2025 DERRICOTTE/EADY PRIZE
Cave Canem
DEADLINE: November 6, 2024
INFO: The Derricotte/Eady Prize, named after Cave Canem co-founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, spotlights chapbook-length manuscripts.
Awarded to one poet annually, the Derricotte/Eady Prize recipient receives a monetary prize, the publication of their manuscript through O, Miami Books, a residency at The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach, and a featured reading at the O, Miami Festival in April.
Cave Canem is honored to partner with O, Miami to produce the annual Derricotte/Eady Prize in collaboration with The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach.
AWARD: Winner receives $1,000; publication of their manuscript through O, Miami Books; 10 copies of the chapbook; a residency at The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach; and a featured reading at the O, Miami Festival in April.
ELIGIBILITY: All unpublished, original collections of poems written in English. Please note that this is not a first-book award. Cave Canem defines Black poets as any poet who identifies as a member of the African Diaspora.
Please note that in the event that an applicant has submitted the same manuscript to other book awards and received an award, they must disclose this information to Cave Canem.
EXCLUSIONS: Current or former students, colleagues, employees, family members and close friends of the judge; current or former employees and members of the board of Cave Canem Foundation; O, Miami; and authors who have published a book or have a book under contract with Jai-Alai Books are ineligible.
GUIDELINES:
Submit manuscripts online via Submittable. Hard-copy submissions will not be considered
One manuscript per poet is allowed
Include a title page with the title only and a table of contents. The author’s name should not appear on any pages within the uploaded document
The manuscript must be paginated, with a font size of 11 or 12, and 25-30 pages in length, inclusive of the title page and table of contents. A poem may be multiple pages, but no more than one poem per page is permitted
Manuscripts not adhering to submission guidelines will not be considered
Include a cover letter with a brief author’s bio and a list of acknowledgments of previously published poems. DO NOT include this information within the document of the manuscript
Post-submission revisions or corrections are not permitted
The cover letter should include the author’s brief bio (500 words, maximum) and a list of acknowledgments of previously published poems.
ABOUT THE JUDGE: Brandon D. Johnson is the author of Love’s Skin, Man Burns Ant, The Strangers Between, and co-author of The Black Rooster Social Inn: This Is The Place. He is published in several print and online journals and anthologies. Brandon is also a photographer. Born in Gary, Indiana, he received a BA from Wabash College and his JD from Antioch School of Law. He lives with his wife and children in Washington, DC.
cavecanempoets.org/prizes/derricotte-eady-prize/
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open call for submissions: Contemporary Poetry in Translation
Graywolf Press
SUBMISSION PERIOD: November 11, 2024 (at 12:00am CT) to November 15, 2024 (at 11:59pm CT). Only the first 500 submissions will be considered, after which the submission period will close.
INFO: Graywolf Press is excited to offer an open submission period for contemporary poetry in translation.
We are open to translations of poetry by living poets from any language, but we are especially eager to receive work from languages and countries of origin that are traditionally underrepresented in the literary landscape. We also encourage submissions from emerging BIPOC translators.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
Interested translators should include the following materials in their Submittable submission:
A one-page cover letter that describes the vision for the translation, the cultural and historical context of the original work, and how this work would contribute to Graywolf’s poetry list.
Brief biographies of the poet and the translator(s), including previously published works. Note that we are looking for contemporary poetry by living poets and translators.
A sample translation of 10-15 pages with the corresponding 10-15 pages of the poems in the original language. If you have a complete manuscript, please indicate so in your cover letter. Do not send a complete manuscript unless specifically requested.
Details about the original publication(s) (including each publisher’s name and contact information and the year and country of each publication), along with evidence that authorization has been granted by the rights holder to the translator(s) for translation of the work into English and publication of the original text.
MORE INFO:
Please note the following:
We will only consider one project from each translator or translator team.
Submissions outside this period will not be accepted, and submissions that are not translations of living poets will not be considered.
Please do not contact Graywolf’s staff directly. Graywolf’s editorial team will contact translators with further interest and information.
This is not a prize; Graywolf is not required to publish any submitted work.
We hope to find innovative book-length works of poetry in translation, for which we will make an offer for publication, including an advance against standard royalties for the author and the translator. We expect that initial publication will be in 2026 or later.
graywolfpress.org/about-us/submissions#open-call-for-submissions-contemporary-poetry-in-translation
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ALTA CALIFORNIA CHAPBOOK PRIZE FOR LATINX POETS
Gunpowder Press
DEADLINE: November 11, 2024
ENTRY FEE: $20
INFO: Gunpowder Press invites all Latinx poets who are current residents of the United States (age 18+) to submit to the Alta California Chapbook Prize contest.
Poems may be submitted in English or Spanish (Spanglish is welcome!)
The selected manuscript will be published in both English and Spanish.
This contest is open to poets of all levels, published or unpublished, who self-identify as Latinx.
The winning manuscript will be published in a bilingual edition. The winning poet will receive $500.00, publication, and 10 copies of their published chapbook.
ABOUT THE JUDGE: Richard Blanco was selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in U.S. history—the youngest, first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in that role. In 2023, Blanco was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is the author of many collections of poetry, including his most recent, Homeland of My Body: New & Selected Poems (Penguin Random House, 2023). He has also authored the memoirs For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey and The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood. He has received numerous awards, including the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize, the PEN American Beyond Margins Award, the Paterson Prize, and a Lambda Prize for memoir. He serves as Education Ambassador for The Academy of American Poets and is an Associate Professor at Florida International University. In April 2022, Blanco was appointed the first-ever Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County.
ABOUT THE SERIES EDITOR: Emma Trelles is the 9th poet laureate of Santa Barbara and the daughter of Cuban immigrants. She is the author of Tropicalia (University of Notre Dame Press), winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. Emma is an Established Artist Fellow at the California Arts Council and a Poet Laureate Fellow at the Academy of American Poets. For more, visit emmatrelles.com
ABOUT THE SERIES TRANSLATOR: Alexandra Lytton Regalado is a Salvadoran-American author, editor, and translator. She is the author of Relinquenda, winner of the National Poetry Series (Beacon Press, 2022) and Matria (Black Lawrence Press, 2017). Alexandra is the translator of Efímero by heidi restrepo rhodesand Family or Oblivion by Elena Salamanca. Her poetry translations have been published or will appear in New England Review,Poetry International, FENCE, and Tupelo Quarterly. www.alexandralyttonregalado.com
HOW TO SUBMIT: Entry fee is $20 and includes a copy of the winning chapbook ($15 option for entry only). Submit 8-12 pages of poetry (no more than one poem per page) in Word .doc or .docx or .pdf format. Entries must be sent through Submittable. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, and please notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. Please include a table of contents and a page which acknowledges previous publication of individual poems. Gunpowder Press will provide translation for the manuscripts selected for publication. This contest is open to US residents only.
If the entry fee at Submittable presents a financial hardship, please email us at gunpowderpoetry@gmail.com.
ABOUT GUNPOWDER PRESS: Founded in 2013 by David Starkey and co-edited by David Starkey and Chryss Yost, Gunpowder Press is part of Gunpowder Poetry, a literary 501(c)(3) located in Santa Barbara, California. Our name honors our city's namesake, Saint Barbara, patron saint of gunpowder. For more information about the press, visit https://gunpowderpress.com.
gunpowderpress.submittable.com/submit/304125/alta-california-chapbook-prize
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2025 "Miss Sarah" Fellowship for Black Women Writers
Trillium Arts
DEADLINE: November 15, 2024 at 11:59pm EST
INFO: The “Miss Sarah” Fellowship for Black Women Writers aims to provide Black women writers a restful environment conducive to reflection and writing. It also offers uninterrupted, independent time to plant the seed of an idea for a new writing project or to develop or complete a project underway.
For 2025 the Fellowship will focus on the genre of Poetry.
REQUIREMENTS:
Please upload and submit all of the following documents, either as PDF or Word documents. Files should not exceed 10 MB each.
CV or resume (not to exceed 5 pages)
A one-page Fellowship Proposal Statement outlining the proposed project. Include information about the project context and what you plan to accomplish during the Fellowship period.
A one-page statement that addresses the question of, “Why Trillium Arts?” Be specific in how a Fellowship at Trillium Arts will benefit your creative work.
One letter of recommendation. The letter should be submitted separately by an outside recommender. The letter should specifically refer to your writing project. Be sure to choose someone who can speak specifically about your project, and we suggest you share your work sample with your recommender so they can be informed about your writing.
In your letter, we request that the recommender address the following four questions:
How do you know the applicant? Are you their teacher, colleague, editor, etc.
What makes the applicant's project significant?
Who do you imagine would be most served by this project?
What do you find inspiring about the applicant's project?
Provide an email address for your recommender in the online Submittable application form and your recommender will receive an automatic link to use to submit their letter on your behalf. Please remind the recommender that they need to reply to the automatic email and submit their letter by no later than Monday, November 18, 2024 at 11:59pm EST, which is a three day grace period for the recommenders, following your application completion deadline of Friday, November 15 at 11:59pm EST. Please plan accordingly to ensure that your recommender has enough time to submit.
· A writing sample of your proposed project. The writing sample should be of work you intend to further develop during the Fellowship. Work-in-progress is therefore highly recommended. Writing samples should be in English.
MA and MFA theses, PhD dissertations, and edited collections are not eligible and will be disqualified. Your work sample must be original.
·Your name and the title of your written piece should appear on the top of each uploaded file.
Please submit your writing sample in ONE PDF document. The sample should be a minimum of 10 pages not exceed 15 pages. All submitted documents should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and in an easily readable 12-point font.
AWARD: The selected writer will receive a ten-day solo residency in July 2025 and can choose whether to stay at Trillium Arts’ rural "Firefly Creek" apartment in Mars Hills, NC or at E. Patrick Johnson and Stephen Lewis’ “Montford Manor” residence near downtown Asheville, NC.
Participants will receive a $1,000 stipend and transportation to and from Asheville, NC. Additional benefits will be custom tailored to the needs of the awardee.
DATES: The preferred dates for a “Miss Sarah” Fellowship in 2025 are July 10-20. However, the panel will consider other dates.
ELIGIBILITY: Black women writers at any stage of their careers are invited to apply. For applicants outside of the United States, please note that travel expenses will only be covered within the United States. International airfare will be at the expense of the applicant. There is no application fee.
TIMELINE: Applications will be reviewed by a panel and applicants will be notified by April 1, 2025.
https://www.trilliumartsnc.org/writing-fellowships-guidelines
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call for entries: 2024 Poetry PrizE
Nightboat Books
DEADLINE: November 15, 2024 at 11:59pm EST
ENTRY FEE: A $28 entry fee. In the event that the judges do not select a manuscript for publication, reading fees will be returned to all entrants. This year’s fee waivers have been given out on a first-come-first-served basis and are no longer available.
INFO: Any poet writing in English, including international Anglophone writers, are eligible for the prize. Previous book publication is not a consideration for eligibility. Poems published in print or on-line periodicals, anthologies, or chapbooks may be included, but the manuscript itself must be unpublished. Original work only; translations are not eligible for the prize.
JUDGES: EMILY BARK BROWN, LINA BERGAMINI, LINDSEY BOLDT, JAYE ELIZABETH ELIJAH, GIA GONZALES, STEPHEN MOTIKA, KIT SCHLUTER, NAIMA YAEL TOKUNOW & SANTIAGO VALENCIA
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Family members and former students of Nightboat editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships. Former employees of Nightboat Books, including interns, may not submit to the contest.
FORMAT: Minimum of 48 pages, paginated, no more than one poem per page. Please include a title page (we do not read submissions anonymously, so it’s fine to include your name), a table of contents, and an acknowledgments page if applicable. You’re welcome to include images in your manuscript, but please note that we are not able to print in full-color.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify Nightboat Books immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Submission of more than one manuscript is acceptable. Each manuscript must be submitted separately, each with a separate entry fee.
INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS: We accept international submissions.
REVISIONS: The winner will have the opportunity to revise the manuscript before publication. No revisions will be considered during the reading period.
Winner(s) will be announced by April 2025. Winning collection(s) to be published Fall 2026-Spring 2027.
MORE INFO: Email questions/comments to info AT nightboat.org, but please do not send your manuscript to this email address.
nightboat.org/poetry-prize/?mc_cid=d92b8313c3
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Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship
Fine Arts Work Center
DEADLINE: November 15, 2024
APPLICATION FEE: $40
INFO: Each year, the Work Center offers 20 seven-month residencies to a juried group of emerging visual artists, fiction writers, and poets. Each Fellow receives an apartment, a studio (for visual artists), and a monthly stipend of $1,250 plus an exit stipend of $1,000. Residencies run from October 1 through April 30. During this time, Fellows have the opportunity to pursue their work independently in a diverse and supportive community of peers.
THE RESIDENCY:
During the course of the Fellowship, each Writing Fellow is invited to give a public reading and each Visual Art Fellow is given a solo exhibition opportunity. Readings and openings are attended by current and past Fellows, local residents, visitors to Provincetown, leadership of the town’s numerous cultural institutions, and the many illustrious artists and writers who make their homes in Provincetown. Events take place in the beautifully renovated public spaces of the Work Center: the Stanley Kunitz Common Room and Hudson D. Walker Gallery.
VISITING ARTISTS + WRITERS
While in residence, Fellows also help select a series of visiting artists and writers. These visiting artists and writers meet with the Fellows for studio visits and manuscript reviews and give public readings and artist talks that draw thousands from Provincetown and beyond. Visiting guests have included presidential inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel; winner of the National Book Award for Poetry Mark Doty; Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress Robert Pinsky; artist and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Judy Pfaff; and Katherine Porter, whose work is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The Work Center’s founders believed that seven months was the minimum amount of time needed for artists and writers in the crucial early stages of their careers to learn to structure their lives around their creative practice. Each generation of Fellows ideally moves on from the Work Center with a firm belief in their ability to pursue a life as a practicing artist or writer.
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Emily Dickinson Award for Poetry
LitMag
DEADLINE: November 15, 2024
CONTEST FEE: $18
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Entries must be 1 to 3 poems. Please use 12pt type, preferably Times New Roman, and submit your poems in one single Word document. Only previously unpublished poems are eligible. Writers may submit multiple entries, each of which requires a separate submission fee. Submissions through Submittable only. Notification: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. The winning short stories and finalists will be announced publicly on our Web site and social media as well as by email to all contestants in January 2025.
FIRST PRIZE: $1,500 + publication in LitMag + agency review by Amy Bishop-Wycisk of Trellis Literary Management, Emily Wescott of CAA, Hailey Hedemann of William Morris Endeavor, Kelsey Day of Aragi, PJ Mark of Janklow & Nesbit, and Rayhane Sanders of Massie & McQuilken.
FINALISTS: Three finalists will receive $100 each. All finalists will be considered for possible agency review and publication. Deadline: September 30, 2024
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THE 2024 KWELI EMERGING WRITER FELLOWS
Kweli Journal
DEADLINE: November 19, 2024
INFO: Kweli has been mentoring underrepresented writers since December 2009. Designed to help emerging Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) writers hone their craft, this fellowship provides 11 months of editorial support from Kweli editors along with the following benefits:
a $2,000 stipend,
free enrollment in our annual International Literary Festival and Color of Children’s Literature Conference,
publication in Kweli Journal,
all-expense paid writing retreat,
admission-free enrollment in three professionally led writing workshops on literary fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry, and
participation in four public readings
ELIGIBILITY: Eligible candidates are early career vocational writers living in New York City, who are not enrolled in degree-granting programs and self-identify as Black, Native/First Nations, POC, and/or Arab American.
Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
Please submit the following:
A cover letter containing a one-paragraph biographical statement; one paragraph that is a favorite of yours from a book you've read recently; and a brief statement telling us why this particular passage is meaningful to you. Please also note in your cover letter if you are a resident of one of New York City's five boroughs.
A CV or résumé
A brief statement of your career goals and what you expect to accomplish as a Kweli Fellow.
A 10 page writing sample. There is no word-count requirement. Eligible genres are fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and cross-genre writing, whether written for adults, young adults, or children.
kwelijournal.submittable.com/submit
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CALL FOR PITCHES: ISSUE 8: DREAMING
sweet-thang
Deadline: November 29, 2024, 23:59 GMT
INFO: Welcome! Thank you for your interest in contributing to sweet-thang Issue 8.
Please fill out all sections marked with an asterisk (*). If you have any questions or if anything is unclear, feel free to email us at sweetthanginfo@gmail.com.
Remember, this is just a pitch. We’re not looking for finished work (though if your piece is already complete, that’s cool too). The pitching process helps us understand your idea, your creative vision, and whether it’s the right fit for the issue.
UNDERSTANDING THE FORM:
"Title of Your Pitch" = A working title of what you want to submit. This can be the actual artistic title or a literal description, for example: "A short story discussing freedom and hope."
"Short Description of Your Pitch" = A short explanation of what the piece of work is, for example: "Speculative fiction about a character unpacking what it means to find hope in the face of life's challenges. The story follows x y z and touches on themes of x y z. This relates to the theme of dreaming because..."
Please note: the work must be original and not published elsewhere within the past three years.
We’re looking for:
Photography
Collages
Poetry
Illustrations
Journal scans
Long + short-form creative writing
Speculative fiction
Personal essays
& more - as long as it can be expressed in print form.
ACCESSIBILITY:
You can also submit your pitch in video format by recording your responses to each section and emailing it to sweetthanginfo@gmail.com with the subject line: “Video Submission: Issue 8 Pitch - [Your Name].”
If you have any questions about accessibility or require this form in another format, please send us an email.
As we only have space to accept 20 pitches, please don’t be disheartened if your pitch isn’t selected. We will get back to everyone regardless of the outcome and will do our best to provide feedback.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfwmRk9xCUpavqJRVRPi3wq_SQF3rymxn-1uTMYu6AKsS16Wg/viewform
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Long Form Mentorship
Diaspora Dialogues
DEADLINE: November 29, 2024 by 11:59pm
INFO: Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions from emerging writers in both the GTA and across Canada who currently have a full or near-full draft of a manuscript. We accept novels, short story collections, creative non-fiction/memoir, works intended for young adults and poetry. Complete or near complete means that the writer has up to 85,000 words or 300 double-spaced pages of prose; or up to 25 poems (50 pages maximum). Submissions will consist only of excerpts from these works (see guidelines below).
Diaspora Dialogues is committed to supporting a literature that is as diverse as Canada itself. Writers are encouraged to keep this mandate in mind, but addressing this theme directly is not essential in the submission.
Notifications will be made at the end of December. The mentorships will begin in early 2025 and run for six months. Assigned mentors are at the discretion of Diaspora Dialogues.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Work from which the excerpt is submitted must be in a full draft or near-full draft stage.
Excerpts submitted can be one chapter or one short story from the collection up to but not exceeding 5,000 words; poetry can include up to 10 poems but not exceed 15 pages.
Submissions must include a one-page description of the project.
Submissions must include a short biography in paragraph form (no more than 250 words.)
The work must be original and not previously published.
Submissions must be in English.
Each writer may submit only one manuscript.
A completed submission form must be included.
Submissions will be accepted by electronically.
Commentary/feedback is not available on submissions.
Applicants who live in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area must submit to the GTA Long Form Program.
FORMATTING YOUR SUBMISSION:
All prose submissions should be double-spaced, Times New Roman font size 12.
Please do not adjust the margins.
ELIGIBILITY:
Writers must not have a previously published full-length manuscript (although appearances in magazines and/or anthologies are acceptable).
Any writer of any age can apply.
Writers must be citizens or permanent residents
diasporadialogues.com/mentorship/
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24th annual A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize
BOA Editions
DEADLINE: November 30, 2024
SUBMISSION FEE: $30
INFO: The A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize is awarded to honor a poet's first book, while also honoring the late founder of BOA Editions, Ltd., a not-for-profit publishing house of poetry and poetry in translation.
WINNER RECIEVES:
Book publication by BOA Editions, Ltd. in spring 2026
$1,000 honorarium
JUDGE: Maya C. Popa is most recently the author of Wound is the Origin of Wonder (W. W. Norton, 2022), a finalist for the 2023 Levis reading prize from VCU. Her first full-length collection, American Faith (Sarabande, 2019), was a recipient of the North American Book Prize and a runner-up in the Kathryn A. Morton Prize judged by Ocean Vuong. She holds a PhD on the role of wonder in poetry and her newsletter, Poetry Today, is one of Substack's best-selling featured publications. The Poetry Editor of Publishers Weekly, she teaches at NYU and elsewhere.
Submissions are invited only through Submittable or by post mail. We do not have the staff capacity to read or respond to manuscripts that are submitted by fax or email.
*Please note that, without the submission fee, we would not be able to accept contest submissions, or to offer a $1,000 prize to each winner. As BOA is a non-profit press with limited staff capacity, contest submission fees allow us to maintain sufficient editorial resources for careful review of each and every manuscript. We understand that submission fees can be difficult to accommodate, but rest assured that because of them, your submission will be carefully read, reviewed, and considered for this prestigious prize. Thank you for your understanding.
boaeditions.org/pages/a-poulin-jr-poetry-prize
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CALL FOR PAPERS: A FURIOUS FLOWER BLOOMS–HONORING THE INTELLECTUAL AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP OF DR. JOANNE V. GABBIN
Furious Flower
DEADLINE: December 1, 2024
INFO: This is an announcement to share a call for papers celebrating and honoring the intellectual and political contributions of Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin, founder of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the nation's first academic center for Black poetry. The papers will be a part of an anthology on the contributions of Dr. Gabbin, which will be edited by Jaimee A. Swift, executive director and founder of Black Women Radicals and Assistant Professor of Black Politics in the Department of Political Science at James Madison University.
Dr. Joanne Veal Gabbin has given so much to our world. An activist, educator, poet, scholar, and community organizer, Dr. Gabbin’s work spans the intellectual, political, and cultural gamut. A pioneering visionary, her leadership has and continues to inspire generations of poets, educators, activists, and more in the United States and beyond.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Gabbin earned her B.A. degree in English from Morgan State College in 1967 and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English and Literature from the University of Chicago in 1970 and 1980, respectively. Gabbin began her career as an instructor of English at Roosevelt University in Chicago in 1971, and later was hired as an Assistant Professor of English at Chicago State University in 1972. From 1973 to 1975, she was the program director and instructor of Catalyst for Youth, Inc., in Chicago, a non-profit organization created to help young people to become emotionally stable, socially responsible, and physically healthy contributing members of society.
In 1977, Gabbin became an Assistant Professor of English at Lincoln University and was later promoted to Associate Professor of English in 1982. After serving in this position until 1985, she was hired as an Associate Professor of English at James Madison University (JMU). Despite her contending with the ills of racism, discrimination, and sexism in the Department of English at JMU, she refused to allow the ignorance of some to deter her from her mission of excelling as a professor, educator, and scholar. In the spirit of fortitude and resilience, Gabbin persevered and later became Director of the Honors College, a position she held until 2005. In 1987, she founded the Wintergreen Women Writers’ Collective, an intergenerational gathering, communion, and literary sisterhood of Black women writers.
In 1994, Gabbin organized the first academic conference on Black poetry, titled, “Furious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry” at James Madison University. Named in honor of renowned Pulitzer-Prize winning poet and former U.S Poet Laureate, Gwendolyn Brooks, and an ode to her 1968 poem, “The Second Sermon on the Warpland”, the conference brought together over 400 attendees and featured prominent Black poets including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez. The conference was hailed by The Washington Post as a “historic gathering.” After the successes of the first and second Furious Flower Poetry Conferences, Gabbin established the Furious Flower Poetry Center at JMU, the first academic center dedicated to Black poetry in the United States.
Gabbin is also the author and editor of several works including Sterling A. Brown: Building the Black Aesthetic Tradition; Furious Flower: African American Poetry From the Black Arts Movement to the Present; and The Furious Flowering of African American Poetry. She is the executive producer of the Furious Flower video and DVD series. After 37 years at JMU, she retired in 2022 and JMU’s Gabbin Hall is named in her honor.
We invite submissions of academic articles, reflective pieces, poetry, and review essays on Dr. Joanne Gabbin’s substantial and wide-ranging scholarship and community work.
Themes and topics include (but are not limited to):
Impact of the Furious Flower Poetry Center and Furious Flower Poetry Conferences
The Future of the Furious Flower Poetry Center
Wintergreen Women’s Writers’ Collective
Joanne Gabbin and Black Poetry
Joanne Gabbin and Black Women’s Poetics
Joanne Gabbin and the Black Arts Movement
Joanne Gabbin and Community Organizing
The World of Black Poetry
Black Feminist Thought and Politics
The Power of Black Women Writers
Public scholarship and community-based organizing and interventions
Black Poetics in the African Diaspora
The Futurity of Black Poetry and Prose
Black Women’s Sisterhood, Intimacies, and Solidarity
Reflections of African American Women Writers
Impact on Gwendolyn Brooks and Margaret Walker on Joanne Gabbin’s Leadership
Black Women and Community Building
Black Poetry, Archives, and Memory Work
Misogynoir and Black Women in Academia
Revolutionary Black Literature
Paper Submission
Authors are invited to submit papers for this anthology to gabbinanthology@gmail.com.
When submitting, in the subject line, please put LAST NAME, FIRST NAME - GABBIN ANTHOLOGY.
Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this anthology.
Important Dates
Submission Deadline : December 1, 2024.
Notification of Acceptance : January 10, 2024
Final Edited Manuscript Due: March 15, 2024
Publication Date: Determined by the Editor.
Manuscript Requirements
The final revised manuscript – in a Word document – should be double-spaced, in a 12-point font, must have a title, and must have a complete bibliography of all sources cited. Ensure the word count is between 2,500 - 3,000.
For poetry, please keep the word count between 1,000 - 2,000 words.
Subheadings should be in bold typeface. Refer to the Chicago Manual of Style (latest edition) for grammatical guidance. Avoid page layout formatting. Please insert page numbers.
Please make sure to add an author’s short bio at the end of the Word document.
Please direct any inquiries about the anthology to Jaimee Swift: (swiftja@jmu.edu).
blackwomenradicals.com/blog-feed/call-for-papers-dr-joanne-gabbin
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FALL 2024 BLACK FOX PRIZE
Black Fox
DEADLINE: December 1, 2024
ENTRY FEE: $12
INFO: Black Fox is accepting submissions for its Fall 2024 Black Fox Prize. The theme for this round is “Fragments of Time.” We are open to loose interpretations of the theme in any genre, as always.
When we think of time, we often think of a ticking clock. But time is more than merely seconds, minutes, hours, or measurements. Time also has the power to shape our lives. It can be a fleeting moment, a seemingly endless stretch, or a loop. Time can be a guardian of memories, the signal for change, and the constant that connects us to the world around us.
For this contest, we’re looking for writers to explore the intricacies of time: How does it mold us, ruin us, or set us free? Is time a friend or an enemy? Does time heal or wound? Whether it’s traveling through centuries, racing against the clock, or pausing in a single, spectacular moment, we want work that investigates the mysteries, difficulties, joy, or wonder of time.
Please submit your strongest fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, and we will choose one winner that we feel interprets the theme best. The prize is $325 and publication in the Winter 2025 issue. All submissions are considered for publication in the Winter 2025 issue. The contest entry fee is $12, and submissions must be submitted before midnight (EST) on December 1, 2024.
Please make sure your manuscript is double-spaced with 12-point font. Submissions should be no more than 5,000 words. For poetry, send up to three poems in the same document. For flash fiction, send up to two stories in the same document. Author’s name and page number should appear in the top right-hand corner of every page. We also ask that you specify the category/genre of your work in the cover letter. Submissions are accepted through our submission manager, found here.
Please DO NOT submit work that isn’t ready. Take your time and polish your work to the best of your ability before sending it in. No changes can be made to your submission after we receive it.
We will select a winner by the end of January 2025, and each entrant will receive a response to their submission.
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Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry
African Poetry Book Fund
DEADLINE: December 1, 2024
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry is awarded annually to an African poet who has not yet published a collection of poetry. The winner receives USD $1000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion in Senegal.
The Sillerman Editorial Team, including Kwame Dawes, Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, John Keene, Gabeba Baderoon, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, Aracelis Girmay, and Mahtem Shiferraw will judge.
A winner will be announced in early January, with notifications sent shortly thereafter.
ELIGIBILITY:
The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will only accept “first book” submissions from African writers who have not published a book-length poetry collection. This includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible.
An “African writer” is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of an African country, or whose parents are African.
Only poetry submissions in English can be considered. Work translated from another language to English is accepted, but a percentage of the prize will be awarded to the translator.
No past or present paid employees of the University of Nebraska Press, Akashic Books, or Amalion Press, or current faculty, students, or employees at the University of Nebraska, are eligible for the prizes.
MANUSCRIPT:
Poetry manuscripts should be at least 50 pages long.
The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript. All entries will be read anonymously. Please include a cover page listing only the title of the manuscript (not the author’s name, address, telephone number, or email address). An acknowledgements page listing the publication history of individual poems may be included, if desired. No application forms are necessary. Eligible writers may submit more than one manuscript.
While we have no specific formatting rules, we suggest sending your manuscript in Times New Roman or Arial, 12 point font, single-spaced. We also prefer one poem per page, meaning a new poem does not begin on the same page on which another ends.
The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets accepts electronic submissions ONLY. Click here to submit via Submittable.
To ensure confidentiality and fairness, all submissions to the Sillerman Prize are handled by our Book Prize Coordinator, Nicole Lachat. Please direct questions to her attention at psbookprize@unl.edu.
https://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/contest-prizes/sillerman-prize-for-african-poetry-winners/
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literary arts grants
South Arts
DEADLINE: December 4, 2024
INFO: As part of its Literary Arts Initiative, South Arts is excited to announce grants for literary arts projects for writers and publishers. These grants deepen our commitment to amplifying literary traditions and practices of the American South through directly funding the initiation, development, and completion of literary arts projects in poetry, fiction, creative or literary nonfiction, young readers’ literature, and drama (playwriting and screenwriting).
Literary Arts Grants will be made to writers, independent literary publishers, and small presses:
LITERARY ARTS GRANTS FOR WRITERS: South Arts will award literary grants up to $5,000. Applicants (writers or organizations) must apply through Salesforce and include writing samples and other required attachments specified in these Guidelines.
LITERARY ARTS GRANTS FOR PUBLISHERS: South Arts will award literary arts grants up to $5,000 to support Southern independent publishers and small presses. Applicants must apply through Salesforce and include the publisher’s representative work samples and other required attachments as specified in these Guidelines.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Deadline to Apply: 12/4/2024
Awards Announced: February 2025
Funding Cycle: March 1, 2025 – August 30, 2026 (18 months)
The award announcement may be earlier or later than the date listed above, depending on the number of applications and judging process.
Applicants who are not selected for an award will receive notification via the email on their application form before the award announcement.
South Arts reserves the right to not consider incomplete or improperly submitted applications without informing the applicant.
Judges do not communicate any information or details of their review. Given the volume of applications received, South Arts cannot provide individual feedback on the application and from the panel.
Applicants who move from the South Arts Region after they submit their application are encouraged to notify South Arts and will not be eligible to receive a grant award.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
ELIGIBLE ENTITIES
All applicants are eligible to receive only one grant award.
Current, full-time resident or Headquartered in the South Arts Region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, The Carolinas, Tennessee) both at the time of application and at receipt of the award.
For Writers
One application per artist or arts organization per funding cycle will be accepted.
Applicant artists must be 18 years of age or older.
Applicant artists must not be enrolled in a literary arts/writing academic program at time of application and at receipt of award.
Current, full-time residents for at least the prior 12 months s of the South Arts region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, The Carolinas, Tennessee) both at the time of application during the project period.
Works authored by more than one person are ineligible.
For Literary Arts Organizations
For Publishers: Independent nonprofit publishers and small presses including journals.
Based in the South Arts Region for at least the prior 12 months (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, The Carolinas, Tennessee) both at the time of application and during the project period.
Other non-profit organizations with a literary arts mission.
INELIGIBLE ENTITIES
Units of government
Colleges/Universities are ineligible to apply for this grant.
UNALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES
General operating support.
Support for a full season of programming.
Courses or coursework in degree-granting or continuing education institutions.
Literary publishing that does not focus on contemporary literature and/or writers.
Publication of books, exhibition of works, or other projects by the applicant organization's board members, faculty, or trustees.
Projects for which no curatorial, juried, or editorial judgment has been applied to the selection of artists or art works.
Social activities such as receptions, parties, galas, community dinners, picnics, and potlucks.
Costs of entertainment, including amusement, diversion, and social activities and any associated costs are unallowable; generally, this includes activities at venues such as bars, wineries, and breweries where the consumption of alcohol/social activity is the primary purpose of the venue.
Awards to individuals or organizations to honor or recognize achievement.
Commercial (for-profit) enterprises or activities, including arts markets, concessions, food, t-shirts, artwork, or other items for resale. This includes online or virtual sales/shops.
Construction, purchase, or renovation of facilities.
Sub-granting or regranting.
UNALLOWABLE COSTS
Cash reserves and endowments.
Startup costs or other costs associated with establishing new organizations.
Alcoholic beverages or other hospitality costs.
Purchase and/or use of gift cards and gift certificates to support project costs.
Gifts and prizes, including cash prizes as well as other items with monetary value (e.g., electronic devices, gift certificates).
Contributions and donations to other entities, including donation drives.
General miscellaneous or contingency costs.
Fines and penalties, bad debt costs, deficit reduction.
Marketing expenses that are not directly related to the project.
Audit costs.
Rental costs for home office workspace owned by individuals or entities affiliated with the applicant.
The purchase of vehicles.
Costs incurred before the beginning or after the completion of the official project period.
MATCHING REQUIREMENTS
All grants require a 2:1 cost share. South Arts matches $2 for every $1 the applicant contributes towards project costs.
Grants will pay up to 2/3 of the total cost of the opportunity, with a maximum award of $5,000. The applicant must cover remaining expenses, and South Arts requires a 2:1 match (2 South Arts: 1 grantee). Artists may include their own cash in the match. Examples:
Total Project Cost- $6,000, the applicant can request up to $4,000 and contribute the remaining $2,000 of funds through a combination of their own cash and other contributions.
Total Project Costs are $15,000: The applicant can request up to $5,000 and contribute the remaining $10,000 of funds through a combination of their own cash and other contributions.
Toal Project Costs are $3,000: The applicant can request up to $2,000 and contribute the remaining $1,000 of funds through a combination of their own cash and other contributions.
Budget details should identify the source of funds (including self-funding, private contributions, institutional stipends, or additional grant funding) not requested from South Arts.
Total projected expenses must meet or exceed the request by 50%.
Funds can be used for these eligible expenses directly related to participation in proposed activities:
For Organizations: Itemize project personnel costs
Travel (itemize air, ground, lodging, per diem, visa services)
Equipment rental (itemize all equipment rental expenses)
Office expenses (itemize supplies, and shipping/postage)
Services/professional fees (itemize editorial, graphic design, photography/videography, financial, publishing, production, and distribution services, etc.)
Marketing
Facility expenses (itemize rent, space rental, utilities)
Insurance
Childcare or elder caregiver service costs that arise as a result of applicant planning and executing the proposed project
southarts.org/grants-opportunities/literary-arts-grant
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Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices
Lambda Literary
DEADLINE: December 8, 2024 at 11:59pm EST
APPLICATION FEE: $30
INFO: The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices is the nation’s premier LGBTQ writing residency. It is the only multi-genre writing residency devoted exclusively to emerging LGBTQ+ writers. The Retreat is an unparalleled opportunity to develop one’s craft and find community.
Since 2007, the Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices has offered sophisticated instruction in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young adult fiction, playwriting led by the most talented writers working today. In 2022, the Writers Retreat expanded to include instruction in screenwriting and speculative fiction, and in 2025, we will introduce the newest cohort serving writers working in both and between playwriting and screenwriting.
In 2025, as we did in 2024, we are holding our Writers Retreat online. This format allows for us as an organization to continue building our resources while offering the same high-quality programming that remains accessible to folks who may not otherwise be able to attend in-person programs.
We are excited to announce that this year, we will be lengthening the typically week-long program to a 10-day virtual retreat, from Thursday, July 31-Saturday, August 9. In this new model, we will use the first two evenings on Thursday and Friday to build community and hold additional programming. We hope that this new model will build relationships and community, offer more learning opportunities, but we also aim to allow those attending the retreat from home to continue to sustain the elements of their livelihood outside of the Retreat program.
Additionally, we will be adding a brand new cohort to our Writers Retreat: the screen/play/writing cohort. This cross-genre cohort is meant for performance writers who work outside of the stage/screen binary, those who waft between genres, and those who are working in adaptations. We invite all screenwriters and playwrights in this cohort to consider how their work can move between genres, between stage and screen, while centering writing for performance. Coming back for another year after an astounding stint as Playwriting Faculty in 2024, we welcome back Roger Q. Mason to lead this inaugural cohort!
SCHEDULE:
We’ve extended the typical length of the retreat from 7 days to 10:
We will have a mix of synchronous programming and asynchronous programming, and on days when we offer all day programming, fellows can expect to have ample breaks and rest from screens.
Thursday, July 31-Friday, August 1: Programming begins at ~7:00 pm EST/ 4:00 pm PST
Saturday, August 2-Friday, August 8: All day programming
Saturday, August 9: Programming ends at ~6:00 pm EST/3:00 pm PST
APPLICATION DETAILS:
Applications to attend the 2025 Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ* Voices open on November 1, 2024 and close at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on December 8, 2024. You may apply to more than one workshop, however, each application must be submitted separately and requires an additional fee.
We are offering a number of application fee waivers for the QTBIPOC** (Queer and Trans folks who are or identify as Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color) folks who would be attending the Retreat for the first time. Please email retreat@lambdaliterary.org to request an application fee waiver.
To Apply, Please Prepare
1. An artistic/biographical statement (max 500 words).
2. a writing sample matching the genre of the workshop you’re applying for:
.DOC, .DOCX, or .PDF format.
For prose, double spaced, 12 point font.
For Fiction, Nonfiction, Speculative Fiction, and Young Adult Fiction: 15 pages maximum. This maximum applies to cross-genre samples as well as samples in verse.
For Playwriting/Screenwriting and Play/Screen/Writing: 15 pages maximum from a full-length work, short play/script, or piece of theatre/film.
For Poetry: 8 pages maximum.
The sample you apply with does not have to be the same sample you plan to workshop at the Retreat.
3. Optional, not required for acceptance:
Any publications of your work during the past two years, including anthologies, literary journals, magazines, websites, and books.
Any other writing conferences, retreats, and workshops have you attended.
If you're applying to scholarships, a scholarship statement (max 500 words).
TUITION + SCHOLARSHIPS:
Writers Retreat tuition is currently set at $1,625. However, we are working on raising funds to lower this price for fellows. This means there is a possibility that the price of tuition will go down, but it will not go any higher than $1,625. All accepted/waitlisted applicants will be notified of the final price of tuition before accepting their fellowship.
Lambda Literary has a host of full and partial scholarships that are available for accepted applicants.
Ability to pay is in no way part of the decision-making process. We have a robust and ever-growing host of scholarships available thanks to our intensive fundraising efforts and generous donors. Lambda also supports fellows in their own fundraising efforts using our fundraising platform. Many fellows who used our peer-to-peer fundraising platform in 2024 raised their entire tuition fee.
The $30.00 application fee is processed through Submittable's online portal. If you wish to pay by cash or check please contact retreat@lambdaliterary.org.
APPLICATION STATUS NOTIFICATIONS:
Writers Retreat Faculty make the final determinations regarding accepted and waitlisted applicants. All applicants will be notified of their application status in April 2025.
lambdaliterary.org/emerging-writers-retreat/
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She Who Has No Master(s) Mentorship Program
She Who Has No Master(s)
DEADLINE: December 15, 2024 at 11:59pm PT
APPLICATION FEE: $25
INFO: She Who Has No Master(s) offers creative writing mentorships uniquely designed for and led by women and nonbinary writers of the Vietnamese and SE Asian diaspora. The centering of this perspective is important because in most educational settings the focus on subject matter and perspectives of women/nonbinary SE Asian diasporic women is marginalized, if not totally unaddressed.
In offering one-on-one mentorships guided by established writers and artists in our collective, we create a uniquely nourishing experience where aspiring writers can explore, embrace their particularities, and create more expansively. Our mentorships are conducted remotely. The next mentorships cycle will take place in 2025.
FAQs:
Who are you, and what is this?
She Who Has No Master(s), or SWHNM, is a collective of womxn and nonbinary writers of the Vietnamese diaspora who engage in collaborative, polyvocal, and hybrid-poetic works to enact a politics of connection across diasporic boundaries. Through a collaborative writing and art process, SWHNM explores multi-voiced collectivity, encounters, in-between spaces and (dis)places of the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian diaspora. SWHNM has a fluid and evolving membership.
She Who Has No Master(s) initiated a creative writing mentorship program in 2022 led by and designed for Vietnamese and SE Asian diasporic women and nonbinary writers through the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN). SWHNM is now an independent collective and our own 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and this mentorship program has no affiliation with DVAN.
The centering of Vietnamese and SE Asian perspectives is important because in most educational settings the focus on subject matter and perspectives of women/nonbinary SE Asian diasporic women is marginal, if not totally unaddressed. In creating educational spaces that center those viewpoints, we create a nourishing space in which aspiring writers can see themselves, explore, and embrace their own particularities, and create more expansively. These mentorships will address both creative and professional aspects involved in the writing life. These offerings fulfill a dire contemporary need in our nation’s current environment for creative writing education.
Who are the mentors, and what do they do?
The SWHNM mentors range depending on the cycle. During the inaugural mentorship program in 2022, there were 4 mentors (all members of the SWHNM collective) partnered with 4 writers and literary artists based out of the United States, Vietnam, and Switzerland.
The mentors are writers who have benefited from belonging to supportive and inclusive writing and artist communities who wish to mentor promising writers of Vietnamese and/or SE Asian descent–folx who are at earlier stages in their writing careers than we are.
Our mentors compose poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, criticism, as well as hybrid and multimedia forms (including graphic forms, among others), and are looking to pair with mentees working in these forms.
Our mentors are published authors and/or established artists who are members of or connected to SWHNM and thus experienced with the collaborative and creative ethos of our collective that also informs the spirit of our mentorships.
Past mentors include: Diana Khoi Nguyen, Hoa Nguyen, Lily Hoang, and Vi Khi Nao.
For our 2025 cycle, mentors will be: Cathy Linh Che, MyLoan Dinh, Abbigail Rosewood, Sophia Terazawa, Nhã Thuyên.
The SWHNM mentorship program in 2025 expands its concept and its community by reaching out to the writers who live inside Vietnam with writing practices in Vietnamese, with the hope to create a more open space for a plurality of Vietnamese literature.
How does the mentorship work?
The first year of mentorship took place in 2022. This year (2025) will be our second. Each mentor takes on one mentee. Mentors and mentees (fellows) will meet virtually for at least 30 minutes every month to discuss topics pertinent to each pair. These topics may range from: prompts for writing, feedback fellows’ writing, and craft elements to professional details such as submitting to publications, finding an agent, writing a book proposal, sending a manuscript out to contests/open reading periods, applying to graduate school, to name a few. Some of us, though not all, are willing to read and give feedback on fellows’ work—within certain limits, which mentors can specify. On your application you may specify what types of mentorship you are looking for. If you are selected for a mentorship, we will use the information in your application to make the best mentor match for your needs.
In addition, mentors may periodically arrange panels and events for the mentorship collective; we hope to host panels on topics helpful for fellows as a group, and will collaborate with fellows to determine these topics. We may also offer some events and panels that are open to the general public.
SWHNM is a collective and makes decisions as a group, as well as shares the labor of running both the collective and this mentorship. That said, the particulars of individual mentors’ engagement with fellows depends on their particular circumstances and on the nature of each pairing’s relationship. The only requirement of the mentorship is the monthly meetings.
Who are the Fellows, and what do they do?
Mentees should be passionate and committed to exploring creative writing, ready to generate new creative work, engage in revision processes, and be capable of working both independently as well as from writing prompts given by mentors. Mentors will work with mentees to tailor creative writing guidance that meets the mentees’ specific interests and needs.
Past fellows have been promising writers and artists who are serious and dedicated to their journey as a writer/literary artist. Just like with the mentors, the depth of individual fellows’ involvement depends on their particular circumstances. The only requirement for fellows is the monthly meeting with mentors.
There may be opportunities for further engagement with the mentorship program and SWHNM collective such as planning panels and events, as well as participating in collective readings, performances, and exhibitions. We are interested in hearing what fellows think would be useful and beneficial for the program and collective.
What are you looking for in fellows?
We’re so glad you’re reading this. We’re looking for fellows who identify as a woman or nonbinary person of Vietnamese and/or SE Asian descent, who live outside and/or inside Vietnam. There is no nationality requirement, and fellows must be at least 18 years of age. Fellows’ writing should show promise, and are relatively early in their (writing) careers.
In particular, we would especially like to award mentorships to those with limited past access to writing communities or writing guidance. We strive to equalize access so that writers can achieve their goals regardless of their background and affiliations.
Most of our mentors write predominantly in English. However, some of us are also fluent in Vietnamese and may also be willing to work across language barriers. Please indicate in your application what language (or languages) you write in and/or are interested in working in.
If you are currently enrolled in a graduate program in creative writing, you are not eligible for mentorship. You are also not eligible if you have published a book (or have one under contract) with a major U.S. press in a genre in which we mentor.
The SWHNM mentorship program is competitive; in our inaugural 2022 year, we received over 80 applications for only 4 mentorship spots.
Our number of available mentorship spots will differ each year depending on the mentors. In 2025 we will offer 5 mentorship spots.
How can I apply? Is there an application fee?
Please find detailed guidelines on our “How To Apply” page.
When you are ready to apply, submit your materials via our Application Form (this link will take you to a Google form for uploading + submitting your application materials).
If you need the Application Form in Vietnamese, click here. Nếu bạn cần nộp đơn đăng ký bằng tiếng Việt, vui lòng nhấn vào đây.
There is an application fee of $25, which helps us to cover administrative costs. You may request a fee waiver. Applicants residing in Vietnam may also receive a fee waiver.
If you have questions or issues regarding how to send us your application materials, or if you are in need of an application fee waiver, please DM us (with “Fee Waiver Request 2025” in the subject field) at: she.who.has.no.masters@gmail.com.
Is any of the work paid? Is there a financial cost for anyone involved?
Mentors are paid a modest stipend for their time, while members of the SWHNM collective organize and facilitate the mentorship program on an unpaid basis since we are a collective of writers who want to, and are able to, participate in this vibrant community.
We are committed to the idea of supporting Vietnamese and SE Asian diasporic women and nonbinary writers. This mentorship program is one that exists outside of any institutions. Some of the mentors may be affiliated with institutions such as universities but we don’t have outside funding or other institutional support for this project. It’s just us–a labor of care and love.
Who assesses applications, and how are they assessed?
The mentors for each cycle, along with volunteer members of the collective, read and assess the applications based on promise and need. From there, a smaller committee determines which few candidates might benefit the most from a SWHNM mentorship based on their current access to writing resources and commitment to craft and career, their financial need, and other factors.
There are a few writers with whom I’d especially love to be matched. Can I specify that?
No, though we welcome for you to share what you’re looking for in a mentor.
How far along should a writing sample be?
You should submit your best work, whether it’s published or not. A sampling of different pieces—representing various genres or not—is fine.
I have a question that isn’t addressed here, or something else I want to get in touch about.
You can email us at she.who.has.no.masters@gmail.com.