The 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize Starts Now!
Submit your personal essay for a chance to win $3,000, publication on Narratively—plus in print!—and have your story read by our #1 New York Times bestselling guest judge.
The 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize is now closed, and the winner has been announced here. We plan to publish Andrew’s essay on our site soon. Thank you again so much to all those who submitted to this year’s prize!
One of our absolute favorite things to do these past few years has been reading all of the diverse and exciting submissions that come in via our annual Narratively Memoir Prize, now in its fourth year.
Laura Green-Russell’s grand prize winner in 2022, “Murder to Middle School,” was an absolute banger of a story. In 2023, Christopher Blackwell’s harrowing memoir from behind bars, “Chaos and Noise,” stood out from the crowd. Since then you may have spotted Christopher’s byline in The New York Times, and he also just published his first book, in which a version of his Narratively essay appears! One thing we love about last year’s winning story, “Black Girl, Blue Leotard” by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg, is that it’s about a much smaller and more intimate memory than those first two, but it’s just as memorable and impactful. In fact, it was included in The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2025 edited by Hanif Abdurraqib, which came out earlier this month.
All that is to say, everyone has a story to tell and we want to read yours!
Starting today, Friday, October 24, through Sunday, December 7, 2025, we are accepting submissions for the 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize.
As always, we’re on the hunt for revealing and emotional first-person nonfiction narratives from unique and overlooked points of view. The winning submission will receive a $3,000 prize, publication on Narratively.com, a virtual awards ceremony to celebrate — and for the first time, we’ll be publishing the winning story in a special limited print edition!
We’re also overjoyed to announce that this year’s prize will be judged by #1 New York Times bestselling memoirist Susannah Cahalan. Susannah’s memoir, Brain on Fire, has sold over one million copies, been translated into more than 20 languages and was adapted into the Netflix movie of the same name.
Who is Narratively?
We’re a storytelling platform, production company and writing academy that supports indie journalists and storytellers and celebrates humanity through true, authentic and diverse character-driven content. We publish our original stories on Narratively.com and often with top publishing partners across the globe, and we adapt our favorites into TV, film and podcasts with leading partners from Amazon Studios to Warner Bros. Television. We’re immensely proud and excited to do the same with our 2024 Memoir Prize winners! (You can learn more about Narratively’s mission and business model here.)
Who’s judging my story?
Entries will be judged on a rolling basis in four rounds: the first three by experienced Narratively readers and staff, and the final by our incredible and generous guest judge. Susannah Cahalan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire, which has been translated into more than 20 languages. Her second book, The Great Pretender, was shortlisted for the Royal Society’s 2020 Science Book Prize. Her third book, The Acid Queen was published by Viking in April 2025.
So, what do I win?! In addition to publishing your work on Narratively.com and in a special limited print edition, we’ll award a $3,000 cash prize.
What are we looking for, exactly?
Narratively’s first-person stories offer intimate takes on unusual personal experiences, pursuits and passions. Across everything we do, our absolute focus is on supporting fresh and underrepresented voices. We want an honest, in-depth glimpse into your life and, through that, a world we and our readers might not have access to otherwise.
So, how does this work?
Our competition period opens at 9 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on October 24, 2025, and closes at 11:59 p.m. EDT on December 7, 2025. Enter your eligible story via our dedicated form on Submittable by uploading your submission and paying a US$20 entry fee within the prize submission period. Or, become a Narratively Academy paid member or Narratively.com paid member and get free entry to this and all Narratively prizes.
Are Narratively.com and Narratively Academy different?
Yes. Narratively.com is our award-winning publication where we share true, untold human stories. Narratively Academy is a creative community for writers to hone their craft through classes, live videos, how-to guides, community chats, and much more.
Why do we charge a fee?
Your entry fee will allow us to compensate the people who are enabling us to effectively and fairly evaluate every single prize submission — from our freelance readers to our prize editors, copy editors, fact-checkers, visual editors and producers.
How do I enter for free?
If you’re already a paid member of Narratively Academy, first of all, thank you for supporting our community! Second of all, just scroll down to the very bottom of this page to find the subscriber-only free submission link. If you’re not a paid member yet, scroll down to sign up.
(Or, if you’re a paid member of Narratively.com, click here to find the subscriber-only free submission link.)
What should my entry look like?
As with all Narratively stories, submissions should be composed of vivid, active scenes, unique characters and an engaging narrative arc. We have a few rules to follow, but encourage maximum creativity within these guidelines. The best way to get a sense of what we’re looking for is to read the stories on the list of examples we love below. (Full formatting info is available on our Submittable form.)
Here are a few examples of first-person Narratively pieces we love:
My Bizarre Reign as New York’s King of “Virgin Russian Hair”
I Was Taught to Hate My Lesbian Neighbors. They Took Me In Anyway.
Diary of a Bachelor Who Suddenly Became a Solo Dad to a Teenage Girl
How I Wrote Myself into a Real-life Romantic Comedy — That Turned into a Survivalist Thriller
My Coming Out Story, Starring a Priest, an Animal Sacrifice and Ricky Martin
Your piece should be:
Ready to publish — no pitches accepted
In the 2,000 to 5,000-word range
Nonfiction
Written in the first person
Original and previously unpublished as a written work in a major publication
Written in English, although translations are acceptable
You should be:
Eighteen years of age or older on or before 9 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 24, 2025
Not employed by, related to or sharing living quarters with Narratively staff or our guest judges
To answer your questions:
We will accept simultaneous submissions (meaning you also can submit your entry to other outlets during our open prize window), but writers must notify us if their piece is accepted elsewhere.
We will accept multiple submissions from a single author, but each story must be submitted and paid for individually.
We will accept stories that have been previously published on personal blogs and websites.
We will permit adaptations from other media (podcasts, scripts, etc.) with disclosure.
This competition is open to anyone, including past and current Narratively contributors. (Current and former Narratively editors, however, are ineligible.)
The grand prize winner and finalists will be required to sign our standard contributor agreement.
These are a few of the key points in our agreement:
You retain print publication rights, should you pursue a book version of your story now or in the future.
Narratively has the right to pursue TV and film projects based on the work. These projects could be either unscripted/documentary or fictional (inspired by your story).
Revenue from any TV or film projects is shared with contributors.
We publish Narratively Out Loud, which features read-aloud audio versions of all Narratively stories, so the contract also gives us the rights to produce those.
Questions? Also please take a look at our FAQ page here.
For full prize eligibility and rules, click here.
We can’t wait to be invited into your world. Best of luck!
Thanks for being a paid member of Narratively Academy!
To enter the 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize for free, click here.
I have been unable to access the Paid link for submission (I am a paid subscriber). Can anyone help??