Deadline Approaching for the Wyoming Arts Council 2023 Blanchan and Doubleday Memorial Writing Awards

The March 15, 2023 deadline is approaching for The Wyoming Arts Council’s 2023 Blanchan and Doubleday Memorial Writing Awards. The Frank Nelson Doubleday Award of $1,000 is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman writer. The Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award, also $1,000, is given annually for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script informed by a relationship with the natural world.

Both awards are designed to bring attention to writers in Wyoming who have not yet received wide recognition for their work, and to support emerging writers at crucial times in their careers. Poets, fiction writers, essayists, and script writers who have published no more than one book in each genre and who are not full-time students or faculty members are invited to apply by submitting manuscripts and an entry form by the deadline.

Applications are accepted online via Submittable. 

The juror for this year is Laura Pritchett. Pritchett is the author of five novels and has two forthcoming from Penguin/Random House and Torrey House Press. She’s also the author of two nonfiction books, and editor of three environmental anthologies, and her work has been the recipient of the PEN USA Award, the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the WILLA, the High Plains Book Award, several Colorado Book Awards, and others. Her best-known novel, “Stars Go Blue,” has been optioned for TV rights. She’s published over 300 essays and short stories in national venues, most recently in “The Sun,” “Terrain,” “Camas,” “Orion,” “Creative Nonfiction,” and others.

She directs the MFA in Nature Writing at Western Colorado University and holds a PhD from Purdue University. When not writing or teaching, she can be found sauntering around the West, especially her home state of Colorado; she particularly likes looking at clouds.

The Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award and the Frank Nelson Doubleday Award are made possible through the generosity of a private donor.

A complete list of eligibility requirements and additional information can be found at the application link above. For more information, contact Kimberly Mittelstadt at 307-274-6673 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..