You read Narratively for true stories about people whose lives you’d never otherwise glimpse. Every one of those stories started the same way: someone decided their experience was worth writing down.
That’s why we created the Narratively Memoir Prize, now open for submissions for the fifth year. Our past prizes have brought us eye-opening epics like the 2023 winer, Christopher Blackwell’s Chaos and Noise: One Man’s Harrowing Stint in Solitary Confinementand quiet, introspective ones, like Heather K.M. Lewis’ Homeless at ‘Harvard High School,’ a finalist this past year. Your story doesn’t have to be dramatic. It just has to be true, and yours.
This year’s winner receives $3,000, publication and huge shout-outs on Narratively plus a virtual celebration. Our guest judge is Alexander Chee, bestselling author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night.
Submissions are open now through December 6. You can find all the details about what kinds of stories we’re looking for and how to enter over on our 2026 Narratively Memoir Prize page.
Most of us carry a story we’ve been meaning to write. What’s usually missing isn’t talent. It’s time, structure and people who expect you to show up.
Our Personal Essay Sprint is a go-at-your-own-pace writing intensive that gives you all three. You’ll move through 10 guided steps from idea to finished essay, with daily Quiet Writing Hours and weekly live (and recorded) fireside conversations with acclaimed writers and instructors, starting with personal essay expert and editor Sari Botton on October 22. You’ll also be matched each week with 1 or 2 fellow writers and have always-on group chats and audio and video rooms with a community of writers cheering you on to the finish.
The Personal Essay Sprint and the Memoir Prize go hand in hand, but neither requires the other. Join the Sprint to write your strongest personal essay, then submit it to the Prize if you like; your entry fee is included. Or enter the Prize on its own, as always. Judging is blind, and participation in the Sprint gives you no advantage.
Doors are open now, and you can start the day you join. Join by October 22 to catch our live kickoff with Sari Botton. Enrollment closes November 29.
Questions? Join Narratively’s founders and editors for a live Ask Me Anything video session all about this year’s Memoir Prize and the Personal Essay Sprint on Tuesday, October 20, at noon ET.
Full Prize rules, eligibility and FAQs are on the Prize page.
As always, paid subscribers enter the Prize free. Your link to submit is just below.
