Writing & Literature

A category for emerging voices who shape thought and feeling through original prose.

The Writing & Literature category welcomes original prose that reflects narrative insight, personal voice, and literary craft. Submissions may include short fiction, creative nonfiction, or research-based writing, and should demonstrate clarity, originality, and a meaningful engagement with theme or experience.

Hearth Fellowship Prize
Writing Literature

Dates

  • Submission Deadline: 10/15 EST

  • Judging Period: 10/7 - 10/21 EST

  • Finalist Notified: 10/28 EST

Submission Method

  • Submitted by email to: info@hearthfellowship.org

    • Subject Line:  [Hearth Fellowship] Submission - [Your Full Name] - [Category Name]

    • Attach Materials

Prompt


If literature cannot save a life, can paying attention to it still be an ethical act?

Virginia Woolf often turns away from grand historical events and toward what is easily overlooked: flowers, windows, dinner tables, passing strangers, and fleeting thoughts. In Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, these small details become morally significant because Woolf asks readers to notice lives that might otherwise disappear into the background.

Explore whether Woolf suggests that careful attention itself can become a form of care, recognition, or resistance to invisibility.

Format

  • Manuscript 

    • Short fiction, Creative nonfiction, Research-based writing or essays on a topic of interest, any self-directed prose that demonstrates authentic voice and thought

  • Length

    • 3 pages

  • Format

    • Font: Times New Roman

    • Size: 12 pt

    • Spacing Double-Spaced

    • Margins: 1inch (2.54 cm)

    • File Format: PDF

    • File Name: LastFirstName_Title.pdf

  • Must Include

    • Title Page (include the following information as the first page of your submission)

      • Title of the work

      • Full name of the applicant

      • Email address

      • Submission Category: Writing & Literature

      • Total word count

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Poetry