Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award 2025 (up to $12,500)

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About Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award

Offered for the first time in 2015, the Award has been endowed by individuals and organizations touched by the life and work of Matthew Power, a wide-roving and award-winning journalist who sought to live and share the experience of the individuals and places on which he was reporting. Power, a longtime friend of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, died in March 2014, while on assignment in Uganda.

The award proceeds from the recognition that many important stories need to be reported from afar, and that publications do not always have the resources to send a writer where the story is. The money need not be used exclusively for travel, but we expect that most successful applications will include such expenses.

• School: New York University Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

Benefits of Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award

The monetary award will be distributed in the following way:

• $6,000 upon announcement of the winning proposal; $3,000 upon evidence of substantial progress (usually a first draft); and $3,500 upon completion and acceptance by the Award committee.

Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award Requirements

The Institute expects the Winner’s Work to meet a high degree of excellence. While the Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award competition is open to all, with the exceptions noted below, the Institute especially encourages applications from early-career, creative nonfiction writers working on projects that meet the competition’s guidelines.

The following people are not eligible to compete for this Award:

• Employees, volunteers, interns and agents of NYU, and each of their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries (“NYU Affiliates”)
• NYU graduates with degrees dated within two years of the application deadline
• Journalists holding staff positions at established media outlets that are in a position to fund such projects on their own.

Application Date and Process

• Click on the link to the application website to apply.

Before creating your application, please read the FAQ and the Competition Terms of Agreement and Eligibility Requirements carefully. You may only apply to one of the Institute’s awards per year. If you have a question about applying which is not answered in either place, you may inquire at [email protected]. 

Application Deadline

19 January, 2025

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