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The Kenyon Review Short Nonfiction Contest (Deadline: December 31)

Submissions for The Kenyon Review Short Nonfiction Contest are accepted electronically every year from December 1 through December 31.

The Kenyon Review will publish the winning essay in print, and the author will be awarded a full scholarship to attend The Kenyon Review Writers Workshops.

  • Submit via Submittable from December 1 – 31, 2023. 
  • Writers must not have published a book of creative nonfiction at the time of submission. (The Kenyon Review defines a “published book of creative nonfiction” as a memoir, book of essays, or other creative nonfiction collection written by you and published by someone other than you in print, on the web, or in ebook format.)
  • Submissions must be no more than 3,000 words in length.
  • Please submit no more than once per year. 
  • Please do not simultaneously submit your contest entry to another magazine or contest. 
  • Please do not submit work that has been previously published.
  • Before you submit, please remove your name and any other identifying information from your manuscript.
  • The entry fee for the Short Nonfiction Contest is $24, collected at the time of submission. All entrants are invited to claim a complimentary half-year Print plus Digital subscription to The Kenyon Review (for domestic addresses) or a half-year Digital-only subscription (for international addresses) through January 15, 2024. Your new half-year subscription to The Kenyon Review will include the Spring 2024 and Summer 2024 issues. Current subscribers will receive a two-issue extension on their current subscription.

See full contest guidelines.