership agreements (for state arts agencies, or SAAs, and regional arts organizations, or RAOs).
• Check out NEA Writers' Corner for all kinds of articles and other resources, including notices about awards and fellowships.
• NEA Lifetime Honors (National Heritage Fellowships, Jazz Masters Fellowships, and National Medal of Arts)
• National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships. See also How to Get a Grant from NEH (Meredith Hindley, 2008) and A few hints for writing a successful grant application (NEH)
• NEH Public Scholar Program AwardsThis program is designed to help those writing books for a general (not scholarly) audience; the money may be used for researching and/or writing in the humanities. “Even if it’s research funding at the writing stage, we want a sample of what you’re going to do” to reach a public audience, Geoff Burrows, a senior NEH program officer, told a Biographers International conference audience. They also want to know what research you've done when you apply. Your writing sample should show that you can write for the public.
• National Endowment for the Humanities “Common Heritage” grant program New community-based program will save treasures of family and local history
• National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships The Association of Health Care Journalists, the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and the Society of Environmental Journalists together offer this development opportunity for early-career journalists.The fellowships are designed to support early-career journalists who are pursuing — or have a strong interest in pursuing — careers in science, health or environmental reporting (or all three). Curriculum will include basic science, interpreting medical studies, analyzing data, explaining evidence-based decisions, understanding climate science and more.
• Newberry Library Fellowships
• New Horizons Travel Fellowships (Council for the Advancement of Science Writing) Travel fellowships to cover the cost of attending the annual New Horizons in Science briefings for journalists (max. reimbursement $1200)
• Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists established this international screenwriting competition to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters. Up to five $35,000 fellowships (plus meetings with studios, producers, ad agents) are awarded annually, to screenwriters who have not earned more than $5,000 writing fictional work for film or television.
• Nieman Fellowships, fellowship to study at Harvard for an academic year, for experienced print, broadcast and online reporters, editors, photographers, producers, editorial writers and cartoonists -- $65,000 stipend, books, tuition, housing, health care, travel expenses and childcare. Shorter-term Nieman Visiting Fellowships also available.
• The Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction." You cannot submit. The award is bestowed.
• Open Society Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships support individuals (journalists, activists, academics and practitioners) seeking innovative and unconventional approaches to fundamental challenges in an open society. Many excellent opportunities--explore the website to find them all. You might start here:
---Open Society programs
---Open Society fellowship
---Grants, scholarships, and fellowships
---Open Society announces new fund to support new nonprofit leaders
---Can Investigative Journalism Flourish in the Arab World? (one of many stories from Open Society projects)
• The Oxford American Jeff Baskin Writers Fellowship ($10,000 for a nine-month residency in Central Arkansas to work on a book of debut creative nonfiction-- e.g., literary journalism, memoir, reportage, criticism, and the lyric essay.)

• Alicia Patterson Fellowship. Prestigious, highly competitive fellowship award, established to improve the quality of U.S. print journalism. Open only to U.S. citizens who are fulltime print journalists, or to non-U.S. citizens who work fulltime for U.S. print publications, either in America or abroad. One-year grants of $40,000 and six-month grants of $20,000 are awarded to working print journalists and photographers, to pursue independent projects of significant interest. "We are not in the business of underwriting book advances. It has to be a passion project." See application instructions.
• Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award (Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, NYU) A grant of $12,500 to support the work of a promising early-career nonfiction writer on a story that uncovers truths about the human condition. Many important stories need to be reported from afar, and publications do not always have the resources to send a writer where the story is. The money need not be used exclusively for travel, but we expect that most successful applications will include such expenses. Judges will look for “strong, character-driven narratives with detailed scene writing and lyrical description.” Power was always open to the absurdity that often attends politics and international affairs; he was always searching, as he put it, for “the human truth beneath the sorry facts.” Power’s ultimate ambition was literary beauty. The award will not fund proposals to report on armed conflicts where journalists are already imperiled, nor projects that are mainly investigatory. The winner will normally receive visiting scholar privileges at NYU, including library access. Matthew Power was an award-winning journalist who reported empathetically on the human condition.
• Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship A power-packed, year-long experience gives early career journalists the coaching, network and skills they need to have a long and lasting career in journalism. In 2023-24, its fifth year, the joint Poynter Institute and Stand Together Fellowships welcomed 61 emerging journalists from a variety of news media.
• Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing ($75,000 to enable a mid-career editorial writer or columnist to have time away from daily responsibilities for study and research)
• Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (Travel grants to cover hard costs associated with upcoming travel for an international reporting project. Our ideal project offers print, photography, radio, and video. Our definition of "crisis" is broad. We see great value in covering the too often under-reported systemic level crises, from environmental issues and struggles for resources or human rights abuses, to post-conflict reconstruction, or brewing ethnic tensions. We are interested in the stories that would typically not make the headlines without our support.) Check out Untold Stories: Dispatches from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

• Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism fellowships (about 25 journalists from around the globe study in Oxford each year on fellowships of either three, six or nine months, covering one, two or all three terms of the academic year)
• Rollin Fellowship. The Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship: $2000 for an Exceptional Biography-in-progress About an African American Subject (BIO, Biographers International Organization) Awarded to an author working on a biographical work about an African American figure or figures whose story provides a significant contribution to our understanding of the Black experience. Comes with a year’s membership in BIO, registration to the annual BIO conference, and publicity through BIO’s marketing channels.
• Scholarships in technical communication (Society for Technical Communication, or STC)
• Science Literacy Foundation seeks to empower science journalists to publish in the "science news desert" through grants, programs, and other efforts. The Foundation also has plans to do scicomm research to see why these communications have become so difficult throughout some of the US.
• Scripps Fellowships in Environmental Writing , open to all full-time U.S. print or broadcast journalists interested in deepening and broadening their knowledge of environmental issues. A nine-month academic program, covering tuition and fees, plus a $50,000 stipend, from the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder.''
• A Single Mother (grants for single moms) Links to many resources in 50 states and 100 cities.
• Sundance/Sloan Commissioning Grant & Fellowship ($20,000 cash grant for support writing; $5,000 stipend for science advisor and research for the commissioning grant; $10,000 cash grant for fellowship recipient, and attendance at a Sundance Lab, stipend of $5,000 for science advisor, support for the feature film). Basically to support the development of screenplays with science or technology themes.
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grants In selecting projects for funding, the Foundation seeks proposals for original initiatives led by outstanding individuals or teams. We are interested in projects that have a high expected return to society, exhibit a high degree of methodological rigor, and for which funding from the private sector, government, or other foundations is not yet widely available.
• Soros Justice Fellowships (advocacy fellowships and media fellowships, also from the Open Society Foundation.
Spencer Fellowship for Education Journalism (three fellowships supporting long-form journalism that deepens and enhances the public’s understanding of the American education system)
• Starr Center Fellowships at Washington College from the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience include the
---Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship (a $45,000 stipend, health benefits, faculty privileges, a book allowance, and a nine-month residency) for a significant book-length project about the era or legacy of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideas (a full-time residential fellowship, and the
---Hodson Trust-John Carter Brown Fellowship, worth $20,000, for academics, independent scholars and writers working on significant projects relating to the literature, history, culture,or art of the Americas before 1830.
• Taylor/Blakeslee University Fellowships (CASW, Council for the Advancement of Sciene Writing) Fellowships of $5,000 to working journalists and students of outstanding ability who have been accepted for enrollment in graduate-level programs in science writing. Science writing includes writing about science, medicine, health, technology and the environment for the general public. Fellowships are not available to those intending to pursue careers in technical writing.
• Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships in Science and Religion (for print, broadcast, or online journalists and editors)
• The True Story Award An international journalism award conferred by an independent foundation (True Story Foundation) which honors reporters writing in 12 languages who have distinguished themselves by the depth of their research, the quality of their journalism and its social relevance. Fifty jury members from 29 countries will select the 42 best texts of the year and then select a winner. The winner will receive 30 000 Swiss francs in prize money, while the total prize money amounts to 177 000 Swiss francs. Open to all journalists anywhere in the world who produce written reportage. An initiative of Reportagen Magazine in Bern.
• Type Investigations (formerly The Investigative Fund) Incubates high-impact investigative reporting that holds the powerful accountable, bringing underreported stories to light, cultivating diverse journalistic talent, and creating a home for independent journalism that serves the public. Covers the most critical issues of our time: immigration, labor, environment, corporate and government malfeasance, and civil and human rights.
• The UC Berkeley - 11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship (ten $10,000 fellowships, funding for ten fellows working on ten separate stories). See FAQ. I learned of this through this story about Roxanne Khamsi's story about a Darwinian approach to treating cancer.
• USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism National Fellowship Each year, they bring 20 or more competitively selected professional journalists from print, broadcast, ethnic and online media outlets around the US to the University of Southern California campus for the all-expenses-paid National Fellowship, five days of intensive and stimulating discussions, workshop and field trips on important health issues in underserved communities.
• University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships include two fiction fellowships (the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellowship and the Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship), and three poetry fellowships (the Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellowship, the Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellowship, and the First Wave Poetry Fellowship). Also one third-year MFA fellowship--the Hoffman-Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship--to a current student of UW-Madison, through a closed competition.
• Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Each year the National Press Foundation offers two all-expenses-paid fellowships for this annual seminar. U.S.-based journalists whose work represents the highest standards of business journalism are eligible to apply.
• White Creative Nonfiction Grant ($40,000 awarded to writers in the process of completing a book of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction)
• Women Arts Funding Lists
• Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars fellowships . The Wilson Center welcomes outstanding and award-winning scholars, practitioners, journalists and public intellectuals to take part in its nonpartisan dialogue. Each year, the Center hosts about 160 scholars who conduct independent research on national and/or international issues addressing key public policy challenges.
• Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships. Typically there are two fiction fellowships (the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellowship and the Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship), two poetry fellowships (the Jay C. and Ruth Halls Fellowship and now the Ron Wallace Poetry Fellowship), and one fellowship in either fiction or poetry for a graduate of the University's MFA Program in Creative Writing (the Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship). Fellows receive a stipend of $30,000 ($27,000 plus a $3,000 "welcome" prize paid in August), health benefits, and a one-course-per-semester teaching assignment (in Madison, Wisconsin).
• Witter Bynner Fellowships (The Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress) $10,000 awarded annually to poets to be chosen by the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry in conjunction with the Library. the fellows are recognized at a reading in the nation’s capital and go on to organize a local poetry reading in their own communities.
• The Women’s International Study Center (WISC) at Acequia Madre House for women and men who wish to pursue work in WISC’s five focus areas of women in the arts, sciences, cultural preservation, business, and philanthropy. Fellows live onsite for an average two to six weeks.
• World Press Institute fellowships brings 10 journalists each year from around the world to the United States to experience the complexities of U.S. life through the prism of a reporter working under First Amendment conditions. See answers to frequently asked questions.
• Writers Boot Camp Fellowship (three $995 Basic Training scholarships every month, in this top-notch workshop in screenwriting for Hollywood and television--held in LA and NY). A first-hand account by Lisa Marks, in The Guardian "LA diary 4: Writers' Boot Camp."
• Yale World Fellows for four months, brings together mid-career thinkers and doers ("rising stars" in technology, art, finance, politics, social entrepreneurship, journalism, advocacy and more, from across disciplines and borders) for an intense and unpredictable mash-up of ideas, world views and experiences -- in a learning lab to develop leadership in the brightest and most creative minds working on the big issues of our time.
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Grants and awards for translation

• NEA grants for literary translation ( for $12,500 or $25,000, National Endowment for the Arts). See, for example, story about NEA Literary Translation Fellowships for 2015 ($275,000 in recommended grants to 20 translators to support the new translation of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry from 11 different languages into English).
• Prizes and awards. PEN America lists many excellent awards from many sources. Only a few are listed below.
• The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland, with the prize money (£50,000) divided equally between the author and translator.
• PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000) Recognizes book-length translations of poetry from any language into English published during the current year.
• PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants ($2,000-$4,000)
• The Harold Morton Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets)
• Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards (Academy of American Poets), for outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry through a $10,000 book prize (+ 5 week residency at the American Academy in Rome) and a $25,000 fellowship, given in alternating years
• French-American Foundation, Translation Prize ($10,000 for the best translation of a work awards translators of fiction and nonfiction "for excellent translations from French into English published in the United States in the current year.
• PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000) Recognizes book-length translations of poetry from any language into English published during the current year.
• Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation (published translations in English of full-length works of imaginative and creative writing of literary merit and general interest, published in the original Arabic after, or during, the year 1967 and first published in English during the prize year). Winner receives £3,000 (about $4,300 USD).
• National Translation Award in Prose (American Literary Translators Association, or ALTA), $5,000, the longest-standing prize for a work of literary translation, and the only national award for translated fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction that includes a rigorous examination of the source text and its relation to the finished English work. Usually given to translations of previously untranslated contemporary works or first-time translations of older works, but important re-translations have also been honored.
• Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize , $5,000, for the best translation into English of book-length texts of Asian poetry or Zen Buddhism.

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Guides to fellowships and grants

Links change often; if a link doesn't work, try searching for the fellowship under the name given.
• Paying for It: Getting Grants and Fellowships (Geoffrey Giller, The Open Notebook, 2-24-15)
• Awards and Grants (New York Foundation for the Arts)
• Award, Fellowship & Residency Database (Creative Writing, University of Minnesota--mostly post MFA, most include teaching)
• East-West Center guide to journalism fellowships and exchanges for working American and Asia Pacific journalists to understand the complexities of --and develop a network of contacts in -- the Asia Pacific region through study tours, intensive dialogue with colleagues, government officials, business executives and community leaders
• E&P Journalism Awards and Fellowship Directory (free PDF download). This comprehensive list, from Editor & Publisher, lists more than 500 awards, grants, scholarships and contests -- national and international, as of 2010 -- available to journalists and other newspaper professionals. With a subject index to make locating specific awards easier. No longer online, alas.
• Fellowships (creative writing) (Post-MFA Resources Directory|MFA in Creative Writing, University of Wyoming)
• Funding sources for science writers (National Association of Science Writers, for NASW members only, and very helpful)
• Free Funds for Writers newsletter, a free newsletter. See its archive. On the same page you can find "Total Funds for Writers, $18.75 for 26 biweekly issues. " Each issue contains 70+ grants, competitions, markets, jobs, publishers and agents seeking your work."
•*** Funds for Writers (grants, fellowships, residencies) C. Hope Clark's excellent website, which focuses on "markets, competitions, awards, grants, publishers, agents, and jobs for your writing abilities, with motivation chucked in."
• Get Paid to Write: 14 Great Grants for Writers (Kristen Pope, The Write Life, 9-18-15
• Grants and Fellowships for Journalists (Global Investigative Journalism Network's excellent info about general, international, and specialty fellowships;, reporting, documentary, and other grants)
• Grants for Artists (New York Artists Online) Thanks to Mary Breakstone and Hannah for the links to NYC grants.
• Grants for Artists and Grants for Organizations (Cultural Development Fund) (NYC Cultural Affairs)
• Grants for Film (Inside Philanthropy)
• Grants (great listings)
• Grants Q&As (Funds for Writers)
• Journalism Grants (JournalismFund.eu, links to organizations, institutions and funds that hand out research grants for investigative journalism)
• Literary grants for individuals (Women Arts)
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
• Newslab links to journalism fellowships
• Radio/Media Fellowships and Grants Directory (AIR wiki, Association of Independents in Radio)
• Contests & Grants (The Loft). Scroll down for community notices of Contests & Grants.
• The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) (Troy Segal, Investopedia, 4-29-19) A compendium of assistance programs offered by various U.S. government agencies to the American public. I list this despite not knowing if these programs are realistic resources for writers and editors. All I know is that the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) (part of FEMA) provides a full listing of federal programs that are available to organizations, government agencies (state, local, tribal), U.S. territories, and individuals who are authorized to do business with the government. A CFDA program can be a project, service, or activity.

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Getting Funded

Grant proposal writing and editing
Grant funding and other fundraising resources
Books on fundraising and grant proposal writing

Grant proposal writing and editing

• Proposal Writing Short Course (Online, Foundation Center) -- excellent quicky guide; the Foundation Center offers a number of online training courses to help you learn to write grant proposals. Printable version.
• The project pitch that won funding from the International Women’s Media Foundation (Carly Stern, The Pitch, Nieman Storyboard, 10-23-2020) "Don't start from the grant; start from the story," says reporter Ylenia Gostoli. A successful project pitch, annotated. See also Pitching the IWMF: Focus on undercovered issues, think big and dare to stretch (Strictly Q&A, Nieman Storyboard)
• Crafting a Winning Fellowship Proposal (The Open Notebook, 2-20-18) What are the essentials of a strong proposal for a journalism fellowship?
• Paying for It: Getting Grants and Fellowships (Geoffrey Giller, The Open Notebook, 2-24-15)
• Research Funding Toolkit (helps academics write better research grant applications)
• Getting Your First Freelance Grant Writing Assignment (Waddy Thompson). See links along right side to helpful articles about grant writing, including Writing a Proposal They Will Want to Read and Thompson's blog, Tips for Successful Grant Writing
"Keep calm and let a writer handle it" sweatshirt (T-shirt also available)
• Writing Your Application for NIH Research Grants
• Communicating Research Intent and Value in NIH Applications (NIH). Three before-and-after examples. See also Plain Language at NIH.
• Common proposal forms (Foundation Center)
• Paying for It: Getting Grants and Fellowships (Geoffrey Giller, The Open Notebook, 2-24-15)
• American Grant Writers' Association (AGWA) (offers a grant-writing workshop, review, and exam for certification and online courses)
• Associated Grant Makers Common Proposal Form
• Foundation Directory Online
• Grant Proposal Writing Tips (Corporation for Public Broadcasting)
• Grant Writing Tips Sheets (NIH Office of Extramural Research), includes podcasts
• Grant-writing tools for nonprofit organizations (Non-profit guides)
• NIH Forms & Applications
• NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. Information about Requests for Applications (RFAs), Program Announcements (PAs), Recent Notices, Inactive and Active Announcements
• Proposal Preparation Checklist (Deborah Kluge, Proposal Writing, Government Contracting)
• Resources for Writing and Editing Grant Proposals (Katharine O'Moore-Klopf, KOK Edit, 1-26-11)
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine's excellent Tools for Grant Writing, in a section on Funding
• What Grantmakers Want Applicants to Know (Guidestar, July 2003)
• Proposals and bids: Put the price on page one. In bold. (Walt Kania, The Freelancery, 3-27-12, p. 127)
• Non-profit guides (grant-writing tools for non-profit organizations)

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Grant funding and other fundraising resources

• Financial Support for Writers (Coronavirus edition, The Hot Sheet, 2020)
• Tactical Thursdays Episode Library (Nonprofit Storytelling Conference) Every Thursday, a member of the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference speaker family opens up their bag of fundraising tricks to give you tactical and practical advice... so you can tell better stories and raise more money for your organization. You'll sometimes find a link to handouts or slides in the notes section under the video.
• Paying for It: Getting Grants and Fellowships (Geoffrey Giller, The Open Notebook, 2-24-15) Invaluable.
• Radio/Media Fellowships and Grants Directory (AIR wiki, Association of Independents in Radio)
• Grants (links to many unusual and specialized grants, on Funds for Writers, C. Hope Clark's fund of information. Her newsletters provide a regular stream of info on contests, grants, freelance markets, jobs, and publishers/agents.
• Foundation Center. A key source of information about philanthropy and private funding sources worldwide, with a comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector). Library/learning centers in five locations (New York City; Washington, DC; Atlanta; Cleveland; and San Francisco) offer free access to information resources and educational programs. Online database includes specialized data collections, such as Services to People with Disabilities (a lending library and a list of resources) and full-day classroom courses on proposal writing.
• Grantseeking for Individuals and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online(Foundation Center).
• Grants.gov (overview of grant process, find and apply for federal grants, track federal grants you've applied for)
• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (a government-wide compendium of federal programs, projects, services, and activities--including an exhaustive range of federal grant sources).
• Grants Information for Constituents (CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service, 1-3-05, PDF)
• How to Apply for Google Grants (Getting Attention) It sez here: "Are you looking to drive traffic to your nonprofit’s landing pages without breaking the bank? The Google Ad Grant program will help you do exactly that! After completing the Google Grant application process, you’ll receive $10,000 every month to spend on Google Ads....Unlike most grant applications, applying for Google Grants is relatively straightforward and painless." [What is the secret/truth/negative angle about/on these grants? You'll be making money for Google.]
• NYFA SourceNew York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA),an extensive national directory of awards, services, and publications for artists, with listings for over 4,500 arts organizations, 3,600 award programs, 4,700 service programs, and 900 publications for individual artists across the country.
• Grants & Awards. The PEN guide, formerly a book, is now an online database to which you can subscribe ($10 for members, $12 for non-members)
• Newswise Journalism Grants & Fellowships Calendar (you may have to sign in)
• Newswise Guide to Journalism Grants and Fellowships (2006-2007)
• Grant Resources and Tutorials (Karen Chase, with entries geared to professional storytelling)
• Rural Health Services Funding (National Agricultural Library)
• Capital Assistance Funding (probably irrelevant, but scan for clues...)

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• All About Grants (helpful tutorials from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases)
• About the Center for Scientific Review (helpful information about CSR, the portal for NIH grant applications and their review for scientific merit)
• Annotated Grant Proposal (Barbara Gaste, for AuthorAID, provides a grant application/proposal with notes on it that identify various strengths, for developing country researchers, PDF)
• Associated Grant Makers resources page
• Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy (type "grant seeking" into the search window and you'll find helpful articles)
• The Foundation Center (site map for an invaluable resource--see, for example, webinars and online training about grantseeking etc.)
• Glossary & Acronym List for NIH grants
• Grant Professionals Association (GPA, formerly American Association of Grant Professionals)
• Resources For Individual Grantseekers: A Bibliography (compiled by Katrina Brown, on site of Foundation Center)
• Grant Professionals Association (GPA) (formerly American Association of Grant Professionals, AAGP)
• American Grant Writers' Association, Inc. (for professional grant writers and grant administrators)
• Women Arts Funding Lists

Books on grant proposal writing and fundraising

If you make a purchase after clicking on one of these Amazon links, we get a small commission, which helps support the cost of maintaining the site. I have not evaluated these titles personally.
• The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing by Jane C. Geever
• Fundraising for Social Change ed. Kim Klein
• How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals by Mal Warwick
• Winning Grants Step by Step: The Complete Workbook for Planning, Developing and Writing Successful Proposals by by Tori O'Neal-McElrath
• Storytelling for Grantseekers: A Guide to Creative Nonprofit Fundraising by Cheryl A. Clarke
• Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals by Mary S. Hall and Susan Howlett
• Directory of Grants in the Humanities, ed. by Ed.S. Louis S. Schafer.
• Grant Seeking in an Electronic Age by Victoria Mikelonis, Signe T. Betsinger, and Constance E. Kampf
• Grantwriting Beyond the Basics: Proven Strategies Professionals Use to Make Their Proposals Work, Book 1 by Michael K. Wells
• Grant Writing For Dummies by Beverly A. Browning
• Grassroots Grants: An Activist's Guide to Grantseeking
• The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets by Ellen Karsh and Arlen Sue Fox
• Storytelling for Grantseekers: The Guide to Creative Nonprofit Fundraising by Cheryl A. Clarke
• Winning Grants Step by Step by Mim Carlson, Tori O'Neal-McElrath, and the Alliance for Nonprofit Management
• Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete Guide to Crafting Proposals and Other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits by Joseph Barbato and Danielle Furlich
Writing the NIH Grant Proposal: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Emergency Grants and Funds for Writers

(especially because of Covid-19)

• Literary Arts Emergency Fund (The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, the Academy of American Poets, and the National Book Foundation) will provide $3.5 million to the literary arts, a field that has been disastrously impacted by COVID-19. Regrants from this fund, made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will be distributed by September 15, 2020. One-time, unrestricted grants from $5,000 to $50,000. Only submissions made online through Submittable will be reviewed (and are due by Aug. 7, 2020).
• COVID-19: Details on Economic Relief for Authors (Authors Guild page of links to general resources, including benefits authors may qualify for under the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, which was passed on March 27, 2020)
• Stimulus Check Calculator: How Much Will You Receive? (Rob Berger, Forbes, 4-17-2020)
• CARES Act & COVID-19 Relief (Kellen Company) This resource center provides info on business relief (Paycheck Protection Program (PPP),COVID-19-Related Tax Credits,Pandemic Operations Continuity Template), employee protection (Paid Sick Leave & Family Leave, Unemployment Insurance), and financial assistance
IRS: Economic Impact Payments
CFPB: Mortgage Relief Payments
Dept. of Education: Student Loan Forbearance & 0% Interest for Students, Borrowers, and Parents
HHS: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
USDA: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, State Directory of Resources)
Feeding America: Find Your Local Food Bank.

• ACT resources (HHS, Administration for Children & Families. Scroll down for info about ACF Grants and resources in other areas)

• Emergency grants available to freelance journalists during COVID-19 (Carolyn Crist, Covering Health, Association of Health Care Journalists blog, 5-6-2020) "In some cases, the grant is meant only to support those who have contracted COVID-19 and lost work because they were sick. In other cases, the grant is designated for particular types of reporting work."
• Fund for Investigative Journalism ("Emergency grants of up to $10,000 are available for U.S.-based independent investigative journalists who are working on stories about the novel coronavirus that break new ground and expose wrongdoing in the public or private sector."
• Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP) is a nonprofit organization that produces journalism meant to raise awareness about income inequality and economic unfairness in the United States. EHRP is offering a limited number of emergency hardship grants between $500 and $1,500 to professional journalists based in the United States. It is offering assignments to independent journalists on how COVID-19 has led to financial suffering in America and is particularly interested in working with writers experiencing their own economic hardship during the pandemic.
• PEN America’s Writers’ Emergency Fund
• ASJA's Writers Emergency Assistance (WEA) Fund (American Society of Journalists and Authors)
• Artist Relief is (through September 2020) distributing $5,000 grants to artists in all disciplines facing financial emergencies due to COVID-19. It was organized by the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists—all mid-sized national arts grantmakers.

• COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists (National Geographic, especially for "projects that will deliver news to underserved populations, as well as local and hyper-local distribution")
• Journalism Relief Fund, English (International Women’s Media Foundation) "The relief fund provides grants of up to $2,000." It is "open to women-identifying journalists “in dire straits” who need assistance, particularly those with no other sources of income or who have been laid off."
• 2020 Rapid Response Grants (Fund for Environmental Journalism) to "support environmental reporting with a focus on climate, conservation or environmental health in North America"
• Authors League Fund (for professional authors, journalists, poets and dramatists with a "subtantial body of work"

________________
• Grants and Funds for Writers in Need (Authors Guild longish list and links)
• Poets & Writers Covid Relief Fund
• Microloans for Journalists If you’re a professional journalist who has been laid off, furloughed, or had your pay cut by your news outlet and urgently need assistance, you can apply to receive an interest-free $500 loan, to be repaid in one year. The money will come solely from fellow journalists. The money is a loan, not a donation.
• Grants for Freelancers and Artists During the COVID-19 Pandemic (WOW-Women on Writing's list and links)
• Lost Income Due To COVID-19? Here Are Grants And Resources For Artists And Nonprofits (
• The Literary Arts Booth Emergency Fund for Writers (allocated from Brian Booth Writers’ Fund) to provide meaningful financial relief to Oregon’s writers, including cartoonists, spoken word poets, and playwrights. WBUR, Massachusetts)
• Freelance Audio Fund (for the audio community, from the Association of Independents in Radio) provides emergency relief to the professional audio community impacted by COVID-19
• Freelancers Relief Fund (Freelancers Union)
• Virginia Is For Journalists Relief Fund (GoFundMe fund)
• Florida Times-Union Workers Relief Fund (GoFundMe fund)
• Coronavirus Relief Options (Small Business Administration) Includes page on Paycheck Protection Program. But see Sole Proprietors and PPP Loan Forgiveness: Beware

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About Traditional Grants and Fellowships for Writers

• Fellowships & grants for journalists (News Lab's list and links)
• Grants for Writers (Funds for Writers)
• Finding Funding Through Grants (C. Hope Clark for Independent Book Publishers Association, IBPA, Aug. 2017)

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Writers colonies (aka residencies, communities, retreats)

• Artist Residency Programs (Beltway Poetry Quarterly) This list includes three distinct types of residency program, explained here:
---Artist in Residence (AIR) programs
---Artist colonies
---Retreats.
• Poets & Writers Conferences and Residencies Database (details about over two hundred writing conferences, writers residencies, and literary festivals).
• Alliance of Artists Communities
• Residencies (Alliance of Artists Communities) "Two weeks in the south of France to edit a book of poetry. Three months in a mill building in Massachusetts to work on a film. A year in the mountains to sculpt. A semester in Taiwan to compose. With 100s of residency programs worldwide, the choice is up to you."
• Res artis (worldwide network of artist residencies)
• 27 Amazing Writing Residencies You Should Apply for This Year (The Write Life, 4-14-17).
• 30+ Awesome Workshops & Retreats for Fiction Writers in 2018 (Kotobee, 12-20-17)
• All About Writers Colonies (Nova Ren Suma, Distraction No. 99, 3-15-10). Various writers thoughts on and descriptions of Anderson Center, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Center, Chateau de Lavigny, Djerassi, Gibraltar Point, Hedgebrook, Ledig House, MacDowell Colony, Millay Colony, Santa Fe Art Institute, Vermont Studio Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Yaddo. And here's a bit about Week 3 "There are no mochas at writers colonies… at least none that I’ve been to. They care for you like you’re not cared for in real life, but it’s not like you get assigned a bedroom, a studio, and a barista."
• Writers' Colonies, directory of (with links)
• Directory of Writers' Colonies John Hewitt, PoeWar) Names, addresses, and phone numbers--no URLs or email addresses.
• 25 Incredible Writing Retreats to Attend in 2016 (Susan Shain, The Write Life, 12-22-15)
• Writing residencies and conferences (Meghan Ward, Writerland) Good overview.
• 20 Amazing Writing Residencies You Should Apply for This Year by Alexis Grant (The Write Life, 9-8-14)
• Writers' Residences and Colonies (AgentQuery.com)
• Colonist (Allison Amend, Media Bistro, 10-1-03, on what goes on and why you get work done at colonies)
• Colonies, Conferences, & Festivals (Poetry Society of America's extensive links)
• Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity conferences
• Bread Loaf Writers' Conference(s) (Middlbebury)
• MacDowell Colony residencies
• Whidbey Island Writers Conference (Facebook group)
• U.P.’s Porcupine Mountains seeking artists for rustic cabin art residencies in Michigan The artist residency cabin is not on the Porcupine Mountains map, affording it true seclusion.

• What I Did at Summer Writers’ Camp (Rachel Donadio, NY Times Book Review, 8-20-08)
• 6 Insider Tips for Finding and Applying to Writers’ Colonies (Brian Klems, Writer's Digest 1-14-14)
• All About Writers Colonies (Nova Ren Suma)

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Grants and awards for translation

• NEA grants for literary translation ( for $12,500 or $25,000, National Endowment for the Arts). See News, Publications.

• Grants/Awards/Residencies. PEN America list, strong on awards for literary translations. PEN no longer offers hard copies of its Grants & Awards listings.
• PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000) Recognizes book-length translations of poetry from any language into English published during the current year.
• PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants ($2,000-$4,000)
• The Harold Morton Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets)
• Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards (Academy of American Poets), for outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry through a $10,000 book prize and a $25,000 fellowship, given in alternating years
• French-American Foundation, Translation Prize ($10,000 for the best translation of a work from French into English published in the United States in the current year.

• Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation (published translations in English of full-length works of imaginative and creative writing of literary merit and general interest, published in the original Arabic after, or during, the year 1967 and first published in English during the prize year). Winner receives £3,000 (about $4,300 USD).
• National Translation Award in Prose (American Literary Translators Association, or ALTA), $5,000, the longest-standing prize for a work of literary translation, and the only national award for translated fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction that includes a rigorous examination of the source text and its relation to the finished English work. Usually given to translations of previously untranslated contemporary works or first-time translations of older works, but important re-translations have also been honored.
• Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize , $5,000, for the best translation into English of book-length texts of Asian poetry or Zen Buddhism.

Grants and fellowships, sites listing them
Grant proposal writing and fundraising (tips, guides, books, workshops)
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Websites, organizations, and other resources

A GREAT READ

A+ blogs and newsletters (plus podcasts)

Blog roll, too

Book news, reviews, interviews

+ Talk radio shows & podcasts, author interviews & profiles, literary journals, book lover communities

Books for book clubs

Best reads and most "discussable"

Books for writers and editors

Great search links

Fact-finding, fact-checking, conversion tables, checking fake news and misinformation, fact-checking by topic, news and info resources

Memoirs (recommended reading)

BOOK AND MAGAZINE PUBLISHING

Acquiring, swapping, or selling books (plus donating, borrowing, and lending)

New, used, rare books, Amazon, etc. Where to donate or recycle.

Agents and book proposals

Plus querying, the art of the pitch (different for books than for magazines), beta readers, the book deal, subsidiary rights

Book collaboration, ghostwriting

Communicating and marketing online (Web 2.0)

Social media, SEO, podcasts, AI and ChatGPT, blogs, ezines, survey tools and online games

Freelancing, contracting, telecommuting

AB5 and the gig economy, taxes and deductions, consulting, contracting, insurance (health, disability, liability) and tools for independent work

Getting published (starting out)

Job banks, publishing marketplaces

Job boards and sites posting freelance gigs

Marketing, publicity, promotion

Ads, book promotion, intelligent radio programs, newsletters, platform, book packaging, marketing a product and yourself as an author, growing your audience

Publishing (and e-publishing)

Ebooks/digital publishing, audiobooks, and changes in publishing. See also Self-Publishing

Self-publishing and print on demand (POD)

Indie publishing, digital publishing, hybrid publishing, POD, how-to sources. See also publishing and e-publishing.

So, You Want to Write a Book!

The heart of Sarah Wernick's website

(with her family's permission)

WRITERS AND CREATORS

Adding images, sound, story, humor

Multimedia, data visualization, visual storytelling, songwriting, cartoons, maps, charts and so on

Awards, grants, fellowships

Plus contests, other sources of funds for creators

Conferences, workshops, and learning places

Plus book fairs and festivals, writers colonies (residencies, communities, retreats)

Corporate and technical communications

Content marketing, copywriting, speechwriting, marketing, training, and writing for government and organizations

Fiction writing and editing

Literary and commercial (including genre)

Film, drama, and documentaries

(plus TV and cable)

Journalism and journalists

Local and regional organizations and events

Major writers organizations

Mastering multimedia

Writing, reporting, transcription, multimedia, equipment, computers, software, computer security, tech tips, cryptocurrency, Dark Web

Media pros and other allied professionals

Translators, indexers, designers, photographers, artists, illustrators, animators, cartoonists, image professionals, composers

Memoir, biography, and corporate history

Nonfiction

including personal essays and academic writing

Poetry and verse

Science and medical writing

Specialty and niche writing

Groups for writers who specialize in animals, children's books, food, family history, the outdoor world, resumes, sports, travel, webwriting, and wine (etc.)

The writing life

Writers on offices, standing desks, rejection, writer's block, writers groups, procrastination, and other features of the writing life

ETHICS, RIGHTS, AND OTHER ISSUES

Fair use, public domain, book contracts, licensing, permissions, rights clearance, reversion of rights, digital rights, DMCA takedown notices, net neutrality

Ethics, libel, freedom of the press

First Amendment issues, banned books, free speech, invasion of privacy, online privacy, data protection, plagiarism, libel, censorship, media watchdogs, FOIA, protection for whistleblowers

EDITORS AND EDITING

For and about editors

and for copyeditors, proofreaders, indexers, and translators--and clients!

Preface, foreword, or introduction?

The order of the parts of a book

What goes on the copyright page

Style, grammar, diction

Acronyms and initialisms *** Apostrophes *** British vs American punctuation (some Canadian) *** Capitalization *** Commas, serial commas, and semicolons *** Dashes, em dashes, ellipses, colons, slashes, and commas *** Editing and proofing marks *** Exclamation points *** Hyphens *** Parentheses, brackets, and braces *** Periods *** Quotation marks and italics *** The debate about 1 space or 2 between sentences *** Umlaut and diaeresis *** Punctuation generally

Tips on tact and tone

And views on the author-editor relationship

Quick Links

Awards, grants, fellowships, and competitions

Calls for Submissions

General articles about writing awards and competitions

Lists of award competitions and contests (in alphabetical order)

Contest and awards scams andcompetitions to be wary about

"Indie" awards

Awards and prizes(in alphabetical order)

American Academy of Arts and Letters awards

Children and young adults. Awards for books written for children and young adults

Historical fiction, awards for

"Indie" awards of various stripes

Mystery, thriller, suspense novel, and crime fiction awards

PEN American literary awards

Screenwriting competitions and awards

Short story prizes

Getting Funded, Generally

Getting funded: Fellowships and Grants

Specific fellowships and grants

Grants and awards for translation

Guides to fellowships and grants

Getting Funded

Grant proposal writing and editing

Grant funding and other fundraising resources

Books on grant proposal writing and fundraising

Emergency Grants and Funds for Writers

About Traditional Grants and Fellowships for Writers

Writers colonies (aka residencies, communities, retreats)

Grants and awards for translation

Websites, organizations, and other resources

Contest and awards scams and
competitions to be wary about

Awards and prizes
(in alphabetical order)