FICTION / NONFICTION — JANUARY 2025

ANN FRIEDMAN WEEKLY FELLOWSHIP

Ann Friedman

DEADLINE: January 3, 2025 by 11:59pm PST

INFO: The Ann Friedman Weekly Fellowship is an annual program for nonfiction writers who are not yet established in their careers. It includes mentorship and editing; a $5,000 stipend; regular check-ins to provide structure and accountability; and space in my newsletter where fellows can publish and promote their work. This program is funded by paying members of the Ann Friedman Weekly.

For the 2025 fellowship, I will provide support and accountability to two writers, who will each write and publish a newsletter of their own. Each fellow will come up with an editorial focus (or hone an existing one), create a workflow, and integrate feedback as they build a body of self-published work. I will, of course, welcome conversation about other writing projects and offer broader advice throughout the year. But the newsletter will be their main fellowship focus.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

  • Who I’m looking for: Nonfiction writers who don’t have (m)any published clips, who aren’t well-connected to editors, who don’t have a substantial social media following. I’m looking for people who are already writing and developing their skills. I invite people from populations that are underrepresented in media to apply. (I know most job listings have a line like this, but I really and truly mean it. Please apply!) For reasons related to scheduling calls and time zones, I am limiting this to writers who live in the United States.

  • Compensation: A stipend of $5,000. This fellowship is not a full-time job and will not provide any health insurance benefits. Think of it more like a year-long, highly personalized workshop with steady mentorship.

  • Commitment: We’ll do a monthly Zoom check-in, and you will have space in my newsletter at least once a month, too. Your time commitment will be variable, but I think it’s safe to say a few hours per week. I expect you to engage with your fellow fellow (lol) and with me, and to meet the deadlines we set together.

  • Why I’m doing this: I’m eager to share what I know about the craft and profession of writing, and I love having colleagues. For more context, read this.

  • How to apply: Write me a letter, no longer than one page. In it,

  • Tell me a little bit about who you are and the writing you’re currently doing.

  • Then tell me about the newsletter you’d like to publish in 2025. It could be a limited series, or an ongoing project you hope to keep up after the fellowship ends. It could be just the germ of an idea, or something you’ve been working on for awhile that needs a refresh. Be as specific as you can.

  • Tell me about the nonfiction writing skills you’re most eager to develop in the coming year. (Examples: Conducting great interviews, writing compelling titles/headlines, making the personal resonate more universally.) Put another way: How do you hope to improve over the course of the fellowship year?

  • If you have a little space left, briefly tell me about the last thing you read and loved. What was so good about it?

  • Title the document “[Your Name] AF WKLY 2025”

  • Fill out this form and upload the letter. I will only consider applications submitted through the form.

  • TIMELINE: Applications are due by 11:59pm PST on January 3, 2025. This deadline is strict. I will be in touch with all applicants by February 15. Fellowships begin March 3, 2025 and run through the end of the calendar year.

annfriedman.com/fellowship

_____

SHORT-TERM FELLOWSHIPS FOR WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND OTHER HUMANISTS

Newberry Library

DEADLINE: January 3, 2025

INFO: Newberry fellowships give researchers the time, space, and community required to pursue innovative and ground-breaking projects. Fellows advance scholarship in various fields, develop new interpretations, and expand our understanding of the past.

The Jan and Frank Cicero Fellowship - Offering one month of support for a person working in the visual and performing arts who wishes to advance their artistic practice through the use of the Newberry collection.

  • Stipend: $3,000/month

  • Length: 1 month

  • Who can apply: Artists and performers including (but not limited to) painters, sculptors, choreographers, dramaturgs, creative writers, composers, and others in artistic fields.

The Arthur and Lila Weinberg Fellowship for Independent Researchers - This fellowship is for writers, journalists, filmmakers, visual and performing artists, and other humanists who wish to use the Newberry’s collection to further their creative work. Preference is given to individuals working on projects that focus on social justice or reform.

  • Stipend: $3,000/month

  • Length: 1 month

  • Who can apply: Applicants must be individuals working outside of traditional academic settings.

The Historical Fiction Writing Fellowship - Offering one month of support for a person working in the area of historical fiction. We encourage applications relating to a wide range of historical fiction including novels, short stories, plays and theatrical works, or poetry.

  • Stipend: $3,000/month

  • Length: 1 month

  • Who can apply: Writers of historical fiction.

newberry.org/research/fellowships/short-term-fellowships

_____

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: UNTHEMED SUMMER ISSUE

Mizna

DEADLINE: January 6, 2025

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

INFO: We write this call as the ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza has passed its one year mark. In the midst of catastrophe and on the brink of new waves of fascism, we look towards cultural work— art, writing, music, film, and criticism— as the generative space in which our communities can come together in grief, rage, and solidarity as we redefine and upend our current world order. For this unthemed issue, we continue to encourage work that affirms the necessity of resistance and steadfastness against imposed structures of catastrophe; work that imagines new collectivities, new forms of struggle, new worlds.

We welcome writing which centers Palestine, Armenia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Morocco, Libya, and beyond, places directly affected by the worst of recent imperial devastations. As solidarity with Palestine continues to be met with harsher forms of censorship, doxxing, cancellation of awards and events, expulsion from universities, and firing from professional positions, we also encourage writing from our anti-Zionist comrades as well as those who have been subjected to the aforementioned silencing. While we welcome submissions from former contributors seeking a space for their work in this urgent moment, we also especially encourage submissions from writers who have never been published by us before

Mizna has long been a home for literature with innovative, experimental forms, as well as visual art that is published with high quality print production practices. As such, we especially encourage ongoing submissions of visual poetry work, or hybrid works that cross the arbitrary boundaries of genre. In general, literary works of poetry, visual poetry, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, comics, collage, invented forms, and any forms of mixed print or hybrid work will all be considered. 

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Submitters do not need to be SWANA or Arab identified, but work submitted should be considerate of Mizna’s ethos and the social realities of our audiences, as well as aim to contribute to ongoing conversations in and beyond our communities. Submitters may also decide to expand these social realities altogether. We encourage submitters to read back issues of Mizna before submitting work for consideration.

Mizna focuses on debut writing; please submit previously unpublished work. We do not accept visual art submissions. Simultaneous submissions are permissible, though we ask to be notified as soon as possible if the submission is accepted elsewhere. There are no submission fees. Selected contributors receive a $200 honorarium, a one-year subscription to Mizna, and five copies of the issue.

Please include a short cover letter (200 words or less), with a brief overview of the work you are submitting and why you are submitting to Mizna. Include a note disclosing any simultaneously submitted works.

  1. Poets should list the poems they are submitting. 

  2. Prose submissions should include a brief, 1–2 sentence overview of the submission (e.g., a synopsis if it is a story or narrative essay, or an overview of the argument for more expository essays). Keep in mind that we are a literary magazine.

  3. Include a brief (50 words or less) author bio. 

  4. Add a maximum of one sentence for any additional information you would like the editorial team to know about the work. 

  5. Include contact information: email, phone number, and mailing address.

Please submit as .doc or .docx files. Submitting pdfs is allowable only for pieces with complex layouts. We do not accept other file formats (e.g., .pages). Prose submissions should be double spaced and limited to 5000 words. Please do not send us your term papers or thesis manuscripts for consideration. Poetry submissions should be limited to four poems of any length. Verses exceeding our page width will be treated with a run-over indent.

Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will NOT be considered. Unsolicited submissions sent to our email will be discarded.

COMPENSATION: Selected contributors receive a $200 honorarium, a 1-year subscription to Mizna, and 5 copies of the issue.

mizna.org/journal/submissions/

_____

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Asian American Arts Alliance (A4)

DEADLINE: January 7, 2024

INFO: What Can We Do? (WCWD?), presented by the Asian American Arts Alliance (A4), is a grant opportunity for artists looking to support the Asian and AAPI communities in NYC with engaging, creative projects rooted in care.

The lingering effects of the pandemics of COVID and anti-Asian and anti-Arab hate – including Islamophobia – continue to be felt today. In response, many mutual aid groups, direct service organizations, and community and business leaders have stepped in to take care of elders and other vulnerable Asian and AAPI community members across the city.

In addition, the ongoing genocide in Gaza has left Palestinian communities feeling unsafe and unsupported. AAPI artists, organizers, and care workers have come together to demand a ceasefire, raise awareness around the conflict in Gaza, and organize campaigns in support of Palestinian American artists and cultural workers who have been censored and banned from opportunities.

WCWD? gives artists a chance to find their place in the care ecosystem either by complementing existing services and offerings, or creating their own.

PROGRAM GOALS: For this program, a minimum of 15 NYC-based artists will be selected as project awardees by A4. Each artist will receive $1,500 to create and carry out ideas to engage, aid, and care for the Asian New Yorker community with a focus on Chinatown, Manhattan; Flushing, Queens; and/or social justice projects focused on the support of NYC-based Palestinian creators and their communities.

The project engagements must be completed within a four-month period (February 4–June 3, 2025).

Projects may take many forms such as performing music for seniors waiting in line at food pantries, leading workshops with youth to create ‘zines that reinforce positive aspects of AAPI culture, or organizing creative activities in support of the Palestinian community. While we prefer projects to be in-person activities, we understand that for safety reasons, projects might need to be virtual. You can review past projects here.

INFORMATION SESSION: An information session for those interested in applying will be held on Tuesday, November 19 from 12:00-1:00 pm ET via Zoom. You can RSVP for the information session here.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Are you a NYC-based artist, community leader, or social justice organizer interested in exploring and/or developing a creative project with the aim to offer care for the Asian community in New York? Do you feel you want to do something about anti-Asian and anti-Arab hate and violence and its effects on the community, but don’t know how to get started? Your skills and talents can make a difference, and we want to hear from you.

What Can We Do? is seeking 15 participants with a range of artistic expression, social justice/social impact expertise, organizing frameworks, and lived experiences.

REQUIREMENTS:

  • A resident of New York City & primarily based in New York City during the program period

  • Must be at least 21 years of age

  • The project must benefit communities in Chinatown, Manhattan (District 1); Flushing, Queens (District 20); and/or social justice projects focused on the support of Palestinian creators and their communities.

  • All disciplines and stages of artistic exploration/developments, activism, community organizing, educational practice, and thought leadership are welcome; No prior organizing experience required

  • Demonstrate a willingness or an interest in community work and care for vulnerable populations

  • Create or develop an existing or new project that centers community building, healing, reflection, and joy, and not limited to being solely reactionary to moments of crisis or protest

  • Preference will be given to projects that demonstrate an intention to build an ongoing relationship and engagement with the community

  • Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously received the award, but anyone can apply

  • The event(s) or project engagement(s) must take place within the four-month period between February 4–June 3, 2025

SELECTION CRITERIA:

After an eligibility screening, the A4 Team will be evaluating and selecting the awardees based on the following criteria:

  • Community Impact: Will your proposed project have an impact, and show support, and care to AAPI communities? If your project is focused on the support of Palestinian creators and their communities, how does it impact the groups most affected by the issue? Do you have existing relationships or a desire to build/deepen relationships with residents of the communities on a long-term basis? Do you have an understanding of issues facing AAPI communities?

  • Outreach Strategy: Do you have a clear plan to conduct outreach to community members? If you plan to work with a community organization, does your outreach strategy align with the scope and contents of your project? If your project is focused on the support of Palestinian creators and their communities, does your outreach strategy align with the goals and values of the movement and focus on local needs?

  • Project Development and Creativity: Does your project contain a clear display of innovation, imagination, and/or creativity? Will participation in the WCWD program help you realize or shape your project?

  • Ability to Commit and Viability: Is your project achievable given the proposed engagement dates and four-month timeline?

We strive for a balance of geography, populations served, and disciplines. These factors will also be taken into account when the applications are evaluated.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE + TIMELINE:

As part of the program, participants will:

  • Carry out their event(s) or project engagement(s) anytime between February 4–June 3, 2025, providing periodical progress updates to A4

  • Write and submit a simple, one-page report of their work including 2 photographs, the community they served, its impact, and any next steps

  • Present their final project in-person or virtually at the end of the program in a public share out

  • Receive an honorarium of $1,500 per awardee; please note that awardees will receive the first half of the honorarium ($750) upon signing the agreement and the second half of the honorarium ($750) upon completion of the final report

The program schedule is as follows:

  • November 12, 2024 – Application opens

  • November 19, 2024 – Pre-submission Information Session via Zoom (12-1pm ET)

  • January 7, 2025 – Deadline for all submissions (by 11:59 pm ET)

  • January 21, 2025 – Awardees selected and notified

  • February 4–June 3, 2025 – Awardees carry out their projects

  • June 5, 2025 – Final reports due

  • June 12, 2025 (Tentative) – Public Share Out

This program is presented by the Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Special thanks to Council Members Christopher Marte and Sandra Ung. Projects focused on the support of Palestinian creators and their communities are supported by the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice.

aaartsalliance.org/opportunities/what-can-we-do

_____

Emerging Boston Art Writing Fellowship

Boston Art Review / Praise Shadows Art Gallery

DEADLINE: January 9, 2025 by 11:59pm ET

INFO: Now accepting applications for the 2025 art writing fellowship!

Presented in partnership with Praise Shadows Art Gallery, the program supports three individuals based in Boston ages eighteen through twenty-one who are interested in expanding their knowledge of the city’s contemporary art community through hands-on experience writing reviews, artist interviews, and exhibition texts while deepening their understanding of the operations behind a commercial gallery. This fellowship is not a traditional internship, but rather a curriculum-based program with learning at the center.

The program is a five-month commitment that begins with a crash course in art writing led by the team at Boston Art Review. In this part of the program (February–March), individuals participate in weekly workshops and field trips to cultivate their writing practices and relationships within Boston’s art community. Fellows will pitch, develop, and complete a project that is published with Boston Art Review in summer 2025.

For the second half of the program (April–May), fellows participate in paid, part-time internships at Praise Shadows Art Gallery in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner. Here, they learn the inner workings of a contemporary art gallery, including marketing and press release writing and engaging with the general public about the work on view.

In addition to workshops with local writers and arts leaders, past fellows have participated in sessions with editors from Triple Canopy and Book Art Review (part of Center for Book Arts) and met with an executive at Higher Ground (the Obamas’ media company). They also heard from Dr. Jovonna Jones, Nakia Hill, Jackie Houton, Jessica Shearer, and visited exhibitions at ICA / Boston, Boston Center for the Arts, and Northeastern’s Gallery 360.

Selected applicants must be available for virtual interviews January 21–23, 2025. The program will begin on February 4, 2025.

If you have questions about the fellowship program please contact Camila Bohan Insaurralde, programs and partnerships manager at camila@bostonartreview.com.

bostonartreview.com/writing-fellowship

_____

2025 BECHTEL PRIZE 

Teachers & Writers Magazine

DEADLINE: January 10, 2025

INFO: Each year Teachers & Writers Magazine awards the Bechtel Prize and a $1,000 honorarium for an essay describing a creative writing teaching experience, project, or activity that demonstrates innovation in creative writing instruction. 

The Bechtel Prize is named for Louise Seaman Bechtel, who was an editor, author, collector of children’s books, and teacher. In 1919, Bechtel became the first person to lead a juvenile book department at an American publishing house. Bechtel helped establish the field of children’s literature and was a tireless advocate for the importance of literature in children’s lives. This award honors her legacy.

We are looking for essays that describe a project or activity that got students excited about writing and fostered a vibrant and dynamic culture of creative writing in the classroom. We welcome essays about projects that carved a space for students to reflect on current events and social justice. The experience/project/activity should be one that:

  • Helped students identify as writers.

  • Opened new pathways to creative writing.

  • Engaged students in all parts of the writing process.

  • Promoted connections between reading and writing.

  • Supported the publication of student writing.

The essay itself should:

  • Share actual classroom experience, including how students engaged with the project (in other words, this should not be a planned project but one that has already taken place).

  • Focus on the classroom experience and what makes it innovative.

  • Focus on teaching creative writing (eg. poetry, fiction, memoir, playwriting).

  • Please do not send essays that have to do with teaching academic writing or teaching literature in general.


PRIZE: The essay selected to receive the Bechtel Prize will be published in Teachers & Writers Magazine, and the author will receive a $1,000 award.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • Essays must be previously unpublished and under 2,500 words. They should include a cover page with the essay title, author’s name, e-mail address, phone number, and a brief bio (no more than 150 words).

  • Send submissions in Word or PDF format via Submittable.

  • Submissions will be judged anonymously. The author’s name and address must not appear anywhere on the essay.

  • Authors of the Bechtel Prize-winning essay and finalists must permit T&W to publish their essays in Teachers & Writers Magazine. T&W reserves the right to edit essays for publication.

  • Submissions are only accepted through Submittable.com. Please do not email submissions.

  • All submissions that conform to the above guidelines will be considered for general publication. Submissions that do not conform to the above guidelines will not be reviewed for the Bechtel Prize.

Selection criteria for the Bechtel Prize include the submission’s relevance and appropriateness for readers of Teachers & Writers Magazine, most of whom teach writing at the elementary, secondary, or postsecondary level. Teachers & Writers Magazine publishes work that is concise, lively, and geared toward a general audience. Prospective entrants for the Bechtel Prize are encouraged to visit the magazine to become familiar with the work of Teachers & Writers and to read past winners of the award. 

Questions regarding these guidelines may be sent to editors@twc.org. Please do not send submissions by email. 

teachersandwritersmagazine.org/bechtel-prize/

_____

Investigative Reporting Summer Internship

Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting

DEADLINE: January 10, 2025 at 11:59pm ET

INFO: The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting is proud to announce that it will partner with news organizations across the country to offer 17 investigative reporting internships to collegiate journalists and recent college graduates during the summer of 2025.

This reflects an increase of six internships from 2024, and that number could grow before the selection process concludes. Two of the internships will be exclusively remote.

The internship places students in paid 10-12 week assignments working alongside investigative reporters and editors at some of the nation’s top news organizations. Students from traditionally underrepresented groups and those attending HBCUs and MSIs are especially encouraged to apply.

The Society will enjoy partnerships with eight returning news organizations and nine new ones.

The 2025 internship sites include renewed partnerships with:

New partnerships include:

  • The New York Amsterdam News, the first Black Press partner in the internship program’s history.

  • Bloomberg News, one of the largest business news organizations on earth with more than 2,700 journalists in more than 100 global bureaus and headquartered in New York, NY.

  • The Current, a nonprofit accountability news organization serving the coastal region of Georgia, including Savannah, Brunswick and other communities. It is a part of the Scripps Howard Fund nonprofit newsroom internship program in partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit News.

  • Dallas Morning News, one of the nation’s top paid-circulation and award-winning newspapers.

  • The Kansas City Star, an award-winning daily that is part of the McClatchy news group. 

  • Louisville Courier-Journal, a celebrated award-winning newspaper in Kentucky, which is part of the Gannett/USA TODAY Network.

  • The Maine Monitor, an independent digital publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which focuses on investigative and explanatory journalism that impacts residents of that state. It is a part of the Scripps Howard Fund nonprofit newsroom internship program in partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Two internships will be remote:

  • The Examination, a globally based independent nonprofit news organization that investigates preventable health threats and seeks to empower communities adversely impacted by harmful industrial products and practices. Its team of journalists is dispersed in such locations as Houston, New York City, Chicago, Mexico City, London, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and parts of California and the Midwest. 

  • Snopes, a fact-checking digital site and internet reference source that researches urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Applicants must be members of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. Join for free at this link.

Rising college juniors, seniors and graduate students, as well as individuals who graduated from college within the past three years with multimedia journalism skills, including print and broadcasting are welcome to apply.

Candidates should be actively involved in campus media or have other news reporting experience and a demonstrated desire to incorporate investigative reporting techniques into their work as they aspire to advance their careers.

The application requires a cover letter, a resume, five work samples and two letters of recommendation from individuals who can speak about your journalistic abilities and would be willing to answer any follow-up questions from the selection committee.

idabwellssociety.org/news/2025-internship-applications-are-now-open/

_____

Wild Seeds Retreat for Writers of Color

Center for Black Literature

DEADLINE: January 10, 2025

INFO: The Wild Seeds Retreat provides writers of color with an opportunity to meet other writers; to workshop their writing among peers; and to engage with published writers about concerns and issues related to writing and publishing. Through its writing workshops leaders, the Retreat provides the public with an opportunity to become knowledgeable about the range and diversity of the work produced by writers of color.

Fellows will engage in daily writing, reading and sharing sessions with workshop leaders and cohort leaders. Fellows will also have an opportunity for one on one sessions with their workshop leader. A detailed itinerary will be provided to accepted fellows.

COST: Tuition is $400 for this VIRTUAL retreat. A limited number of scholarships are available, with a written rationale required upon applying.

DATES: The Online Retreat will take place February 20 – 23, 2025, from 10am-3pm each day.

FACILITATORS:

  • Ladee Hubbard (Fiction)

  • Phill Branch (Creative/Non-Fiction Memoir)

APPLICATION INFORMATION AND REQUIREMENTS:

The applicant’s submission packet must include a cover letter of introduction that includes:

  1. The reason you want to participate in the Wild Seeds Retreat for Writers ofColor.

  2. A statement about how you would benefit from this experience.

  3. Background information about you as a writer.

  4. Brief description of the project you are presently working on (if applicable).

  5. A writing sample (up to five pages).

  6. Two letters of recommendation from individuals who are familiar with your writing. This will also be a separate upload in the application below.

  7. A rationale for a scholarship if you are requesting one. Scholarships are very limited.

OUR BACKGROUND: The Wild Seeds Retreat for Writers of Color (formerly the North Country Institute & Retreat for Writers of Color), began in 2004 as a collaboration with the Center for Black Literature, the English Department at SUNY, Plattsburgh, and the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers. Today it continues to provide a writing community where established and emerging writers can focus on the craft of writing and create cross-cultural conversations around the literature created by writers of the African diaspora.

Writing fellows have an opportunity to draw upon their experiences as writers in a racialized society; to become knowledgeable about the issues facing other writers of color; and to study with a professional in the genres of fiction, memoir, and poetry.

Recognizing that the Writers Retreat should not be limited to a specific geographical region, the Center renamed the Retreat in honor of Octavia E. Butler, a speculative fiction writer known globally for blending science fiction with African American spiritualism. Butler's writing crossed many boundaries and represented varying diverse voices.

centerforblackliterature.org/wild-seeds-retreat/

_____

Call for debut novels

Tin House

SUBMISSION PERIOD: January 11 - 12, 2025

INFO: Tin House offers a two-day submission period for writers to submit their work. Eligible writers must not currently have an agent, and must not have previously published a book (chapbooks are okay). Per our schedule below, we accept works of fiction and poetry, both originally in English and in translation (please only submit translation projects which the translator has already been granted formal permission to translate), and ask that you do not send us a project unless you have a completed draft.

In particular, we are looking to engage with work by writers from historically underrepresented communities, including—but not limited to—those who are Black, Indigenous, POC, disabled, neurodivergent, trans and LGBTQIA+, debuting after 40, and without an MFA.

tinhouse.com/book-submissions

_____

2025 Memoir and Autobiographical Writing Workshop

Lewis Latimer House Museum

APPLICATIONS DUE: January 13, 2025 (Participants will be notified by January 27, 2025)

INFO: Queens, New York is known as the most diverse county in the United States. As our country grapples with issues of race and immigration in real time, the stories from our borough have an important role to play. The Lewis Latimer House Museum is pleased to present this fully funded opportunity to the writers of Queens!

Join our six-session writing workshop on memoir and autobiographical writing focusing on themes of race and immigration. We will dive into student work from day one, finding our voices, developing characters, creating context and backdrop, and honing our narratives. Everyone will have the opportunity to have their pieces reviewed in workshop three times, and will leave the course with a refined, voice-driven piece of personal writing.

Open to writers of all levels of experience.

INSTRUCTOR: Abeer Hoque

CLASS SIZE: 8 writers

COST: Free--All participants in the workshop will receive a scholarship from Lewis Latimer House Museum

WHEN:

*Participants must commit to all dates listed below.

  • Pre-workshop meet-up (in-person): Saturday, February 8, 12:00 p.m. -- 1:00 p.m.

  • Six Saturdays (virtual): March 8, March 22, April 5, April 19, May 3, May 17, 2:00 p.m. -- 4:30 p.m.

  • Public reading (in-person): Saturday, May 31, 2:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m.

WHERE:

  • Six workshop sessions via Zoom. Links will be shared with participants.

  • In-person meet-up and public reading at Lewis Latimer House Museum.

lewislatimerhouse.org/events/2025memoirwritingapplication

_____

2025 EARLY CAREER ARTIST RESIDENCY - FOR MN + NY ARTISTS

Anderson Center at Tower View

DEADLINE: January 14, 2025

APPLICATION FEE: $0

INFO: Anderson Center’s Early Career Artist Residency Program offers month-long residency-fellowships at Tower View to a cohort of emerging artists from Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City for concentrated, uninterrupted creative time to advance their personal artistic goals and projects.

Anderson Center’s Early Career Artist Residency is an ideal fit for early-career artists in need of focused time and dedicated space in an inspiring residency work environment that empowers them take risks, embrace challenges, and utilize unconventional approaches to problem-solving.

Thanks to generous support from the Jerome Foundation, selected emerging artists receive a $625/week artist stipend, documentation support, art-making resources, lodging & studio space, a travel honorarium, groceries, and chef-prepared communal dinners.

Anderson Center is an artist community founded in 1995 on the Tower View estate, a venerable research-and-development lab for the arts rooted in an expansive natural setting in rural Red Wing, MN (approximately 1-hour outside the Twin Cities metro).

The Anderson Center’s Early Career Artist Residency is geared toward generative art making, as well as exchange across an interdisciplinary cohort. The program is well suited for vocational early-career artists in pursuit of time, space, and resources to truly commit to a project and explore new creative territories. Critiques, studio visits, and formal professional development are not offered.

The Anderson Center seeks to support emerging writers and artists with an uncompromising drive to create new work at Tower View in September 2025 that demonstrates significant potential for cultural and community impact, is technically accomplished, and engages diverse communities. The organization also believes that the environment and resources of Tower View, along with an exchange of ideas between artists working across disciplines, can serve as a catalyst for new inspiration and innovative directions for the work emerging artists create while in residence.

TO APPLY:

The application deadline for the Anderson Center's 2024 Early Career Artist Residency Program is Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 12 p.m. Noon, Central Standard Time. Applications must be submitted on or before the deadline in order to be considered in the jury review period. There is no fee for applying to this residency program.

Jury review will take place in late January and early February. Applicants will be notified by Feb. 7 as to the status of their application. A phone interview process with finalists will take place in late February following a second round of jury review. Selected artist residents, wait-list and runners-up will be notified by March 4, 2024.

ABOUT ANDERSON CENTER: Anderson Center nurtures a vibrant artist community based at Tower View, an expansive Historic Site and natural area in Red Wing, Minnesota. Founded in 1995, the Anderson Center has renovated and restored Tower View's historic buildings to support working artists and the creative process, including developing twenty-two active studio spaces and three galleries. A renovated barn serves as a performance and event venue, the historic main residence houses artists-in-residence, and fifteen acres support a sculpture garden. 

Anderson's signature Artist Residency Program, together with the Studio Artist Program, forms the core of the organization's artistic community. The Residency Program provides artists, writers, musicians, and performers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment with dedicated time and space to create, advance, or complete new work. In addition to community engagement activities through the artist residency program, the organization's additional outreach programs create connections and integrate the arts into community life through local partnerships, hosting annual arts events, and participating in other community-based initiatives.

ABOUT JEROME FOUNDATION: The Jerome Foundation, founded in 1964 by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill (1905-1972), honors his legacy through multi-year grants to support the creation, development, and presentation of new works by early career artists. The Foundation makes grants to vocational early career artists, and those nonprofit arts organizations that serve them, in all disciplines in the state of Minnesota and the five boroughs of New York City. The Jerome Foundation is generously providing support for the Anderson Center’s Emerging Artist Residency Program.

LOCATION: Anderson Center is located on the 350-acre historic Tower View campus, built by scientist & farmer Dr. Alexander Pierce Anderson between 1915 and 1921, on the western edge of Red Wing, Minnesota, and its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center features a large sculpture garden, and is adjacent to the Cannon Valley Trail, a 20-mile biking and walking trail that runs from Cannon Falls to Red Wing. The Center is 45-60 minutes southeast of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Transportation is provided between the Center and the Twin Cities airport on the first and last day of residencies only. Artist Residents that choose to drive will have access to private parking on the property.

The community of Red Wing, Minn., (pop. 16,000) is nestled amidst the scenic bluffs of the upper Mississippi River.

DEFINITION OF “EARLY CAREER”: While Anderson Center’s general Artist Residency Program hosts artists with a wide range of talent and experience, its Early Career Artist Residency Program exclusively focuses on meeting the specific needs of artists who are in the early stages of their artistic development and career.

Anderson Center’s goal is to support artists early in their careers who create work that is and/or has the potential to be:

  • Compelling—offering distinctive vision and authentic voice;

  • Deeply considered, imaginative, and executed with attention to craft and with technical proficiency, providing artistic experiences that communicate unique perspective/s, and invite viewers to question, discover, explore new ideas in new ways;

  • Innovative and risk-taking—engaging, questioning, challenging or re-imagining conventional artistic forms.

Anderson Center defines an early career artist as someone in the early stages of their creative development with 2-10 years of generative experience, and:

  • have a focused direction and goals, even while still developing their artistic “voice”

  • have yet to be substantially celebrated within their field, the media, funding circles or the public at large

  • are vocational (as opposed to avocational, academic, amateur or educational) artists

Artists who have been in the field for longer than 10 years (excluding any time in a degree-granting program; as a dancer in work created by others; remounting the work of other choreographers; or time away from working as an artist due to circumstances–e.g., having children, caring for family members, long-term illness, etc.) are generally not eligible, even if they feel under-recognized. Age is not a factor in determining emerging artist status.

ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES:

The four primary eligibility guidelines for Anderson Center’s Early Career Artist Residency are:

  1. Legal residency in the State of Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City.

  2. Not enrolled in any degree-granting program from time of application through residency period.

  3. Self-identification as an “early career artist” with 2-10 years of generative experience in the field

  4. An artistic practice centered in generating and creating entirely new work.

Minnesota or New York City artists - Artists must currently be legal residents of Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City and have been residents for at least one year prior to the submission of an application. Artist did (or will) file US federal taxes as a resident of Minnesota or New York City. Account address in Submittable must be within MN or NYC. Selected artists will be required to provide proof of Minnesota or New York City residency before a residency is formally offered. Artists must have a US Social Security Number or US Tax ID.

No students - Students enrolled in any degree-granting program from the time of application through the residency period are not eligible to apply for an Early Career Artist Residency at the Anderson Center (this includes any and all K-12, technical school, college, graduate, postgraduate, ABD studies). There are no exceptions to this eligibility criterion. If an artist is pursuing a degree-granting program in some form, they are not eligible. Please do not contact Anderson Center staff regarding technical situations or special edge cases around student status. This program supports vocational artists, not students. No matter the specifics or details, if an artist can be considered a student of a degree-granting program in any way, they are simply not eligible.

“Early Career Artist” Status – Eligible artists self-identify as an “early career artist” and are in the early stages of their creative development with 2-10 years of generative experience. The Anderson Center’s goal is to serve a spectrum of artists typically in their 2nd to 10th year of creative practice, post-student status (if applicable). This spectrum is framed by artists with some track record of creating and presenting full work (not beginning artists), and artists who are NOT at a point in their careers where they receive consistent development and production opportunities and significant recognition, awards, and acclaim (not mid-career or established artists).

Artists who have been in the field for longer than 10 years (excluding any time in a degree-granting program; as a dancer in work created by others; remounting the work of other choreographers; or time away from working as an artist due to circumstances–e.g., having children, caring for family members, long-term illness, etc.) are generally not eligible, even if they feel under-recognized.

Age is not a determining factor. Career stage is assessed by the cumulative number of years an artist has been generating their own work. Mid-career or established artists shifting from one artistic discipline to another will not be considered early career. For example, a composer with a substantial career in music who is now moving into film will not be considered early career.

Anderson Center has defined the 2–10 year span recognizing that some artists may experience enormous success and move past early career status well before their 5th year or 10th year. The organization recognizes that the number of opportunities afforded to artists may differ significantly based on discipline, race/ethnicity, class, gender, physical ability, and geography among other factors. Consequently, some artists may be past their 10th year and still be on the spectrum of early career status due to taking time out of active artistic practice for school or other circumstances. The Anderson Center understands that the lack of an absolute or rigid definition leaves room for interpretation but embraces this flexibility out of our value around diversity and in recognition of the many variables that impact artists’ careers.

New Work – Eligible artists are generating and creating entirely new work (rather than interpreting, translating, arranging, copying, remounting pre-existing work or the work of others). Generative artists are those who conceive and create new original work (e.g., choreographers, composers, playwrights and devisers, filmmakers, writers, visual artists, etc.). This program does not support artists who solely perform or develop/produce the work of others (e.g., dancers, musicians, actors, editors, journalists, etc.).

Collaboratives - Artists that are part of an artistic collective, partnership, or collaborative are welcome to apply, but collaborative residencies are also rare. The program is extremely competitive, and space is simply limited. Each artist must also complete their own application form. Obviously, each application will repeat things and have much overlap. That is OK. In the work plan for in each application, highlight that artist's contribution / skills, while making clear the collaborative nature of the project.

Notes - Artists of all disciplines are eligible and are encouraged to apply. Applications must be submitted through the Anderson Center’s online webform via Submittable.

Please direct any questions regarding early career artist status and eligibility requirements directly to Anderson Center at Tower View staff at 651-388-2009 or info@andersoncenter.org.

APPLICATION: A completed application form includes a brief artist statement, a work plan, an early career statement, work samples, and a resume or CV. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed by the panel. You may begin your application, leave and return as many times as necessary to complete the form PRIOR to clicking the submit button at the bottom of the completed form. Important: do not submit your application form until you are completely finished editing as your application will be finalized at that time.

If you are a prior resident of the Anderson Center, you must wait one year from the time of your residency to apply again.

The Artist Statement, provides an opportunity for you to share, in 100 words or less, a brief statement or summary about your past and current work.

The Resume, CV, or Biographical Statement is a Word or PDF document that shows education, work experience, publications, awards, and previous residency experience. 3 pages maximum.

The Work Plan is a one page Word or PDF document that clearly and concisely describes what you are working on and what you’d like to accomplish at the Anderson Center. Successful applicants address how the timing, location, and cohort-based model of the residency would benefit their practice. Artists may also mention how specific amenities or resources at the Anderson Center (such as the surrounding natural environment, specific studio spaces or equipment) would advance their work. The statement can be single-spaced.

An Early Career Statement addresses, in 250 words or less, your status as an emerging artist or early-career artist. How would participating in this program impact or advance your practice as an early career artist? In what ways would this program meet your needs as an early career artist? Why is this residency important to this stage of your career path? How do you identify as an early career artist? 

Work Samples should be of recent work and should include:
     · For composers and musicians: 3 recordings
     · For visual artists: At least 5 images of work (300 dpi or larger)
     · For nonfiction and fiction writers: 10 pages of double-spaced prose
     · For playwrights & screenwriters: 10-page excerpt (does not need to be from the beginning)
     · For poets: 10 pages of poetry
     · For translators: 10 pages of translation and original text
     · For performance artists: 3 short video excerpts of performances (no videos longer than 5 minutes)
     · For filmmakers: at least 3 short film clips (no videos longer than 5 minutes)
     · For Scholars: 10 pages of work, including research abstracts and relevant diagrams

If you are an interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary artist, you may "split the difference" on the work sample guidelines above at your own discretion. For example, including 5 pages of writing and 3 images, etc. 

Likewise you may also choose to simply submit a PDF or Word Doc with hyperlinks to work samples that meet the guidelines outlined above.

Regarding work samples, please put yourself in the shoes of a jury panel member. Make it easy for them to review your best work first. Yes, give the jury various ways to go deeper or experience more if they are motivated but focus first on presenting only your strongest work samples in the most compelling way possible. Please contact staff if you have questions about work samples, but reflecting on the jury and the many applications they have to review & score can serve as a helpful guide in deciding what to include, how much to share, how long it can be, and how to present it.

DURATION OF RESIDENCY: The Anderson Center’s Early Career Artist Residency Program is a 4-week residency-fellowship the month of September 2025. Selected artists must commit to arriving on September 2 and departing on September 29. September is the only month the program takes place.

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Each artist-in-residence receives:

  • $625/week artist stipend

  • Travel honorarium ($550 for New Yorkers and $150 for Minnesotans)

  • $450 documentation budget (services for photography, video, audio, etc.)

Evening dinners are prepared and presented by the Anderson Center chef Monday through Friday. The chef also shops for meal items for artist residents, and residents are responsible for preparing their own breakfasts and lunches, and meals over the weekends. There are also housekeepers who clean and maintain the historic facilities.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Each resident is provided room, board, and workspace for the length of the residency period in the historic Tower View residence. Visual artists are provided a 15' x 26' studio and are responsible for supplying their own materials.  Other workspaces on site include a dark room, and a print studio (with a Vandercook 219 letterpress and a Charles Brand-like etching press) for printmakers with demonstrated experience. Practice space is also available for dancers, choreographers, and musicians. Composers are provided with access to a 1904 Steinway piano and a Royale grand piano.

Residents have access to the many walking trails on campus and to the Cannon Valley Trail, which goes through the Anderson Center’s property. Bicycles are also provided. Residents have responded to many different aspects of the gorgeous Tower View campus through their work, including composers sampling natural sounds and visual artists harvesting plant materials to create site-specific natural inks.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The program is set-up to minimize distractions and other obligations so that artists have every opportunity to fully focus on their work. However, the Anderson Center was one of the first artist residency programs in the country to require that residents give back to the local community and connect with area residents & organizations through community engagement activities.

Staff work with artists to facilitate and customize at least one hour of mutually beneficial exchange with the Red Wing community that helps foster connection and greater a sense of place.

Within the last few years, Anderson Center residents have connected with schools in five area communities (ranging from elementary through college), senior centers, correctional or detention facilities, community organizations serving children and families, and community organizations serving adults. Residents have also engaged individuals from all walks of life through public workshops, events, discussions, and artful interventions -- both at the Anderson Center or in the community of Red Wing.

PROGRAM MISSION & VALUES: As an interdisciplinary arts organization, the Anderson Center embraces artists who are diverse in every way. Since its inception, the organization has intentionally worked with artists representing a wide range of disciplines, with the belief that the exchange of ideas is generative. The residency program supports artists from around the world, representing a wide range of cultures, races, sexual identities and genders. The Center strives to bring people and ideas together and operates with a spirit of welcome for all.

SELECTION TIMELINE:

  • January 14, 2025 (12:00 p.m. Noon CST) – application deadline

  • February 7, 2025 – Jury has selected Round 2 applications. All artists are notified of the status of their application.

  • February 25, 2025 – Jury has determined finalists. Phone interviews with finalists begin.  

  • March 4, 2025 – Final notification to selected artists, wait-list and runners-up

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Selection criteria include (in order of importance):

  1. Artistic excellence as demonstrated by work samples, resume and artist statement

  2. Potential benefit and impact on career as demonstrated by work plan

  3. Balance of artistic disciplines, identity, geography, etc within selected cohort

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: The Anderson Center provides equal opportunity for all people to participate in and benefit from the activities of the Center, regardless of race, national origin, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, in admission, access, or employment. The Anderson Center staff is willing to do what they can to accommodate residents with disabilities. Please call before applying to discuss special needs.

theandersoncenter.submittable.com/submit

_____

2025 ANDERSON CENTER RESIDENCY

Anderson Center at Tower View

DEADLINE: January 14, 2025

APPLICATION FEE: $30

INFO: Anderson Center nurtures a vibrant artist community based at Tower View, an expansive Historic Site and natural area in Red Wing, Minnesota. Founded in 1995, the Anderson Center has renovated and restored Tower View's historic buildings to support working artists and the creative process, including developing twenty-two active studio spaces and three galleries. A renovated barn serves as a performance and event venue, the historic main residence houses artists-in-residence, and fifteen acres support a sculpture garden.

Anderson's signature Artist Residency Program, together with the Studio Artist Program, forms the core of the organization's artistic community. The Residency Program provides artists, writers, musicians, and performers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment with dedicated time and space to create, advance, or complete new work. In addition to community engagement activities through the artist residency program, the organization's additional outreach programs create connections and integrate the arts into community life through local partnerships, hosting annual arts events, and participating in other community-based initiatives.

ELIGIBILITY: The Anderson Residency Program is open to early career, mid-career, and established visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, multidisciplinary artists, musicians, performance artists, scholars, and translators from across the globe. The program is interdisciplinary and the organization welcomes applications from a wide range of creative and intellectual genres, including those that don't fit neatly into the above list.

To be considered, artists must submit an application through the Anderson Center’s online form via Submittable. Complete program details are below. Please contact the organization at 651-388-2009 or info@andersoncenter.org for any questions.

DURATION OF RESIDENCY: For the 2025 season, the Anderson Center is offering 2- or 4-week residency sessions during the months of August and October. Preference is generally given to 4-week residencies. That said, 2-weeks sessions are possible. There is a 48-hour turnover between residency sessions, no matter their duration, to allow time for housekeeping. Specific start and end dates are listed in the application form. Please plan your requested residency dates carefully. Provide as much detail as possible regarding your availability, as that information is incredibly helpful in assembling cohorts and organizing the waitlist.

September 2024 residencies are reserved for the organization’s Early Career Artist Residency.

2025 SCHEDULING & AVAILABILITY:

Each season the Anderson Center hosts a limited number of artists through its various exchanges, fellowships, and dedicated programs that reduce the number of spots available for artists submitting materials for this General Residency program opportunity. In 2025 exterior renovations to the residence limit the residency options to the months of August and October.

Availability as of September 2024:

  • August 2025 - Four 4-week spots (or eight 2-week spots); space for 4-6 artists depending on duration. 

  • October 2025 - Three 4-week spots (or 6 2-week spots); space for 3 – 5 artists depending on duration.

In general, for months that incorporate 2-week sessions, no fewer than four artists–and no more than six artists would be scheduled for 2-week residencies within that month.

Due to the competitiveness of the program, the organization's goal is to be upfront and transparent about the availability for the General Residency program in 2025 in an effort to help you make a decision about whether this year is the best time to submit an application. Again, please contact us if you have any questions or need further clarification here.

LOCATIONThe Anderson Center is located on the 350-acre historic Tower View campus, built by scientist & farmer Dr. Alexander Pierce Anderson between 1915 and 1921, on the western edge of Red Wing, Minnesota, and its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center features a large sculpture garden, and is adjacent to the Cannon Valley Trail, a 20-mile biking and walking trail that runs from Cannon Falls to Red Wing.

The Center is 45- 60 minutes southeast of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Transportation is provided between the Center and the Twin Cities airport on the first and last day of residencies only. Artist Residents that choose to drive will have access to private parking on the property. The community of Red Wing, Minn., (pop. 16,000) is nestled amidst the scenic bluffs of the upper Mississippi River.

APPLICATION: A completed application form includes a brief artist statement, a work plan, work samples, and a resume or CV. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed by the panel. You may begin your application, leave and return as many times as necessary to complete the form PRIOR to clicking the submit button at the bottom of the completed form. Important: do not submit your application form until you are completely finished editing as your application will be finalized at that time. If you are a prior resident of the Anderson Center, you must wait one year from the time of your residency to apply again.

The Artist Statement, provides an opportunity for you to share, in 100 words or less, a brief statement or summary about your past and current work.

The Resume, CV, or Biographical Statement is a Word or PDF document that shows education, work experience, publications, awards, and previous residency experience. 3 pages maximum.

The Work Plan is a one-page Word or PDF document that clearly and concisely describes what you are working on and what you’d like to accomplish at the Anderson Center. Successful applicants address how the timing, location, and cohort-based model of the residency would benefit their practice. Artists may also mention how specific amenities or resources at the Anderson Center (such as the surrounding natural environment, specific studio spaces or equipment) would advance their work. The statement can be single-spaced.

Work Samples should be of recent work and should include:

  • For composers and musicians: 3 to 5 recordings

  • For visual artists: At least 5 images of work (300 dpi or larger)

  • For nonfiction and fiction writers: 10 pages of double-spaced prose

  • For playwrights & screenwriters: 10-page excerpt (does not need to be from the beginning)

  • For poets: 10 pages of poetry

  • For translators: 10 pages of translation and original text

  • For performance artists: 3 short video excerpts of performances (no videos longer than 5 minutes)

  • For filmmakers: at least 3 short film clips (no videos longer than 5 minutes)

  • For Scholars: 10 pages of work, including research abstracts and relevant diagrams

If you are an interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary artist, you may "split the difference" on the work sample guidelines above at your own discretion. For example, including 5 pages of writing and 3 images, etc. 

Likewise you may also choose to simply submit a PDF or Word Doc with hyperlinks to work samples that meet the guidelines outlined above.

Regarding work samples, please put yourself in the shoes of a jury panel member. Make it easy for them to review your best work first. Yes, give the jury various ways to go deeper or experience more if they are motivated but focus first on presenting only your strongest work samples in the most compelling way possible. Please contact staff if you have questions about work samples, but reflecting on the jury and the many applications they have to review & score can serve as a helpful guide in deciding what to include, how much to share, how long it can be, and how to present it.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Each resident is provided room, board, and workspace for the length of the residency period in the historic Tower View residence. Visual artists will be provided a 15' x 26' studio and are responsible for supplying their own materials. Other workspaces on-site include a dark room and a print studio for professional printmakers (with a Vandercook 219 letterpress and a Charles Brand-like etching press). Practice space is also available for dancers, choreographers, and musicians. Composers are provided with access to a 1906 Steinway piano and a Royale grand piano.

Dinners are prepared and presented by the Anderson Center chef Monday through Friday. This chef also shops for groceries for artists-in-residence. Residents are responsible for preparing their own breakfasts and lunches, and meals over the weekends. There are also housekeepers who clean and maintain the historic facilities.

Residents have access to the many walking trails on campus and to the Cannon Valley Trail, which goes through the Anderson Center’s property. Bicycles are also provided. There is a very basic home gym in the residence. Residents have responded to many different aspects of the gorgeous Tower View campus through their work, including composers sampling natural sounds and visual artists harvesting plant materials to create site-specific natural inks.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The program is set-up to minimize distractions and other obligations so that artists have every opportunity to fully focus on their work. However, the Anderson Center was one of the first artist residency programs in the country to require that residents give back to the local community and connect with area residents & organizations through community engagement activities.

Staff work with artists to facilitate and customize at least one hour of mutually beneficial exchange with the Red Wing community that helps foster connection and greater a sense of place.

Within the last few years, Anderson Center residents have connected with schools in five area communities (ranging from elementary through college), senior centers, correctional or detention facilities, community organizations serving children and families, and community organizations serving adults. Residents have also engaged individuals from all walks of life through public workshops, events, discussions, and artful interventions -- both at the Anderson Center or in the community of Red Wing.

PROGRAM MISSION & VALUES:

"This stay is particularly suitable for artists who want to devote themselves intensively to the realization of a concept. Here you can devote yourself to artistic work undisturbed and far away from everyday worries." - Eva Möseneder, 2012 resident

Anderson Center’s goal is for connections participating artists make with one another, as well as connections made with other creatives and community members, to outlast the duration of their residency visit. The organization believes that the environment and resources of Tower View, along with an exchange of ideas across disciplines, can serve as a catalyst for new inspiration and innovative directions for the work artists create while in residence.

As an interdisciplinary arts organization, the Anderson Center embraces artists who are diverse in every way. Since its inception, the organization has intentionally worked with artists representing a wide range of disciplines, with the belief that the exchange of ideas is generative. The residency program supports artists from around the world, representing a wide range of cultures, races, sexual identities and genders. The Center strives to bring people and ideas together and operates with a spirit of welcome for all.

SELECTION TIMELINE:

  • January 14, 2025 (12:00 p.m. Noon CST) – application deadline

  • February 7, 2025 – Jury has selected Round 2 applications. All artists are notified of the status of their status.

  • March 5, 2025 – Final notification to selected artists, wait-list and runners-up

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Selection criteria include (in order of importance):

  1. Artistic excellence as demonstrated by work samples, resume and artist statement

  2. Potential benefit and impact on career as demonstrated by work plan

  3. Balance of artistic disciplines, identity, geography, etc within selected cohort

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: The Anderson Center provides equal opportunity for all people to participate in and benefit from the activities of the Center, regardless of race, national origin, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, in admission, access, or employment. The Anderson Center staff is willing to do what they can to accommodate residents with disabilities. Please call before applying to discuss special needs.

theandersoncenter.submittable.com/submit

_____

CALL FOR FICTION SUBMISSIONS

Shenandoah

SUBMISSIONS OPEN: January 15, 2024

INFO: Submissions will be considered by Editorial Fellow Anes Ahmed. Here’s what he’s looking for:

“For the curation of my issue, there will be no themed call, as I personally find themes somewhat restrictive. Rather I seek all types of fascinations, panoramas and menageries. But, if it is of any value, I find myself chronically obsessed and drawn towards subversion, lingual and historical experimentations, as well as certain archetypes within prose—the destructive despot, the vanishing artist, the beautiful revolutionary, the anti-flaneur employee, the lost citizen, the consequential progenitor, the animate insentience, & the brief lover. Additionally, stories whose settings, characters, and telling exists outside the mythological container that is America are particularly welcome. The ideal word count would be 3,000 to 4,000 words, but if you’re a rule breaker like me, you’ll break whatever rules necessary to tell the full truth of your story.”

www.instagram.com

_____

CAI EMMONS FICTION AWARD

Red Hen Press

DEADLINE: January 15, 2025

ENTRY FEE: $25

INFO: To honor the life and enduring legacy of beloved novelist Cai Emmons, who published three novels through Red Hen Press (Weather Woman, Sinking Islands, and Livid) and who passed away with dignity on January 2, 2023 after a hard-fought battle with ALS, Red Hen Press is proud to announce the Cai Emmons Fiction Award.

We are so grateful to Cai and her family for choosing to endow this award to keep Cai’s spirit and love of life-changing fiction alive.

We are looking for a fresh and original story of fiction with a minimum of 150 pages. The awarded fiction manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.

AWARD DETAILS:

  • $5000

  • Book publication by Red Hen Press

  • Judge: E.P. Tuazon

Notes: Name on cover sheet only, with a 25,000-word minimum (approximately 150 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font). Entries will be accepted via Submittable only.

GUIDELINES:

The award is open to all writers with the following exceptions:

  • Authors who have had a full-length work published by Red Hen Press, or a full-length work currently under consideration by Red Hen Press;

  • Employees, interns, or contractors of Red Hen Press;

  • Relatives of employees or members of the executive board of directors;

  • Relatives or individuals having a personal or professional relationship with any of the final judges where they have taken any part whatsoever in shaping the manuscript, or where, for whatever reason, selecting a particular manuscript might have the appearance of impropriety.

PROCEDURES + ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

To be certain that every manuscript finalist receives the fairest evaluation, all manuscripts shall be submitted to the judges without any identifying material.

Bios, acknowledgments, and other identifying material shall be removed from judged manuscripts until the conclusion of the competition.

Red Hen Press is committed to maintaining the utmost integrity of our awards. Judges shall recuse themselves from considering any manuscript where they recognize the work. In the event of recusal, a manuscript score previously assigned by the managing editor of the press will be substituted.

For questions or to withdraw a submitted entry, please contact editorial@redhen.org.

redhen.org/awards/cai-emmons-fiction-award/

_____

OPEN CALL: 2025 BIPOC ART RESIDENCY

Ma’s House

DEADLINE: January 15, 2025

APPLICATION FEE: $0

INFO: Ma’s House’s Artist-In-Residency program is open to US-based creatives of color working in any genre of visual art, creative writing, and performance arts.

We encourage resident artists to pursue work that relates to or is inspired by Shinnecock’s history, the local landscape, community based work, and critical engagement in issues of diversity, race, and identity.

E:IGIBILITY - The Ma’s House Artist Residency is open to national and international BIPOC artists 21+ years of age. A variety of disciplines are accepted including, but not limited to: visual arts, media/new genre, performance, architecture, film/video, literature, interdisciplinary arts, and music composition. Solo artists are a eligible to apply. 

Applicants will be chosen based on project proposals, artistic merit, feasibility/logistics of the residency, and how the artist will benefit from working at Ma’s House and Shinnecock.

RESIDENCY LENGTH - Residencies will be scheduled by mutual agreement between accepted resident artists and Ma’s House year-round.

Residencies can be a minimum of a weekend and a maximum of two weeks. Artists from federally recognized tribes may apply for up to six months.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS - Residents will be required to participate in a minimum of one public program during their stay (open rehearsals, workshops, studio visits, lectures, or artist talks).

Engaging with or researching Shinnecock artists, east-end artists, and local art institutions  is strongly recommended before arrival.

RESIDENCY COSTS - There is no fee to apply or fee to attend. Residents will be responsible for their own groceries and meals.

Thanks to the Creatives Rebuild New York grant, we are grateful to offer $250.00 per week honorariums for visiting artists. (Or about $35.70 per day if staying more or less than a week)

RESIDENCY EXPERIENCE - Ma’s House is located in a quiet and remote part of the Shinnecock Reservation. Applicant artists should expect a retreat-style residency.

The lead artist of Ma’s House (Jeremy Dennis) also lives at Ma’s House.

SHINNECOCK INDIAN NATION - Ma’s House & BIPOC Artist Residency is located on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, a sovereign self-governing nation in Southampton, NY.

The residency presents a privilege of being a guest of the nation. We ask that you be respectful to our community by respecting the privacy and space of others on the reservation and to not wander alone through the territory. 

TRANSPORTATION, RESIDENCY CAR, & LOCATION - Ma’s House is located on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, NY (about two hours from NYC).

Resident artists traveling from NYC have the option of using the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), Hampton Jitney, or drive with their own vehicle. We can arrange for pickup and drop off at the train station or bus stop in Southampton.

As of 2023, we now have a donated vehicle dedicated to resident artist use. Resident artists may use public transit or drive their own car to Ma’s House and decide to use our vehicle. Resident artist will be asked to fill out an additional car usage form and car use is restricted to a one hour radius drive around Ma’s House and no overnight trips with the vehicle.

Uber, Lyft, and car rentals are available nearby.

FACILITIES - Ma’s House has an assortment of woodworking tools, basic art materials including tempera paints, brushes, scissors, colored pencils, crayons, glue sticks, hot glue guns, exacto knives, assortment of beads, and more.

At the moment we do not have a ceramic kiln, metal working tools, 3d printing, or a formal dance platform, but hope to one day!

THE HOMEBODY FELLOWSHIP - Announcing an open call fellowship for QTBIPOC artists based in the San Francisco Bay Area for the Artist Residency Program at Ma’s House! Two chosen artists will be awarded an unrestricted $750 during the residency which spans 2-4 weeks at Ma’s House on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, NY.

This opportunity is made possible by the Homebody Fund, a small donor-advised fund at East Bay Community Foundation, resourcing POC—especially QTPOC—spiritual/healing spaces that support community leadership and cultural transformation in decolonial movements for liberation, especially in the East Bay Area.

.mashouse.studio/residency/

_____

REGULAR READING PERIOD

Ploughshares

DEADLINE: January 15, 2025 at noon EST

INFO: Ploughshares welcomes unsolicited submissions of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction during our regular reading period. The literary journal is published four times a year: blended poetry and prose issues in the Winter and Spring, a prose issue in the Summer, and a special longform prose issue in the Fall. Our Spring and Summer issues are guest-edited by different writers of prominence.

Guest editors are invited to solicit up to half of their issues, with the other half selected from manuscripts submitted to the journal and screened for them by staff editors. This guest-editor policy, which we have used since our founding in 1971, is designed to introduce readers to different literary circles and tastes, and to offer a fuller representation of the range and diversity of contemporary letters than would be possible with a single editorship.

MANUSCRIPT GUIDELINES:

We accept up to 6,500 words of prose, and 1-5 pages of poetry. 

If you are submitting to our Fall Longform issue, we accept up to 15,000 words. Please note that past Longform issue contributors may not be published again in a future Longform issue. Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained, and translations are welcome if permission has been granted by the original author. 

Queries to the Look2 Critical Essay series are welcome (see guidelines here).

It would be much appreciated if you kept the following in mind when submitting your work:

  • Typed, double-spaced pages. (Single-spacing is welcome for poetry).

  • Numbered pages.

  • If in hard copy, submit with text on one side of the page.

We do not consider:

  • Unsolicited book reviews and criticism.

  • Previously published work. If your submission is part of a forthcoming book, let us know in your cover letter and the expected publication date.

  • Work written by individuals currently affiliated with Ploughshares or Emerson College as a volunteer screener, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.

We cannot accommodate revisions, changes of return address, or forgotten SASEs. We cannot be responsible for delay, loss, or damage.

COVER LETTERS:

We encourage you to include a short cover letter with your submission. It should reference:

  • Major publications and awards.

  • Any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor.

  • Past publication in Ploughshares.

CONTRIBUTOR HONORARIUM:

Payment is upon publication:

  • $45/printed page, $90 minimum per title, $450 maximum per author.

  • Two contributor copies of the issue.

  • A discounted rate for additional contributor copies.

  • A one-year subscription.

SIMULTANEOUS VS. MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS:

We do not consider multiple submissions, so please send only one manuscript at a time, either by mail or online. Do not send a second submission until you have heard about the first. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are welcome as long as they are identified as such and we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. 

If you are working on submissions with an agent, or are an agent submitting work on behalf of an author, please read our note on simultaneous submissions with an agent.

SUBMIT ONLINE:

Submit via our online submission manager

If this is your first time submitting, please fill out the submission form first, then click “Add to Cart.” You will then be prompted to create an account on our website.

  • There is a $3.75 service fee for online submissions (current subscribers may submit online without charge). This is not a reading fee.

  • Upload your submission as a Word (.doc, .docx), rich-text format (.rtf) file, or PDF. No .Pages, .txt, or Open Office Documents.

  • Upload only one file containing one prose piece or one to five pages of poems.

  • Type or paste your cover letter into the provided “Cover Letter” field.

  • From the drop-down genre menu, be sure to select the appropriate genre of the work you are submitting. Please select “Longform” for longform submissions, regardless of genre.

FREE ONLINE SUBMISSIONS:

Subscribe to Ploughshares and submit online for free. You may subscribe here. If you are a current subscriber, you will still be prompted to checkout, but you will not be required to enter your credit card information and will not be charged.

SUBMIT BY MAIL;

We greatly prefer digital submissions, but you may mail submissions to:

Ploughshares
Emerson College
120 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02116-4624

  • Mail your manuscript in a page-size manila envelope with your full name and address written on the outside (at least an inch down from the top, to account for USPS barcodes).

  • Identify the genre of your manuscript on the outside of the envelope.

  • You must include your email address in your cover letter.  All manuscript replies will be sent via email, and we cannot process a mailed submission without a corresponding email address.

  • If you are an incarcerated writer and do not have access to an email address, please provide the email address of a trusted individual or indicate in your cover letter that you do not have access to email. 

  • If you would like your full manuscript to be returned, indicate this in your cover letter and ensure that you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with adequate postage.

  • We cannot return manuscripts to international addresses, even with IRCs.

  • There is no service charge for mail submissions.

Unsolicited work sent directly to a guest editor’s home or office will be ignored and discarded; guest editors are formally instructed not to read such work.

ACCESSING YOUR SUBMISSIONS:

You can view the status of your current submission as well as a list of your past submissions at any time by logging in to your account and clicking “My Submissions.”

NOTIFICATIONS + QUERIES:

Expect three to five months for a decision (our backlog is heaviest during the fall and spring). We receive well over a thousand manuscripts a month, so please be patient. We accept queries after five months have passed. Queries as well as withdrawal notifications should be sent via email or the mail. They should include:

  • Your name.

  • The date, genre, and title of the submission.

  • Whether the submission was sent by mail or online.

  • A SASE, if you send your query via mail.

pshares.org/submit/journal/

_____

Short Story Contest

Driftwood Press

DEADLINE: January 15, 2025

SUBMISSION FEE: $30

INFO: Driftwood Press is currently open for submissions to its Short Story Contest.

To alleviate wait times on your end, we will be declining and accepting submissions as we read them. All submissions accepted will initially be given runner-up status. In April or May, one of the runner-ups will be awarded the Grand Prize.

Winner and runner-ups will be published in our annual anthology.

​AWARDS: ​​

  • The Grand Prize winner will receive $400 USD and five copies of the issue in which the story appears. The winner will also have the opportunity to be interviewed about their work; the interview will be published alongside the story.

  • Runner-ups will be offered publication, an accompanying interview, $200 USD, and one copy of the issue in which their work appears.

GUIDELINES:

  • Fiction only.

  • 1,000-5,000 soft word limit.

  • A standard, 12-point font and single-spacing is preferred.

  • The work must not have been previously published.

  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw the work if the story has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Submit works written in English only, no translations.

  • Please submit your manuscript in a .doc, .docx, or PDF format.

  • We read submissions anonymously, so please do not include your name, email, or any identifying characteristics on the manuscript itself. All work is considered by two editors.

  • While AI may be useful as a researching tool, we do not accept AI generated submissions.

  • Each submitter will receive a free copy of a Driftwood Press fiction title of their choosing in the mail. 

driftwoodpress.com/storycontest

_____

MACDOWELL FELLOWSHIP: FALL/WINTER 2025-2026

MacDowell

APPLICATION PERIOD: January 15 - February 10, 2025

INFO: The Fellowship application period for Fall/Winter 2025-2026 residencies at MacDowell will open on January 15, 2025.

MacDowell encourages artists to apply in any stage of their career, and from all backgrounds and countries. We invite applications in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts. If your proposed project does not fall clearly within one of these artistic disciplines, contact the admissions department for guidance at admissions@macdowell.org.

MacDowell has no residency fees, and to defray expenses that accrue during an artist’s stay, we provide need-based stipends to cover rent, utilities, childcare, and lost income from taking time off from employment, as well as reimbursements for travel to and from the residency.

Fall/Winter residencies will take place between September 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026.

macdowell.org/apply/apply-for-fellowship

_____

VCCA RESIDENCIES

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

DEADLINE: January 15, 2024

INFO: Residencies can be transformative to an artist’s process and the effect on an artist’s career profound. A residency at VCCA gives artists the time and space to explore and go deeper into their work. Away from the constraints of “the real world” and in an accepting environment of talented peers, one can dream and create with the feeling that anything is possible.

VCCA’s Mt. San Angelo location in Amherst, Virginia, typically hosts 360 artists each year in residencies of varying lengths (no minimum; up to six weeks) with flexible scheduling. A residency at Mt. San Angelo includes a private bedroom with private en-suite bath, a private individual studio, three prepared meals a day, and access to a community of more than 20 other artists in residence.

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, VCCA is surrounded by natural wonders and hiking trails. Many local sites and additional inspiration can be found in short drives to Lynchburg (20 minutes), Charlottesville (1 hour), Roanoke (1.5 hours), or Richmond (2 hours).

FULLY FUNDED RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIPS:

The following fully-funded fellowships are available for the Fall 2025 residency period at Mt. San Angelo.

50TH ANNIVERSARY FELLOWSHIPS FOR ARTISTS OF COLOR

Eligibility: Artists of color who have not previously been in residence at VCCA
Opportunity:
Residency of up to two-week at Mt. San Angelo 
Residency available:
September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

ALONZO DAVIS FELLOWSHIP

Eligibility: American writers, visual artists, and composers of African or Latin American descent
Opportunity: Two-week residency at Mt. San Angelo; $500 honorarium
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

EDITH LEONIAN WORDS AND MUSIC COLLABORATIVE FELLOWSHIP

Eligibility: Two artists working together on an artistic project combining words and music
Opportunity: Two-week collaborative residency at Mt. San Angelo; $500 honoraria
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

ALISON LURIE MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP

Eligibility: Female-identifying fiction writers
Opportunity: Two-week residency at Mt. San Angelo
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

SARA PENNYPACKER FELLOWSHIP

Eligibility: Composers creating substantive work for children
Opportunity: Two-week residency at Mt. San Angelo; $500 stipend
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

STEVEN PETROW AND JULIE PETROW-COHEN LGBTQ+ FELLOWSHIP

Eligibility: Writers in any genre who self-identify as LGBTQ+
Opportunity: Two-week residency at Mt. San Angelo
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

RICHARD S. AND JULIA LOUISE REYNOLDS POETRY FELLOWSHIP

Eligibility: Poets
Opportunity: Three-week residency at Mt. San Angelo
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

MARIAN TREGER FELLOWSHIP FOR ENDURING CREATIVITY

Eligibility: Female-identifying fiction writers, screenwriters, or visual artists, emerging in mid-life and beyond, whose creative paths may have been detoured or hindered by chronic health conditions or disabilities
Opportunity: Two-week residency at Mt. San Angelo; $400 stipend
Residency available: September 1 – December 31, 2025

LEARN MORE

vcca.com/apply/fully-funded-fellowships/

_____

TRANSLATION PROJECT FELLOWSHIPS

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

DEADLINE: January 16, 2025

INFO: Through fellowships to published translators, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) supports projects for the translation of specific works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English. The work to be translated should be of interest for its literary excellence and merit. We encourage translation projects that feature languages, perspectives, and writers that are not well represented in English, as well as work that has not previously been translated into English. The NEA is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and fostering mutual support for the diverse beliefs and values of all individuals and groups.

Applying for a federal grant can be time consuming. We estimate that after registering, the process to draft and submit an application takes approximately 12 hours. Competition for fellowships is rigorous. Potential applicants should consider carefully whether their work will be competitive at the national level.

ELIGIBILITY: Individual U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. who meet specific publication requirements are eligible to apply. To determine eligibility, review the complete list of requirements in the Grant Program Details document linked below.

An individual may submit only one application for FY 2026 Literature Fellowships funding. You may not apply for both a Translation Project at this deadline (January 16, 2025) and a Creative Writing Fellowship in Prose at the March 2025 deadline. See more information about the Creative Writing Fellowships program to determine which opportunity is the right fit for your literary work.

Funding is not available in this category for organizations.

FUNDING LEVEL: Grant amounts range from $10,000 to $25,000. Award amounts are determined by the National Endowment for the Arts.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Applications for Translation Fellowships are accepted annually.

  • Panel Review - Spring/Summer 2025

  • National Council on the Arts Meeting - Late October 2025

  • Notifications - December 2025

  • Earliest Project Start Date - January 1, 2026

GRANT PROGRAM DETAILS + INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Grant Program Details: This document includes a detailed description of the grant program, eligibility information, award information, an application calendar, application review details, FAQs, and federal award administration information. Review this information before you decide to apply.

  • Application Instructions: This document contains step-by-step instructions for assembling and submitting a complete application, including filling out the required Application for Federal Domestic Assistance—Individual form (SF-424), and creating the additional required application materials. Review this information while preparing your application.

HOW TO APPLY:

Submitting an application is a multi-step process. Detailed instructions on how to complete and submit the required application materials can be found in the Application Instructions PDF above.

  1. REGISTER with Login.gov and Grants.gov, or renew/verify these registrations. See the Grant Program Details document linked above for more information about how to register.

  2. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

    Clicking the link below will take you directly to the pre-populated application package in Grants.gov. See the Application Instructions document linked above with detailed instructions for preparing and submitting your application materials.

arts.gov/grants/translation-project-fellowships

_____

Winter/Spring '25 Guest Residency

Woodward Residency

DEADLINE: January 10, 2025

INFO: Applications are now open for our Winter/Spring '25 Guest Residency in Ridgewood, Queens.

ELIGIBILITY: Established/emerging artists and creative professionals in the fields of literary arts, design, music, and multi-disciplinary arts are encouraged to apply.

Please note that art forms that generate fumes (such as oil painting) cannot be accommodated. Also, with the exception of our piano residents who can use headphones, our space is best suited to less cacophonous artistic pursuits.

AWARD BENEFITS:

  • Access to the building from 9AM-5 PM, Monday through Friday for the duration of your Guest Residency.

  • Guest Residents will work in the communal Great Room, with library etiquette.

  • Open invite to weekly tea and cake gatherings, and occasional work shares and evening parties.

  • A supportive and engaged community of working creatives.

WORK SAMPLES + PERSONAL STATEMENT: Recent work samples and your personal statement should reflect your commitment to your work and clarify how the residency would benefit your work at this time. Please see our application for specific guidelines.

REFERENCES: Please provide the contact info of at least one professional and one personal reference (excluding family members or significant others).

If you are new to your field of interest and don’t have a professional reference to speak to your current creative pursuits, you are welcome to provide a reference from someone in another field who has worked directly with you.

RESIDENCY SESSION: Feb 10— June 20, 2025

EVALUATION PROCESS: A rotating panel of arts professionals will review all applications with the intent of supporting both established and emerging artists. Panelists include novelists, filmmakers, performance artists, literary agents, film/theater producers.

Selection criteria includes originality, commitment to your proposed field of work, interest in community, and demonstrated need for a work space.

We have limited space for Guest Residents and encourage all applicants to reapply if they don’t get a spot in the upcoming session.

NOTIFICATION: All applicants will be notified at least two weeks in advance of the start of their requested residency session.

woodwardresidency.co/guestresidency

_____

MVICW Fellowships

Martha’s Vineyward Institute of Creative Writing

DEADLINE: January 19, 2025 at 11:59pm

SUBMISSION FEE: $20

INFO: MVICW is committed to providing financial support to writers through our fellowship program. Our fellowships offer parent-writers, writers of color, educators, queer-writers, vineyard writers, and authors/poets with financial needs the opportunity to attend our Summer Writers’ Conference every year. Through generous donations, we are able to offer a wide range of  full and partial registration fellowships!

VOICES OF COLOR FELLOWSHIPS:

We are proud to announce the Leonard A. Slade, Jr. Poetry Fellowships for Writers of Color (established 2018) to honor poets of color, and The Voices of Color Fellowships (established 2017) to honor prose writers of color. The fellowships assist MVICW with our commitment to expanding the American literary canon by promoting voices from a wide array of cultural backgrounds, and to increasing philanthropic support for writers of color in the arts. Application for these fellowships is open to all writers of color, ages 18 and older.

Two Full Fellowship Winners (one prose and one poetry) will receive the Full Attendance Package to the MVICW Summer Writers' Conference which includes registration, lodging, and a manuscript session.

Please note: We only announce the names of our first place winners on social media and in our public announcements. Finalists will not be announced.

PARENT-WRITER FELLOWSHIPS:

We are proud to announce the MVICW Parent-Writer Fellowships (est. in 2016 thanks to support from The Sustainable Arts Foundation). Writers who are also parents have increased difficulties in making time for their writing. Our Parent-Writer Fellowships are intended to give parents both the time and financial support to devote a week to themselves and their writing at MVICW. These fellowships offer funding to attend programs held by the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Application for these fellowships is open to anyone who has a child age 16 or younger living with them.

QUEER-WRITER FELLOWSHIPS:

Established in 2019, these fellowships assist with our commitment to increasing philanthropic support for LGBTQIA+ writers and expanding the American literary canon. Application for the fellowships is open to all queer-identified writers, ages 18 and older.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE TITLE, FILE NAME, SUBMISSION, OR LETTER OF INTEREST. Submissions will be judged anonymously.

  • For Poetry Submissions: Letter of Interest (approx. 750 words): Please tell us about who you are as a person and an artist. We'd like to hear about your life, your artistic career, and your creative work. If you have specific needs (financial or creative) which would be met by this award please outline them in your letter.

Submit your single best poem (1-3 pages max)

  • For Prose Submissions: Letter of Interest (approx. 750 words): Please tell us about who you are as a person and an artist. We'd like to hear about your life, your artistic career, and your creative work. If you have specific needs (financial or creative) which would be met by this award please outline them in your letter.

Submit one short story OR one flash fiction piece OR novel excerpt OR creative non-fiction entry. (The submission should not exceed 3,000 words)

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES:

  • You are welcome to submit more than one piece by submitting them separately and paying the submission fee for each entry.

  • The entry must be submitted in English and must be your own original work.

  • You may submit new or previously published material. As the manuscripts will not be published/reprinted, the author retains all rights to the work.

  • There is no restriction to style, content, or genre.

  • You must be a writer of color.

  • You must be 18 years old or older on the day the retreat begins to enter.

  • The submission must not include your real or pen name or any information that identifies you in any way.

  • You must submit before midnight on the deadline date.

  • Previous First Prize Fellowship & Contest Winners (who attended the in-person conference) are not eligible to apply. However, second-place winners and all virtual conference winners are eligible.

DETAILS ON AWARDS AND RULES:

Full fellowship recipients will receive registration, lodging, and a manuscript session for the MVICW Summer Writers’ Conference. The lodging for full fellowship recipients is a triple room with two other attendees at MVICW lodging. If a private room is preferred, the winning writer may choose to pay the difference. The prize does not include lodging outside of MVICW shared-lodging, but the winner may choose to forfeit the lodging stipend and arrange for their own accommodations on the island. The awards do not cover air/travel to the island or food/personal expenses.

You are not eligible to enter the competition if you are (a) our employee or independent contractor of MVICW; (b) a family member (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) of our employees; (c) a judge involved in the competition, including any reviewer who participates in selecting the nominees and finalists; (d) a close friend of the judge so that the judge can identify your work; (e) a previous MVICW full fellowship/first place contest winner. However, first place winners of our Virtual Conference Fellowships are eligible to apply in hopes of winning attendance to our in-person conference.

We will notify potential winners via telephone or email. If potential winners decline the prize or fail to respond within seven (7) days after the first contact, the winners will be deemed to forfeit the prize and MVICW has the right to select alternate potential winner(s) in their place.

mvicw.submittable.com/submit

_____

2025 Virtual Summer Retreat

Abode Press

DEADLINE: January 31, 2025

INFO: Starting June 8th, 2025, Abode Press is returning with our virtual retreat experience! With the success of our first retreat, we are coming back bigger and better than ever with more weekly offerings and two new cohorts: speculative fiction and one additional poetry cohort. We will also have workshops available in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and attendees will also be able to attend 2-3 craft talks and lectures throughout the week (x2 as much than our first retreat).

Most retreat experiences are costly, tending to be upwards to $2000. At Abode, we are working tirelessly to increase accessibility for writers to attend much needed spaces to work on their craft and build connections without compromising their livelihood. This is why the retreat will only cost $250-$400 (sliding scale), but because of this low price, applicants will be selected based off the strength of their application and alignment with our press.

Applications will open via Submittable from December 15th to January 30th. It is FREE to apply (though we do appreciate donations!) and applicants will be notified of acceptance in mid-March. All funds will go towards paying our presenters, press operations, and paying Retreat admins.

FACULTY:

  • Nonfiction Faculty Leader: KB Brookins is a Black queer and trans writer, cultural worker, and visual artist from Texas. KB’s chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut poetry collection Freedom House won the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Texas Institute of Letters Award for the Best First Book of Poetry. KB’s debut memoir Pretty released in May 2024 with Alfred A. Knopf. Follow them online at @earthtokb.

  • Speculative Fiction Faculty Leader: Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is a lesbian writer of essays, short stories, and pop culture criticism living in Orlando. Her queer horror novelette Helen House (Burrow Press) was named one of the Best LGBTQ Books of 2022 by NBC News. She is the managing editor of Autostraddle and the former managing editor of TriQuarterly. Her short stories appear in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Catapult, The Offing, Joyland, Foglifter, and others. Some of her culture writing can be found in The Cut, The A.V. Club, Vulture, Refinery29, and Vice, and she previously worked as a restaurant reporter for Eater NY. She was a 2023-2024 Tin House Reading Fellow and a 2023 Lambda writer in residence. Her fiction will be featured in the upcoming anthology Be Gay, Do Crimes, out from Dzanc Books in 2025.

  • Short Fiction Faculty Leader: Stephanie Macias is a musician, writer, and artist based in Austin, TX. She has been performing since 2000. From 2011 to 2018 she performed under the name Little Brave. She has an MFA from the New Writers Project at the University of Texas. Her stories have been a finalist for the Jesmyn Ward Prize in Fiction and longlisted for the DISQUIET Prize. Her work has appeared and is forthcoming in Brink, No Tokens, Southern Humanities Review, and more. Between the years of 2003 and 2016, she made her living as a touring singer-songwriter, an illustrator, a photographer, and a painter. She is the managing editor at American Short Fiction and is currently working on a novel and a collection of short stories.

  • Poetry Faculty Leader: mónica teresa ortiz is a poet, memory worker, and critic born, raised, and based in Texas. Their work has appeared in Scalawag Magazine, The Tiny, Mizna, and the Brooklyn Rail. Their poetry collection, Book of Provocations (Host Publications) was published in 2024. Find them on Instagram @ridingwiththepoet. They call for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea, and believe empire will fall in our lifetime.

  • Poetry Faculty Leader: Ariana Brown is a queer Black Mexican American writer and the author of We Are Owed. (Grieveland, 2021) and Sana Sana (Game Over Books, 2020). A national collegiate poetry slam champion, Ariana holds a B.A. in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies, an M.F.A. in Poetry, and M.S. in Library Science. She lives and works in Houston, TX, where she teaches creative writing to teens. She has been writing, performing, and teaching poetry for over a decade.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES:

  • Since it is free to apply, we ask that applicants only apply to one genre to help lessen the reading load.

  • ​For fiction/speculative fiction/nonfiction, only one story, 4,000 words max.

  • For poetry, three to five poems, no more than 10 pages.

  • ​Once admitted, you can workshop a manuscript different from the one you applied with.

  • ​In addition to the writing sample, the application asks for an author bio and artist statement.

  • ​Applicants must be 21 years of age by March 1st, 2025 to apply.

  • International writers are welcome to apply as long as the dates/times for the workshops work for your schedule.

SCHOLARSHIPS:

One person from each cohort will be granted a partial scholarship. In order to apply for this, all you must do is click "Yes" to the scholarship question on the Submittable application.

COST + DATES:

At Abode Press, we work tirelessly to provide accessible and affordable opportunities to writers at all stages. This is why we are pricing our virtual retreat at a reasonable cost. Please note that this means that all applicants who apply should be able to pay the Retreat cost. One partial scholarship will be granted to one person from each cohort, but all applicants should only apply if they can attend the Retreat.

Application Fee: Free! (Though donations are appreciated.)

Cost: $250 - $400, sliding scale. $250 is recommended for writers in need, and if writers are able, they are encouraged to pay more on the scale as this allows for fair pay towards presenters, admins, increasing Retreat offerings, and so much more.

Dates:

Mandatory Workshop Dates from 11am-2pm CST

  • Sunday, June 8th

  • Sunday, June 15th

  • Sunday, June 22nd

  • Sunday, June 29th

Please note, throughout the week attendees will have access to 2-3 weekly lectures, craft talks, and more from workshop leaders and renowned writers. There will also be multiple open mic opportunities for attendees to read their works, and friends and family are encouraged to attend! A comprehensive guide of Retreat Programming will be provided to accepted attendees.

If you have additional questions, please email us at info@abodepress.com

abodepress.submittable.com/submit

_____

Money for Women: Nonfiction + Poetry

Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc.

DEADLINE: January 31, 2025

APPLICATION FEE: $25

INFO: In 2025, Money for Women will award grants in the categories of Poetry and Nonfiction. We are delighted again to offer individual grants up to $2000 to individual feminist women in the arts with primary residence in the US and Canada.

WE WELCOME:

  • Applications from feminist writers and visual artists who are women (cis, transgender, or nonbinary) and:

  • Exhibit high quality and originality in their work.

  • Use feminism as their central interpretive lens.

  • Value both personal and political changes that promote freedom and agency for women.

  • Validate differences that intersect with gender such as race, ethnicity, and class.

  • Express an inclusive vision of social justice while focusing on justice for women.

WE ARE INTERESTED IN:

Projects that are well underway and for which you have substantial work to show. Translation projects are eligible. Please take time to carefully read the guidelines and application form on Submittable.

WE DO NOT AWARD:

Film, video, theatre, dance, music, or performance projects. Scripts and musical compositions are also not eligible. We do not award work which is or will be self-published, or work that is generated by AI without acknowledgment or artistic rationale. We do not give loans or provide money for educational assistance, work on dissertations, or research (except research to be used in writing a book). We do not provide funds for the cost of editing services, business projects, or emergency money for people in need. We rarely give money to groups.

Former grantees must wait three years before reapplying.

MATERIALS FOR YOUR APPLICATION:

Below are the materials you will need to submit:

  • Project description (max. 400 words)

  • Budget (Click here for sample budgets)

  • Description explaining why you are applying to a feminist fund (max. 100 words)

  • Resume (max. 2 pages)

PROJECT SAMPLES: Poetry and Nonfiction - Submit 10-15 pages, using 12-point type. Please paginate and include your name and project title in the top right corner of each page. Double-space for fiction and nonfiction submissions.

demingfund.org/apply-pd-11.php


_____

The Avery Review Essay Prize 2025

The Avery Review

DEADLINE: January 31, 2025

INFO: The Avery Review, a journal of critical essays on architecture published by the Office of Publications at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, invites submissions for its eighth annual Essay Prize. The call is open to current students (undergraduate and masters) and recent graduates, whether in schools of architecture or elsewhere (eligibility details below). In keeping with the mission of the journal, we hope to receive submissions that use the genres of the review and the critical essay to explore the urgent questions animating the field of architecture. We’re looking for essays that test and expand the author’s own intellectual commitments—theoretical, architectural, and political—through the work of others.

We plan to award one first-place prize ($4,000) and three second-place prizes ($2,000) across the various categories of eligible participants. The winning essays will be published in our June 2025 issue.

Submissions should use the Chicago Manual of Style’s note and shortened notefootnote formatting, with complete citation information. Images should be submitted separately from your Word file as jpegs. Whether a pitch for a review or a long-form think piece, we welcome your thoughts—with the simple request that they critically engage the work of someone else. Please send all submissions, queries, and comments to editors@averyreview.com.

averyreview.com/submissions

_____

VERMONT WEEK

Vermont Studio Center

DEADLINE: January 31, 2024

INFO: For one week in May, 30 talented, Vermont-based, artists and writers are the recipients of a week-long, fully funded fellowship to be in residence at Vermont Studio Center. In addition to a studio, private lodging, and wonderful, locally sourced meals, residents have access to Vermont Studio Center’s renowned Visiting Artist and Writer program which provides residents with studio visits, consultations, and manuscript reviews.

Vermont Week is for artists and writers who have been a resident of Vermont for a minimum of one year. For additional information visit VTWK FAQ.

Vermont Week 2025 - May 5 to May 12

  • Monday, May 5 - Arrival Day

  • Wednesday, May 7 - Visiting Writer Reading with Carolyn Kuebler

  • Thursday, May 8 - Visiting Artist Talk with Misoo Bang

  • Sunday, May 11 - Vermont Week Open Studios, 2 to 4pm

  • Monday, May 12 - Departure Day

vermontstudiocenter.org/vermontweek2025

_____

Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing 2025–26

Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts at Bucknell University

DEADLINE: February 1, 2025

INFO: Named for Bucknell's renowned literary alumnus and initiated in the fall of 1993, the Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing offers up to four months of unfettered writing time for a writer working on a first or second book in any literary genre. The residency provides lodging in Bucknell's "Poets' Cottage" and a stipend of $5,000.

In the spring semester of 2025, the Stadler Center will accept applications for the 2025–26 Roth Residences (Aug.–Dec. 2025 and Jan.–May 2026). The application deadline for both residencies is Feb. 1, 2025. Please note: The Roth Residency is now open to writers in ANY literary genre: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, hybrid works, graphic fiction, etc.

bucknell.edu/academics/beyond-classroom/academic-centers-institutes/stadler-center-poetry-literary-arts/programs-residencies/philip-roth-residence-creative-writing

_____

LITERATURE GRANT

Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC

DEADLINE: February 3, 2025 (or if we reach our limit of 40 applications, which ever comes first)

INFO: The world is a story and the writer, the story teller. In writing stories we are trying to make sense of our world by seeking what is real, by rejecting what is false, and by exercising the greatest of our mortal gifts in pursuit of the immortal.

DESCRIPTION: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a writing grant to authors of fiction / creative nonfiction and poetry.  

SUBMISSIONS: To ensure that each submission receives the attention it deserves we will be only accepting 40 application for each of our categories.

AMOUNTS: Up to $10,000.00  

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Authors in fiction / creative non-fiction and poetry.

  • The applicant must be the originator of the written materialS.

  • Grants will not be made for the purpose of research only. 

  • Grants will not be made for equipment.

  • Writers applying applying must be a current citizen or resident of the United State and must currently reside in New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying and plan to be a resident through the completion of their project.

Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted. Such as:

  • Course Reduction (if you're a Teacher/Professor)

  • Salary Replacement

  • Living Expenses

  • Research Expenses

  • Travel Research Expenses

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

  • Up to and no more than a 15 page PDF of the work, for the Café Royal Cultural Foundation Selection and Executive Committee to download and read. Please make sure your links are correct and not password protected. If they are not correct or have password protection your application will be declined and not reviewed by the Selection Committee.

  • A short description of the project.

  • A short author biography of the person(s) involved.

  • Budget must not exceed the amount of $10,000.00.

  • List of costs of how you plan to use the grant funds.
    (Please review our lists of Approved and Ineligible Budget Items for Literature Grant Funds, located below)

  • Travel and Research costs within the United States must demonstrate a direct correlation to the project for which you are applying.

  • You may not apply for International Travel and Research Costs.

  • If you are hiring fact checkers / editors / research assistants please be aware that we prefer that individuals providing these services are located in the NYC area.

  • Writers applying must be a current citizen or resident of the United State and must currently reside in New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying and plan to be a resident through the completion of their project.

  • We ask that the completion of your manuscript is no sooner than 90 days after this application's due date (no sooner than May 4, 2025) and no later than 12 months after your grant’s award date (no later than March 24, 2026).

  • Applicants can only apply with the same project twice.

  • You may apply in a different cycle with a different project.

REVIEW PROCEDURES: The Café Royal Cultural Foundation Selection Committee Judges will review and score all applications. The top five scored applications will move to a next round and will be reviewed Executive Committees. In recognition of the time, effort, and professional expertise that our Selection Committee Judges devote to the grant selection process, Café Royal Cultural Foundation provides a stipend to honor their commitment.

The following criteria will be applied in evaluating grant application:

  • Creativity, originality, ideas and concepts, writing style

  • Importance of the Project/Cultural Relevance

  • Promise of future achievements in writing

    Please note you do not need to have a publisher to apply for this grant.

GRANT APPLICATIONS: 
We accept applications all year round, please view our submission dates in our Grant Schedule.

We ask that the completion of your manuscript is (no sooner than May 4, 2025) and no later than 12 months after your grant’s award date (no later than March 24, 2026).

caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/literature-page

_____

ROLLING SUBMISSIONS

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: TRANSLATION COLUMN

The Margins / AAWW

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: The Margins seeks work from writers for an ongoing monthly column on language, culture, and translation from Asia. We consider Asia as an umbrella term that encompasses all of its regions (South, Southeast, East, Central, and North Asia, and SWANA) and the many diaspora communities of Asians all over the world.

We welcome essays, hybrid works, translations, and translator’s notes that engage with Asia’s literature, cultures, subcultures, languages, and diasporas. We are also interested in works that grapple with the concept of the Transpacific, colonialism, history, and empire, especially as they relate to language and translation.

We pay all writers and translators. Please refer to our rate sheet for more details.

Examples of work we’re interested in:

  • Translator’s notes: Essays on the philosophy, craft, and art of translation

  • Translator’s diaries: Writings about the experience and choices for a particular book in translation

  • Essays and translations of essays on languages and multilingualism

  • Essays on power and empire as they relate to translation

  • New translations/re-translations of essays by important Asian scholars, thinkers, philosophers, and revolutionaries

  • Reportage on the writing, reading, publishing, and translation culture of a particular place

  • Photo essays about bookstores and literary salons in Asia or that feature Asian literature

  • Interviews with independent publishers, writers, artists, and thinkers in Asia or the Asian diaspora

Some examples of what we’re looking for:

Send pitches of up to 500 words or finished pieces from 1,000-2,500 words to Soleil David, senior editor, at translation@aaww.org. For translations into English, translator must have already obtained permission from the copyright owner.

We read submissions year round and in all languages spoken and read in Asia. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know via email if your pitch/essay has been accepted elsewhere. Writers can expect a reply within three to four months.

aaww.org/submissions-translation-column/

_____

CALL FOR AUTHORS

Vanderbilt University Press

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: Vanderbilt University Press acquires books in the areas of Latin American and Hispanic studies; global and public health; human rights and civil rights; anthropology; history and postwar studies; and studies of race, class, gender, and sexuality. We also publish books with a regional focus on Tennessee and the South, including, for example, books on Nashville and country music.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Initial inquiries about potential book projects should be queried to the acquisitions department via email. We do not accept full manuscripts until requested. First, ensure that VUP publishes in the disciplinary area that your project represents.

If that is the case, please send a cover letter and book proposal that includes the following:

  • A short book abstract

  • A brief but detailed statement outlining the manuscript’s arguments, themes, and significance to the field

  • A table of contents that clearly summarizes the content and structure of each chapter

  • Assessment of the work’s fit with existing literature, comparison with published books on the topic, and discussion of the intended audiences and market for the book

  • Statement of the anticipated word count of the manuscript; plans for tables, figures, or other illustrations; and schedule for completion

  • Sample chapter (optional)

  • Curriculum vitae

  • If your manuscript is based on a dissertation, please discuss how the material and research has been developed, reframed, or otherwise revised. VUP does not publish unrevised dissertations.

  • If your manuscript is an edited collection, please include information about each of the contributors and note if any of the chapters are previously published.

  • If your manuscript is a translation, please describe why the author’s work warrants translation into English, as well as any and all information on rights to the work and the book’s history in its native language.

Keep a file or a copy of your proposal materials. We do not return proposals. Please do not call the Press to inquire about the status of your proposal or manuscript. We review all material received, and you will be contacted when a decision has been made. We aim to communicate whether a proposed project is being pursued further no more than eight weeks after the receipt of the proposal.

For more information about specific series initiatives, visit our Series page.

vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/resources/submission-guidelines-for-prospective-authors/