James Baldwin Award for Fiction

The James Baldwin Award for Fiction, a creative writing award for fiction for public high school students, in honor of the 100th birthday of the literary legend and civil rights champion. The award will recognize a student for an original literary composition in English for fiction with a first-place prize of $10,000. This award is one of six creative writing awards given by Penguin Random House. Other categories include the Freedom of Expression Award, Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry, and the Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word.

Applicants must:
-Be current high school seniors at a public high school in the United States graduating Spring of 2025
-Be 21 years of age and under
-Plan to enroll in an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, or approved vocational-technical school Fall 2025

To apply, applicants must submit one original literary composition in English in one of the following genres of poetry, spoken word, fiction, personal essay/memoir, or book bans prompt.