Unleash Work-in-Progress (WIP) Award 2025

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We aim to assist writers in completing an important literary project and vision. The Unleash WIP Award offers writers support in the amount of $500 to supplement costs to support the completion of a book-length work of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Writers will receive editorial feedback, coaching meetings, and an excerpt/interview feature in Unleash Lit. 

Our 2024 winner was Elizabeth Higgins for her WIP Unfit to be at Large: Fragments from the Life of Helen Fischer.

This contest is designed to support writers who are just starting or have been toiling away but need a little boost to keep going.

The Unleash Board of Directors will select the winner and provide individual support and mentorship. 

“This contest is designed to support an artist with a clear vision who would benefit from mentorship and support to finish a writing project.”  –Jen Knox, Executive Director, Unleash

​Guidelines: 

Submit up to the first 25 pages of your WIP (.doc, .docx) and answers to the following questions in the same document:

• Who are you as a creative person, and what is your creative vision? (No CV or resumes here)
• Who is your intended audience for this project, and why?

​Entries will be judged on originality, emotional resonance, and the author’s vision of the work they'd like to create. Please keep your name off all attachments. Share who you are as a creative, without disclosing your name. 

• Submissions will be accepted until July 15, 2025.
• There are no refunds if you withdraw a submission.
• Multiple submissions may be submitted as separate applications.
• Please leave all identifying information off of the manuscript.
• The maximum length of a sample from your manuscript is 25 pages double-spaced.
• Genres accepted include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and experimental/hybrid.
• If guidelines are not followed, the manuscript will be automatically rejected (e.g., including identifying information on the manuscript).
• Previously self-published works are accepted.
• Previously traditionally published works are only accepted if the author received little to no support.

We abide by the CLMP Code of Ethics and pledge 

• to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
• to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—define conflict of interest for all parties involved, and
• to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. Namely, submissions are read without identifying information (see guidelines). All manuscripts are evaluated by at least two raters/readers.
   

Create, Clarify, Connect

Dates: October 24-25, 2025

Times: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. ET

Why Attend? 

Gain new skills, refine your craft, rekindle your creative spirit, and connect with a vibrant community of writers while celebrating the power of human stories. 

Registration:

• Early Bird (Before June 1): $140 
• Standard (After June 1): $250 

What’s Included: 

• 2 days of workshops, meeting other creative people, finding inspiration, and having fun 
• Select workshop recordings
• A copy of Create & Curate (500 writing and art prompts) 
• Fee waiver for any Unleash Contest (Book Prize or WIP) 

Featured workshops:

• Writing without expectations with Laura Esther Sciortino's generative and interactive workshop.
• Manifest your creative life with Amy L. Bernstein's all-genre workshop.
• Explore how to write for social good with Nancy Townsley
• Learn the art of revision in poetry with Alexis Ivy
• Discuss art and aging with Carol Fischbach and Christina V. Larsen
• Examine what we can create in community with Sonia Perna
• Learn to rekindle your childhood creativity with a multimedia art workshop by Vanja Kragulj
• Creative leadership & networking co-hosted by Jen Knox and Chris Shanahan
• The art of audio with audiobook narrator Suzanne Warfield
• Discuss technology, adapting prose to film, and more ... 

Schedule:

Friday, Day 1

12:00 - Welcome from the Unleash board, notes on the creative community

12:30 - Workshop (generative)

2:00 - Creative networking/mindfulness for creativity

3:00 - Multimedia art workshop (Halloween-themed)

4:30 - Open Mic

Saturday, Day 2

12:00 - Welcome from the Unleash board, notes on creative networking and stakeholders

12:30 - All-genre workshop breakouts 

2:00 - Editor talk/networking

3:00 - All-genre workshops (revision, write for social good)

4:00 - Open mic

4:30 - Closing/homework 

Unleash Lit  champions authentic storytellers across diverse communities.

GIVE YOUR WORK A SECOND LIFE: ACTIVELY SEEKING REPRINTS

NOTE: We are now accepting submissions on a rolling basis from Jan 1 - June 30 and August 1 - November 30

Please submit only one piece of prose or up to five (5) poems or photographs at a time. All poems may be submitted in a single document. Fiction and creative nonfiction may be up to 2,000 words. Multiple prose submissions will be accepted but must be submitted separately. 

Photos and art are accepted as jpeg and png., and up to five (5) images are allowed in a single submission.

Note: We recently moved to Substack, where we can better connect with readers. As such, we are also actively looking for personal essays about creative living: its power and perils.
​Include a third-person bio of up to 200 words.

Please no AI-generated work for Unleash Lit. In the meantime, if you'd like to submit AI-generated writing and feel strongly about it, please consider writing an essay about why and submitting that. If you'd like to submit AI-assisted art, consider our art contest, but mention the digital partnership (as specified in the guidelines).

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere. Reprints are accepted if the author maintains rights to the work. 

Unleash Lit acquires the non-exclusive right to include your work online and in our archives. Upon publication, rights revert to the author. We are unable to pay for submissions, but we will actively support our writers and nominate select manuscripts for awards.

Please share your work widely and support other authors at www.unleashlit.com by reading and sharing their words.