2026 Writing Contest - Creative Nonfiction/Memoir
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Welcome to the San Miguel Writers’ Conference Writing Contest
IMPORTANT DATES
Open for submissions: July 15, 2025.
Deadline for submissions: September 15, 2025.
Winners will be announced: November 15, 2025.
CATEGORIES
Submissions of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction/memoir are welcome.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Limited to emerging writers who have not yet published 10,000 copies of any book.
- The submission must be unpublished work.
PRIZES
One winner will be chosen from each category and will win one “The Works Package” to the 2026 Conference. This package is worth $1,450 USD and includes full access to the conference, including parties and receptions, seven workshops and one six-hour Intensive Workshop. See our website for a full list of everything The Works Package includes. Winners will also receive accommodation for the dates of the conference upon request.
JUDGES
Three winners will be chosen, one in each category, by these distinguished authors:
JEAN KWOK - fiction

Jean Kwok is the award-winning, New York Times and international bestselling author of The Leftover Woman, Searching for Sylvie Lee, Girl in Translation, and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in over twenty countries and is taught in schools worldwide. She was one of twelve contemporary authors invited by the Agatha Christie estate to write an original, authorized Miss Marple story. Most of her novels are in development for film and television. She lives in the New York area.
WENDY VIDELOCK - poetry

Wendy Videlock is an award winning poet and syndicated newspaper columnist. She serves as the regions's sixth poet laureate of Western Colorado. Her poems, reviews, and essays appear most notably in Best American Poetry, Poetry Magazine, O Magazine, Hudson Review, Hopkins Review, Rattle, The New York Times, and American Life in Poetry. Her books include What's That Supposed to Mean (EXOT Books), Nevertheless, Slingshots & Love Plums, The Dark Gnu, Wise to the West (Able Muse Press) and a book of essays: The Poetic Imaginarium: A Worthy Difficulty (Lithic Press).
JENNIFER CLEMENT - creative nonfiction / memoir

Jennifer Clement is President Emerita of PEN International, the global human rights and freedom of expression organization, and the only woman to hold that office since its founding in 1921. Her award-winning novels, memoirs, and poetry have been translated into 38 languages and adapted for stage and screen. Clement’s work addresses issues such as the kidnapping of girls in Mexico (Prayers for the Stolen), gun violence and arms trafficking in Mexico and Central America (Gun Love), and her life in the art scenes of Mexico and New York (Widow Basquiat and The Promised Party). She was raised in Mexico, where she currently resides.
READING
Winners will be asked to read an excerpt of their winning submission during the conference!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- Fiction: 2,500 words of double spaced 12pt prose.
- Creative Nonfiction/ Memoir: 2,500 words of double spaced 12pt prose.
- Poetry: Three poems of no more than ten pages.
- Please use Times New Roman or Calibri font.
- Please do not include your name in the body of your creative submission.
COST
Cost per submission: $35
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please add contest@sanmiguelwritersconference.org to your contact list, so our emails are not sent to Spam and you never miss out on important messages
Note: If you begin filling out a submission proposal and realize you are missing information, you can scroll to the bottom, save your proposal as a draft, and come back later to finish it.
For more information about the San Miguel Writers’ Conference or the San Miguel Literary Sala please visit our websites: https://sanmiguelwritersconference.org/