We Want to Hear From You
The Uplift Voices Nonfiction Book Award
For Historically Marginalized Voices
Jaded Ibis Press is offering this award for a nonfiction book written in English by a US-based writer who identifies as a historically marginalized voice. Judged by the talented Myriam Gurba, author of acclaimed works Creep: Essays and Confessions and Mean, this is more than a literary contest; it’s an opportunity have your book lovingly edited, designed, produced as both an ebook and print edition, marketed, and submitted to eligible literary awards and prizes. Jaded Ibis Press will open for submissions to the Uplift Voices Award from February 1 to March 31, 2024. The grand prize will be $1500 and a competitive publishing contract, but all submissions will be considered for publication. Join us in amplifying voices that need to be heard, and submit your manuscript for a shot at making a powerful impact. Your story matters, so let it be uplifted!
Myriam Gurba is the author of Creep: Essays and Confessions, an essay collection which Kirkus called a “masterpiece of wit and vulnerability.” She also wrote the true crime memoir Mean, a New York Times Editors’ Choice. O, The Oprah Magazine, ranked Mean as one of the best LGBTQ books of all time. Her work may also be found in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Paris Review and many other places. She lives in California.
The 2023 Literary Awards Program will run from February 1 to March 31, 2024. We publish in English, and the contest is open to writers from anywhere in the United States.
The grand prize will be $1500 along with a competitive publishing contract. All submissions will be considered for publication.
There is a $20 reading fee.
We are seeking creative nonfiction manuscripts (memoir, essays, reporting).
Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Only previously unpublished work will be eligible. Individual essays or excerpts may have been published in journals or outlets so long as their copyrights do not interfere with publication. If your manuscript is accepted for publication during the contest, please notify us immediately. We are unable to refund the reading fee if you withdraw your entry.
All entries must be submitted electronically via Submittable. Full guidelines are available on our Submittable Page here.
We are offering an optional “pay it forward” program on the entry form. 100% of these funds will be used for authors who demonstrate that they cannot afford the entry fee.
