wisconsin creative writing fellowship

WICW Poetry & Fiction Fellowships // The Wisconsin Poetry Series

There are presently no open calls for applications.

Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships in Fiction and Poetry

Applications are now open for the WICW Poetry and Fiction Fellowships, awarding stipends of at least $40,000 and generous health benefits. Though the submission deadline was March 1, we have left the application portal open through the weekend. Any application received by 8:00 a.m. central time, Monday 3/4, will receive full consideration.  

Please read these instructions and eligibility requirements, before selecting your application genre below: 

To be eligible, applicants must have completed or be scheduled to complete an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing by August 15 of the fellowship year. Eligible applicants may have published no more than one full-length collection or book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction as of the March 1 deadline. Individuals who have never published a full-length collection or book remain eligible, of course. 

Successful applicants must commit to reside in the Madison area for the full duration of the Fellowship from mid-August to mid-May (holiday and other travel are of course permitted); to teach one section of undergraduate mixed-genre or single-genre creative writing each semester; to hold no other teaching, graduate study or fellowship obligations; to assist in the selection of the Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry , the University of Wisconsin’s undergraduate writing prizes , and the following year’s Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships; and in general to participate fully in the life of the Madison writing community during the fellowship period. For more details regarding the responsibilities and privileges of our fellows, please see our main fellowships page .

Applicants should prepare the following materials before applying: 

• A $50.00 Application Fee, paid online by credit card.
• A resume or curriculum vitae, concluding with the names, phone numbers, and email      addresses of two recommenders.
• A writing sample consisting of either 10 pages of poetry (single-spaced and uploaded as a pdf) or up to 30 pages of fiction (double-spaced and uploaded as a pdf). Fiction applications must consist of either one short story or a novel excerpt. Your name must not appear anywhere on your manuscript , and while previously published work may be submitted, your manuscript must in no way indicate that your work has been published.

Do not include more than one genre in a single submission. You may apply in more than one of our fellowship genres, but you must upload a separate application for each, with separate application fees. If you are submitting short fiction, please do not send more than one short story. The limit is one story no matter how short that story may be. If you send more than one story, we will only read the first. If you are sending a novel excerpt you may (but need not) include a brief synopsis (one or two paragraphs) of the novel, as page one of the manuscript.

The poetry and fiction fellows will be chosen by May 1 each year, and announced on our fellows page . If you have questions concerning these fellowships that are not answered in the FAQ below, please contact Ron Kuka, Coordinator of the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, at [email protected] .

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Wisconsin institute for creative writing fellowships.

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An academic year in residence, which includes a stipend of at least $40,000, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison is given annually to up to five writers working on a first or second book of poetry or fiction. Each writer also receives a semester-long teaching assignment in undergraduate creative writing at the University of Wisconsin and an invitation to give a public reading. Writers with an MFA or PhD in creative writing who have not published more than one book are eligible. Submit 10 pages of poetry or one story or novel excerpt of up to 30 pages, a curriculum vitae, and contact information for two references with a $50 entry fee by March 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines. 

University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships, English Department, 600 North Park Street, H.C. White Room 6195, Madison, WI 53706. Ron Kuka, Program Coordinator.

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Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships

January 29, 2016

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The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing is currently accepting applications for up to five fellowships. Typically there are two fiction fellowships (the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellowship and the Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship), two poetry fellowships (the Jay C. and Ruth Halls Fellowship and now the Ron Wallace Poetry Fellowship), and one fellowship in either fiction or poetry for a graduate of the University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing (the Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship).These fellowships provide time, space, and an intellectual community for writers working on a book of poetry or fiction. To be eligible for applicants must have completed an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing by August 15th of the fellowship year. Applicants must submit a C.V. and a writing sample of either 10 pages of poetry or up to 30 pages of fiction. Fellows will receive a stipend of $30,000 ($27,000 plus a $3,000 prize paid in August).

Application fee: $50 (waived for HEAF applicants)

Deadline: February 29, 2016

For more information, please visit the website .

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The Creative Writing Program at Wisconsin provides a full range of opportunities for students and writers to study, practice, and receive recognition for the craft of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The university houses The Madison Review literary magazine, the University of Wisconsin Press Poetry Series (Brittingham and Pollak Prizes), and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing (post-MFA fellowships), and hosts a reading series.

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Fellowships

Fellowships opportunities for writers.

The Writer’s Center has developed a list of writing fellowships for your reference.

Please note that this page is a reference for writers. We do not partner with the following organizations. Also, these opportunities are subject to change, so be sure to visit the websites for more information.

The Writer’s Center Compass Fellowship

What it is: Our renewed fellowship program will introduce a new writer each year to our writing family, to help guide them along the next steps on their path, with $1000 in credits toward any TWC workshops within a two-year period, a $300 cash stipend, and more.

Who’s it for: Applicants must be local in the DMV area and be able to travel to Bethesda.

The Writer’s Center says: If you’re a writer or an aspiring writer looking for where to go next, The Writer’s Center Compass Fellowship is a great place to start!

National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships

What it is: The National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships offer $25,000 grants in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to enable creative writers to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.

Who’s it for: To be eligible, you have to be a citizen of the United States, you can’t have received two or more fellowships from the National Endowment from the Arts, you can’t have received the creative writing fellowship on or after January 1, 2014, and you must have published a book within the last seven years.

The Writer’s Center says : This is the nationally recognized fellowship that writers are vying for every year. Note that the genres alternate each year, with prose fellowships offered in odd years, and poetry fellowships in even years.

Mother Jones’s Ben Bagdikian Fellowship

What it is: Mother Jones offers an annual fellowship program that is “a crash course in investigative journalism.” The Ben Bagdikian Fellowship is a full-time position lasting approximately one year, beginning on the first Monday in December and running through late November. Fellows receive a $3,250 monthly stipend.

Who’s it for: Those who are still in school or are only available part-time are not eligible, nor can fellowships be used for course credit. Because the first two weeks of the fellowship consist of intensive group trainings, all applicants, without exception, must be prepared to start on the first Monday in December. Mother Jones is not able to furnish work visas for applicants from outside the United States.

The Writer’s Center says : This is a demanding position that will enable participants to get significant experience in investigative journalism.

Provincetown Fine Arts Center Fellowship

What it is: The Provincetown Fine Arts Center offers 20 seven-month residencies each year to emerging visual artists, fiction writers, and poets, each of whom receive an apartment, a studio (for visual artists), and a monthly stipend of $1,000 plus an exist stipend. Residencies run from October 1 through April 30.

Who’s it for: Visual artists, fiction writers, and poets.

The Writer’s Center says : This is one of the only non-MFA programs that support writers and artists for more than a month at a time.

The Kenyon Review Fellowship

What it is: The Kenyon Review offers a two-year fellowship that comes with a $35,000+ stipend and health benefits that will enable the fellow to undertake a significant writing project; teach one class per semester in the English department of Kenyon College; assist with creative and editorial projects for the Kenyon Review ; and participate in the cultural life of Kenyon College.

Who’s it for: Applicants must possess an MFA or PhD in creative writing, English literature, or comparative literature. They must have experience teaching creative writing and/or literature at the undergraduate level.

The Writer’s Center says : This is a fantastic opportunity for early-career writers to receive time and space to write, as well as teaching experience.

The Loft’s McKnight Artist Fellowship

What it is: The Loft presents five $25,000 awards annually to accomplished Minnesota writers and spoken word artists. Four awards alternate annually between creative prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry/spoken word. The fifth award is presented in children’s literature and alternates annually for writing for ages eight and under and writing for children older than eight.

Who’s it for: Applicants must have been legal residents of Minnesota for the 12 months prior to the application deadline and must currently reside in Minnesota.

The Writer’s Center says : This is a generous grant that will enable Minnesota writers to produce more creative work.

Bucknell Stadler Fellowship

What it is: Bucknell University offers a 10-month fellowship that provides a stipend of at least $33,000 and health insurance. The program offers two distinct tracks: one a fellowship in literary editing and a fellowship in literary arts administration . Applicants can apply to one or the other. Both fellowships are designed to balance the development of professional skills with time to complete a first book of poems. Fellows serve for 20 hours each week during the academic year. The balance of the fellows’ time is reserved for writing.

Who’s it for: Poets who have recently received an MFA or MA in poetry.

The Writer’s Center says : If you are an early career poet and you aren’t interested in teaching, this is a noteworthy opportunity to get significant experience with literary arts administration or literary editing while receiving time and space to work on a poetry collection.

Nieman Fellowships

What it is: Each year, the Nieman Foundation awards paid fellowships of $75,000 to up to 24 journalists working in print, broadcast, digital, and audiovisual media. Those selected for the program spend two full semesters at Harvard auditing classes; they are also able to audit classes at other local universities including MIT and Tufts. The Nieman Foundation also provides some financial support for health insurance and childcare. Fellows are not eligible for health care insurance through Harvard University.

Who’s it for: All applicants for Nieman Fellowships must be working journalists with at least five years of full-time media experience. During the two years prior to applying, an applicant should not have participated in a fellowship lasting four months or longer.

The Writer’s Center says : This is a generous fellowship that enables journalists to deepen their knowledge in an area of interest or several areas of interest.

James Jones Fellowship

What it is: The James Jones First Novel Fellowship, in the amount of $10,000, is awarded annually to an American writer of a novel-in-progress who has not previously published a novel. The Fellowship is co-sponsored by the James Jones Literary Society and the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing of Wilkes University.

Who’s it for: An American writer who has never published a novel. This includes self-published novels.

The Writer’s Center says : This award provides invaluable monetary support for novelists with a work in progress.

The Hodder Fellowship

What it is: The Hodder Fellowship will be given to artists and writers of exceptional promise to pursue independent projects at Princeton University during the academic year. An $86,000 stipend is provided for this 10-month appointment as a Visiting Fellow; no formal teaching is involved.

Who’s it for: Composers, choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers, translators, or other kinds of artists. Most successful Fellows have published a book or have similar achievements in their own fields.

The Writer’s Center says : Unlike fellowships that involve teaching or literary administration, this is a generous award for artists solely pursuing independent projects.

PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship

What it is: The Emerging Voices Fellowship provides a virtual five-month immersive mentorship program for early-career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world. The program is committed to cultivating the careers of Black writers, and serves writers who identify as Indigenous, persons of color, LGBTQ+, immigrants, writers with disabilities, and those living outside of urban centers.

Who’s it for: Underrepresented early-career writers.

The Writer’s Center says : This program lifts up writers who deserve recognition, demystifying the publishing process and introducing them to editors, agents, and publishers.

Persephone Miel Fellowship

What it is: The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting will provide a grant of $5,000 for a reporting project on topics and regions of global importance, with an emphasis on issues that have gone unreported or underreported in the mainstream media.

Who’s it for: The Persephone Miel Fellowships are open to all journalists, writers, photographers, radio producers or filmmakers, staff journalists, as well as freelancers and media professionals outside the U.S. and Western Europe who are seeking to report from their home country but would like to broaden the reach of their reporting by publishing it in international outlets. Applicants must be proficient in English.

The Writer’s Center says : This grant gives a journalist an invaluable opportunity to explore an issue that goes unreported or underreported in mainstream media.

Wallace Stegner Fellowship

What it is: Stanford offers ten two-year fellowships each year, five in fiction and five in poetry. All the fellows in each genre convene weekly in a 3-hour workshop with faculty. Fellowships include a living stipend. Fellows’ tuition and health insurance are paid for by the Creative Writing Program.

Who’s it for: Candidates must live close enough to Stanford to be able to attend workshops, readings, and events.

The Writer’s Center says : This is a non-degree granting opportunity for a writer to get regular feedback from established poets and fiction writers.

Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship

What it is: The Center’s Patrick Henry History Fellowship includes a $45,000 stipend, health benefits, faculty privileges, a book allowance, and a nine-month residency (during the academic year) in a historic 18th-century house in Chestertown, Md.

Who’s it for: Applicants should have a significant project currently in progress — a book, film, oral history archive, podcast series, museum exhibition, or similar work. The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the U.S. founding era and/or the nation’s founding ideas. It might focus directly on early America, or on the myriad ways the questions that preoccupied the nation’s founding generation have shaped America’s later history. Work that contributes to ongoing national conversations about America’s past and present, with the potential to reach a wide public, is particularly sought.

The Writer’s Center says : This fellowship enables applicants to deeply explore a particular historical topic of Washington College’s choosing.

Scripps Fellowship

What it is: This is a non-degree, two-semester program that allows fellows to take environmental journalism classes at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Who’s it for: The fellowship is open to full-time journalists working in any medium who are interested in deepening and broadening their knowledge of environmental issues. It is aimed at outstanding journalists committed to a career in professional journalism. Applicants must have a minimum of five years of full-time professional journalism experience and have completed an undergraduate degree.

The Writer’s Center says : This is a fantastic opportunity for journalists who are interested in environmental issues.

Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship

What it is: The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing offers up to five internationally competitive nine-month fellowships each year. Typically, we award two fiction fellowships (the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellowship and the Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship), and two poetry fellowships (the Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellowship and the Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellowship). Additionally, the Institute offers one third-year MFA fellowship — the Hoffman-Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship — to a current student of UW-Madison, through a closed competition. Each of these fellowships carries with it a stipend of at least $39,000 paid in 9 equal installments beginning October 1, generous health benefits, and a one-course-per-semester teaching assignment in undergraduate creative writing.

Who’s it for: Applicants who have published only one full-length collection of creative writing; unpublished applicants are also eligible.

The Writer’s Center says : This fellowship gives a poet and fiction writer time and space to write, as well as teaching experience.

Grub Street’s Emerging Writer Fellowship

What it is: The Emerging Writer Fellowship aims to develop new, exciting voices by providing three writers per year tuition-free access to GrubStreet’s classes and Muse & the Marketplace conferences.

Who’s it for: Anyone over the age of 18 who demonstrates ability and passion for writing is eligible.

The Writer’s Center says : Much like The Writer’s Center Compass Fellowship, GrubStreet’s program enables writers to advance their craft while eliminating the financial barriers to entry.

Emory University Creative Writing Fellowship

What it is: Emory University offers two-year fellowships in fiction, poetry, and playwriting. The teaching load is 2-1, and the fellowship comes with a $45,000 salary and health benefits.

Who’s it for: Anyone who has received an MFA or Ph.D. in the last five years, and who has creative writing teaching experience, a record of publication, and a first book published or underway.

The Writer’s Center says : This is an opportunity for recent graduates of a creative writing program to gain teaching experience as well as space and time to work on their creative projects.

23rd Annual Fall Celebration:  OCTOBER 17-20, 2024

Free, year-round public author events

in partnership with the MADISON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION

2023 Wisconsin Institute For Creative Writing Fellows Reading

Presented in partnership with the  UW-Madison Program in Creative Writing , poetry and fiction from the 2022-23 Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellows. This event will feature the work of Steven Espada Dawson, Yalitza Ferreras, Chessy Normile, Amanda Rizkalla and Taymour Soomro. 

Steven Espada Dawson

Steven Espada Dawson is the 2022-23 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison. The son of a Mexican immigrant, he is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. Most recently, his work appears in AGNI, Guernica, Kenyon Review, Ninth Letter, and Poetry. He is from East Los Angeles.

Yalitza Ferreras

Yalitza Ferreras is the 2022-23 Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and is a recent Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University. Winner of the 2020 Bellevue Literary Review prize in fiction, her stories have also appeared in Best American Short Stories, Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, Aster(ix) Journal, Colorado Review and elsewhere.

Chessy Normile

Chessy Normile is the 2022-23 Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison. She received a BA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in poetry from The Michener Center for Writers at University of Texas at Austin. Her first book of poems, Great Exodus, Great Wall, Great Party, was selected by Li-Young Lee for the 2020 APR/Honickman First Book Prize. She edits a zine series called Girl Blood Info.

Amanda Rizkalla

Amanda Rizkalla is a graduate of Stanford University and an MFA candidate in fiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been published in No Tokens Journal, The Esthetic Apostle, and Archipelago, as well as the Allegory Ridge fiction anthology. Her work is forthcoming in The Fabulist Words & Art.

Taymour Soomro

Taymour Soomro is the 2022-23 James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison. He is a Pakistani writer whose debut novel Other Names for Love is forthcoming from FSG in 2022, and whose short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and The Southern Review. He has published a textbook on law with Oxford University Press, and he is the co-editor of the anthology Letters to a Writer of Colour: Fourteen Authors on Craft, Race and Culture, forthcoming from Random House in 2023.

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CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIPS

The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in  prose  (fiction and creative nonfiction) and  poetry  to published creative writers that enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. 

This program operates on a two-year cycle with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. In 2024 we will be accepting applications in poetry.  

Learn  more about past recipients of our literature fellowships  in the Literary Arts Impact section. 

If you have questions about your application, please contact the Literary Arts staff at 202-682-5034 or email  [email protected]

Stay Connected to the National Endowment for the Arts

Residencies, Grants, and Fellowships for Writers: Nailing the Application

Establishing a sustainable writing life starts with making a compelling case for yourself. Learn from writers who’ve earned competitive opportunities to focus on and expand their craft.

Are you a writer seeking more support from your practice? 

Read this article to get tips on what writing samples to submit, how to write your statement of purpose, and specific success story case studies from accomplished literary writers Jonathan Escoffery , Maggie Millner , and Jemimah Wei . These insights come courtesy of a NYFA Learning panel discussion that was moderated by writer Kyle Carrero Lopez . 

Selecting Quality Writing Samples

Regardless of whether you’re applying for a residency, grant, or fellowship, you’ll want to have quality writing samples to submit with your application. Wei, Millner, and Escoffery offer their advice for what to include below.

“As a writer, you actually do have a gut feeling of what you resonate the most strongly with. It could be something that is more recently aligned with your artistic goals as you mature as an artist,” said Wei. She added: “My poet friend Cindy Juyoung Ok said that for her, she recommends thinking about a writing sample in terms of what you won’t regret submitting. There is so much arbitrariness and luck that comes with being accepted to things, so you might as well give it the most sincere shot you have.”

Millner agreed with Wei that your writing samples should represent who you are and what your goals are as a writer. In Escoffery’s experience, it boils down to what he is most excited about: which could be his “last best piece” that wound up in a magazine or something in manuscript form that no one has yet seen. “It’s what best represents me and where I’m at today as an artist. And it tends to be the thing that actually gets me into the next residency or fellowship program.” 

Poets will most likely submit a packet of poems, either a long poem, a section of a long poem, or a packet of various short, lyric poems. Millner has found success considering the pieces as a whole: “I’ve had more successes putting together work that speaks to each other. So there’s a kind of thematic cohesion.”

This speaks to the people reviewing the work, as Millner points out that “Usually, when fellowship juries are selecting you, they’re selecting you on the basis of their hope that you’re going to make something of substantial size through the opportunity,” adding that “A sample that might represent a sort of microcosm of your larger manuscript is very, very helpful for them to get a sense of what this kind of scope of work might be.”

This type of thinking can apply to fiction writers, too. “If you’re selecting an excerpt versus if you’re selecting a short story or an essay, something that’s inherently self-contained. What you want to facilitate for the jury is a kind of reading experience,” said Millner.

Whatever the discipline, Millner encourages you to think of the reviewer as a reader foremost. “These are readers who you want to have some kind of aesthetic, emotional, and intellectual response to your work. Keep in mind that you’re trying to facilitate an experience that has a holism and an arc to it.”

Escoffery underscores the importance of engaging the reader early on. “Readers don’t have a lot of time to sit with your work and consider it. If they know the setting, the main characters, and what the conflict is as early as possible, you can ground them very quickly in your story.”

Getting Feedback and Revising Drafts

Always polish your work before sending it out into the world. Additional eyes will help you to better understand what resonates with readers and will inform changes that will make your work stronger.

Wei sends her draft to first readers who are both writers and non writers. “The reason why is because, firstly, I want to get the non-industry idea on these things. And I also want to know that my work is connecting with people who aren’t necessarily habitual readers. It is also realizing that there are at least two levels of screening. You have screeners who are probably volunteers or alumni screening the first and second level. So I’m thinking of how my work can appeal to a range of people and then based on feedback do revisions.”

She does at least 10 to 15 revisions before sending it out. “It isn’t necessarily about polishing it for an application. I polish everything, anyway,” she added.

For Millner, this sort of polishing could happen in a workshop, through peer feedback, or through the editorial process when you’ve had a piece published. “Often the work that’s been through a workshop or that’s at least been on your hard drive for a couple of months that you’ve fallen in and out of love with enough times that you can look at slightly more objectively will better serve you.”

Escoffery uses the work of other authors as a litmus test for his work. He typically works in multiple drafts, putting drafts aside and revisiting over time. “The last thing for me is reading the work of authors who I feel like my work is in conversation with and if I read one of their stories or a chapter of their novel and I don’t feel embarrassed when I go back to my own work, I think ‘Wow!’ I think my best stuff right now could possibly sit next to my favorite writer’s stuff. That’s when I feel really confident about it and that it’s probably ready to be seen.”

Refining Your Statement of Purpose

A statement of purpose is the other big part of writing applications. It is basically a way of summarizing who you are as a writer, what you’re looking to do, and why the opportunity you’re applying for can help you to achieve it and accomplish larger future goals.

Escoffery asks himself these questions when considering the statement of purpose: “How do I articulate what I’m trying to accomplish on the page? What contribution am I giving or attempting to give to literature? Are these greater conversations that we’re having as artists in the world?” 

He also encourages you to think of yourself as the main character in a story. “What are the stakes of your story? What are the stakes of you getting or not getting this opportunity? Place yourself in the position so that panelists understand you are perfectly poised for whatever it is they are offering you to take that next step, and oftentimes it could be helpful to copy and paste the mission statement off the website that is describing whatever it is they are offering you.” Really learn about what the opportunity is so that you can highlight how it will not only benefit you, but add value to them. 

Wei suggests tailoring the statement to what you’re applying for, as well as finding ways of again connecting with your readers. “I’ve moved towards being more sincere in my statements because that not only plays with the tone of my writing but also helps readers feel a connection with my work.”

More practically, she advises that you: “Think about what language you’re using in your statements and say something really specific about your work and what you’re trying to do as an artist.” For Wei, it is about communicating her vision of the world, or a vision of what she sees literature should be doing and can possibly be doing.

Millner starts with the “What.” Like, “What is the project that I’m hoping to be working on? Or, in the case of a conference, What’s the project that I’m in the middle of that this experience would really feed?” She notes that while it is incredibly difficult and impressive to simply describe clearly and lucidly what your in-progress project is, the idea of distilling it to its core is crucial.

Once you have the “What,” Millner says to consider the “Why” including questions like “Why is this project necessary to be in the world?” and “Why are you the person to make this work?” After answering the “Why is this project necessary” piece, answer “Why me? This is where you zoom away from the project itself and describe what it is about your experience as a writer, and identity and background as a human, that might equip you to be the person to tell this particular story,” she added.

While most application statements have a 1-2 page limit, Wei says to write long and then boil it down. “Because that is actually you explaining to yourself what you’re trying to do.” It may help you feel less intimidated when writing to feel less hemmed in by page count.

Escoffery, who keeps a five-page master document that he excerpts depending on the opportunity, highlights that these statements evolve with time. “The first one I really wrote was for my MFA applications, and it was terrifying. But you keep those documents, and you continue to revise them, and you continue to add your experience, and you continue to elaborate on your life journey. It gets easier and it gets better as you revise and revise.” 

Tracking Opportunities

Wei spoke about tracking opportunities in an excel sheet as a helpful step to take before starting specific applications. “Keep track of everything that’s out there and keep updating as you go. For new residencies, fellowships, and grants, having a column for what the opportunity is, what the deadlines are, and a bullet point list of what the requirements are is very helpful.” [Editor’s Note: visit our “Find and Track Applications” article for more on this topic!].

Wei also recommends separating these opportunities based on where you are in your career, and thinking about how these opportunities play into the larger network of how you’re building your career. For example, she flagged that a lot of early career opportunities are only really available to writers who are at the very start of their careers. A specific opportunity, like Reese’s Book Club’s LitUp Fellowship , is for writers who are non-agented. There are other unpublished opportunities, like the Elizabeth George Foundation grant in the U.S. and the Deborah Rogers Foundation grant in the UK. “Understanding what category you’re applying for is crucial because these opportunities exist within a larger ecosystem,” she says. 

Case Study: Jemimah Wei & Writing Conferences ( The Sewanee Writers’ Conference )

Transitioning to the topic of conferences, Wei suggests Vanessa Chan’s list of “ 19 Conferences for Emerging and Established Writers ” as a good place to start if you’re new to conferences. 

She encourages you to think about the type of environment that works best for you, cautioning that some conferences are intensely social and may mean hanging out with 100 people for two weeks! Also consider how much it will cost, what funding might be available to you, how genre-specific the conference is, and what it will cover. “A lot of conferences are workshop-centric, and include craft talks and special topic classes. And you get meetings with agents and editors and it’s not like the chance to read your work publicly,” she added.

Diving deeper into application materials, Wei notes that what you submit for a conference differs from what you’ll submit for a workshop. As there are several levels to the decision-making process, she suggests putting something forward with a strong immediate hook since reviewers aren’t obligated to read through to the end. An example of an unconventional beginning Wei shared from the first line of Jami Nakamura Lin’s speculative memoir is: “I was born with blue on my butt and a story in my mouth.” 

This line gives a sense of what the voice of Lin’s memoir might be, and also the voice of her writing sample. Wei also suggests considering the voice of your materials as a whole, creating  a consistency that will best represent you to reviewers.

“When I applied for Sewanee, I was talking about how writing for me is not simply an aesthetic endeavor. It’s something I really care about in terms of writing stories and creating a literary vision that has been hard and which depicts moral contradictions and inherently complicated situations with generosity and compassion. That is something I try to do in my work, and that is something I try to emulate as well,” said Wei.

This sentiment touches on another important aspect that conferences bring: the opportunity to make and foster community. In the past, Wei has noted works that have moved her, linked them to her clarity of vision, and mapped it into a desire to develop enduring relationships that can help her to refine, share, and better her work. She used this approach with Sewanee, connecting it back to why the environment would be helpful.

“It’s really important to think about how you’re going to fit into your community and how you might benefit from being in community at the conferences that you apply for,” she said.

Case Study: Jonathan Escoffery & Residential Fellowships ( The Wallace Stegner Fellowship )

Escoffery agreed with Wei’s above sentiments on community, seconding that conferences and workshops can play a major role in your writing career on what opportunities might come your way. Not only do you interact with and meet peers, you will meet editors and agents (and potentially future editors, agents, and reviewers!). 

To that end, he suggests building a basic website if you do not already have one with “a short bio or short statement that talks about what kind of writing and art you’re interested in creating, reading, or seeing in the world.” It will help to have that kind of present, because when you start submitting your work and applications it will act as a landing page where people can find you.

Escoffery shifted to his experience with the Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University (where Wei was also a Fellow), citing a couple of other examples including the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University and the Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University. For background, the Stegner Fellowship is a two year program where Fellows are expected to be in residence in the San Francisco Bay area. They select five fiction writers and five poets to participate each year, who receive a $50,000 stipend each year.

From September to June, Fellows attend a weekly writing workshop where participants read and give critical feedback to their peers. Escoffery highlights that the other six days of the week enable participants the freedom to create. After the program concludes, Fellows can apply for lectureships or TA-ships at Stanford. There’s also what’s called the Levinthal Tutorial , which gives Fellows the opportunity to mentor an undergraduate in a directed independent study.

Pivoting back to statement specifics, Escoffery underscores the importance of being a subject matter expert in what you’re trying to do that’s based on your own unique identity. “It could be one big part of it, depending on what it is that you’re writing and when I say identity, that might be your racial or ethnic background. But it could also be your geographic location where it is,” he said.

For example, Escoffery’s first book If I Survive You (Macmillan 2022), which was a Finalist for the 2023 Booker Prize and Longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction, and his forthcoming second book take place in Miami, FL. “I grew up in Miami. I’m writing about Jamaicans and Jamaican Americans. I’m a Jamaican American. But you could also talk about your career or education.” 

Though you might not write in your statement about being the first of the only person to be doing a thing or writing a book on a particular topic, Escoffery counsels that you “might talk about being part of a particular wave of writers and artists who are exploring a particular topic that is underexplored.”

He adds that if the topic/s you explore in your work connect back to conversations that are already happening in the national consciousness, it can help your readers to further understand why it’s important to support it. Just be sure to frame it in your statement, making the connections clear.

Case Study: Maggie Millner & Fellowships ( Olive B. O’Connor Fellowship and Stadler Fellowship )

The O’Connor Fellowship and Stadler Fellowships are year-long residential fellowships comparable to the Wisconsin Institute Creative Writing Fellowship or the Wallace Stegner Fellowship (mentioned above). They offer a chunk of writing time, often after an MFA or after a period of generating a lot of material, to hunker down and not have too many responsibilities while getting health insurance and a monthly check to polish up or finish a manuscript.

Millner shared an example statement that she wrote for the O’Connor Fellowship, highlighting a characterization that she included of the Fellowship and what receiving it would mean to her craft and teaching practice. She also included a synopsis of her project, and more about who she is and the work she was doing. For example: “At the time of writing, I’m nearly halfway through a first draft of the book, having written more than 20 poems that feel essential to the project.”

She continued: “Tell them what you need and where you’re at, and the timeline you’re hoping to complete your manuscript by.” Part of the O’Connor Fellowship involved teaching, so she made sure to highlight what she wanted to get out of that aspect of the program. She emphasizes that you thoughtfully tailor your statement to the opportunity to show the panelists that you fully understand what it is and why you are a fit. Particularly for a program that is housed within a university setting, you want to write for your audience, who are department chairs and professors and part of a larger academic community.

For the O’Connor Fellowship, that also meant including her approach to teaching creative writing. “In my statement of purpose, I was really highlighting both my pedagogy and my particular writing project, and where I’m at in my work.”

Additional Resources

• Poets & Writers’ Submission Calendar – a calendar for contests, residencies, and workshops
• New Pages – a resource for poets, includes calls for submissions, writing contests, and book prizes
• Artist Communities “Find a Residency” – a directory for artists, scholars, educators, and other creative professionals
• Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Contests & Awards – AWP sponsors six contests and provides an extensive listing of grants, awards, and publication opportunities

–Compiled by Amy Aronoff, Senior Communications Officer

You can find more articles on arts career topics by visiting the  Business of Art section of NYFA’s website .  Sign up for NYFA News  and receive artist resources and upcoming events straight to your inbox.

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• Writing Fellowships for 2024 Now Accepting Applications

Erin Duchesne

What is a Writing Fellowship? 

How to apply to a writing fellowship , research fellowships, review eligibility requirements, build a portfolio, write a personal statement/proposal, ask for letters of recommendation , carefully fill out your application , prepare for interviews , writing fellowships for 2024.

Are you an aspiring or professional writer? Are you looking for an opportunity to focus on your craft and get paid while doing it? If this describes you than applying for writing fellowships might be a good fit for you and your goals. 

If you are already working on a passion project or have an idea in your head, there are plenty of writing fellowships for the 2024 season you can apply for. 

A writing fellowship is a fantastic opportunity for creative talents to pursue research and projects in their area of expertise. A fellowship is a short-term employment contract offered by an institution, often a university that usually lasts for one or two academic years. 

Every writing fellowship is different in terms of eligibility, expectations, and compensation. There are fellowships looking for writing professionals in a very specific niche or industry, but many fellowships are open to any type of creative field.

Depending on the fellowship, the successful candidate may be granted with opportunities such as teaching or attending courses at the university and give public readings of their work during their contract. 

Writing fellowships pay their fellows a stipend that is usually enough to be able to commit their full attention to their work. While it varies, it is common to be provided or assisted with finding accommodation, studio space, and often benefits, travel and/or moving allowances. 

As with anything, it is important to do your research and find the right writing fellowships before applying. 

If the idea of becoming a writing fellow truly excites you, then it is time to look at how to research and apply to fellowships and snag a coveted spot. Writing fellowships are a great opportunity to perfect your craft and contribute to your field while getting financial support. This also means that they can be very competitive with so many talented applicants who want the same thing as you. 

With careful preparation, you can stand out from the crowd and increase your chances of success. Again, every fellowship is different, but here are some general guidelines of what it takes to apply for writing fellowships. 

Research carefully!

The first step in any process is to do lots of research before making any decisions. There are writing fellowships all over the world with different start dates and lengths in different subject areas. Find some that align with your wants and needs that you are excited to apply for.

Don’t apply for a fellowship that would require you to move across the country (or the world) if you are not prepared to do so!

Found a writing fellowship that you think you would be perfect for? Before investing time and money into the lengthy application process be sure to thoroughly read the eligibility requirements.

Each fellowship has its own specific criteria for who can apply including experience, citizenship, location, etc. Ensure you fit all of the eligibility requirements before applying. 

A major factor of how fellows are chosen is based on their portfolio . The selection committee wants to see your creativity, quality of work, writing style, and skill to determine if you are the right fit for the fellowship program. 

Aside from your application form and portfolio , many fellowship programs will either ask for a project proposal or personal statement describing yourself, your passion for writing, your accomplishments and your intentions for the fellowship. 

Remember to be thorough and authentic while being diligent to follow all of the requirements of the proposal or statement. 

Many writing fellowships want to get a better sense of you and your work ethic from third party sources. That’s where letters of recommendation come in. Reach out to mentors, professors, and supervisors who will be willing and able to attest to your character and abilities. 

Once you have compiled all of your documents and reached out to people who can support you, it is time to carefully fill out any further application forms. Remember to review all of your application documents for accuracy to avoid any unexpected hiccups in the process and be sure to submit everything before the deadline. 

Some fellowships will invite a select few candidates to an interview to finish out the selection process. If the writing fellowships you applied for have an interview component, do not wait until you are invited to start practicing. The more you rehearse telling your story and sharing your work, the easier it will be to nail that interview. 

We have compiled a list of 12 writing fellowships that are accepting applications between now and the end of 2024 to help you get started in your research.

Nieman Fellowships  

• Application deadline: International applications due December 1; U.S. applications due January 31 
• Eligibility: Working journalists with five or more years of full-time media experience
• Payment: $80,000 stipend paid over a nine-month period 

The Steinbeck Fellows Program

• Application deadline: January 5, 2024
• Eligibility: Exceptional talent in the areas of creative writing, including fiction, drama, creative nonfiction or biography
• Payment: $15,000 stipend 

O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism

• Application deadline: January 19, 2024
• Eligibility: American journalists with at least five years of professional experience 
• Payment: $75,000 stipend plus moving, research, and travel allowances

MacDowell Colony Fellowships

• Application Deadline: February 10, 2024 (fall/winter); September 10, 2024 (spring/summer)
• Eligibility: Artists and writers at various career stages
• Payment: Residencies include room, board, and studio space

Scripps Fellowship  

• Application deadline: March 1 annually
• Eligibility: American journalists with five or more years of experience working in any medium who are interested in deepening and broadening their knowledge of environmental issues.
• Payment: $71,000

Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellows

• Eligibility: Applicants must have completed or be scheduled to complete an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing by August 15 of the fellowship year
• Payment: $39,000 paid over nine months 

James Jones First Novel Fellowship  

• Application deadline: March 15, 2024
• Eligibility: American author who has not yet published a novel
• Payment: $10,000

The Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program

• Application deadline: Spring 2024
• Eligibility: US citizens able to commit to a year of  full-time work in investigative journalism
• Payment: $22.68 per hour plus benefits

The Hodder Fellowship

• Application deadline: September 2024
• Eligibility: Promising writers and artists 
• Payment: Academic year at Princeton; $90,000 stipend 

Persephone Miel Fellowship

• Application deadline: Rolling
• Eligibility: Open to all journalists, writers, photographers, radio producers, or filmmakers, staff journalists outside the U.S and Western Europe
• Payment: $5,000 grant 

Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship

• Application deadline: November 15
• Eligibility: Writers working on a broad range of topics related to American history and culture 
• Payment: $45,000 stipend for nine month residency in Chestertown, MD

The Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University

• Application deadline: November 1
• Eligibility: Emerging writers in fiction and poetry
• Payment: $50,000 per academic year (two-year program) plus tuition and benefits

Landing a writing fellowship is an incredible accomplishment and opportunity to focus on your craft. If you think this is an avenue you want to pursue, don’t miss out on your opportunity to apply to some of the exciting writing fellowships for 2024. 

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Information for Enrolled MFAs in Creative Writing

Financial support.

If you do not hold a Kemper-Knapp Fellowship, an Advanced Opportunity Fellowship (AOF), or a Martha Meier Renk Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, then your total annual funding will be $25,000 and will come in two forms: (1) a TAship (delivered bi-weekly through payroll, with taxes taken out), and (2) three annual scholarships delivered in September, February, and May, through the bursar and e-refund system. Though the total funding will always be $25,000, exact TAship and scholarship amounts vary from year to year. In 2022-23, MFAs will receive a 40% TAship totaling $16,400, a $3,000 scholarship in September, another $3,000 scholarship in February, and a $2,600 scholarship in May.

Kemper-Knapp, AOF, and Renk fellows should refer to their offer letters for more detailed information about funding, but these fellows will not receive less than $25,000 in total support. Typically these fellows receive reduced scholarship disbursements because their fellowship funding surpasses TA funding.

Satisfactory Progress

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MFA in Creative Writing is designed to enable students to develop professional excellence in their chosen genre of creative writing, through substantial literary study and concentrated training and practice in various types of literary expression, over a two-year period devoted to the writing, reading, and teaching of contemporary literature.  Reflecting the English Department’s mission statement, the MFA will enable the most talented new writers in the country to explore, with complexity and intensity, the production and interpretation of literature and culture.

To qualify for the MFA degree, a student must complete 42 credits of course work over four consecutive semesters in residence at Madison, culminating in the completion of a book-length thesis. Up to six credits of graduate work done elsewhere may be counted toward the elective requirement for the degree, subject to the approval of the Creative Writing Steering Committee. The three workshop courses, and the pedagogy course, must be completed in residence.

The MFA degree is awarded on the basis of the student’s total performance in graduate work, as outlined below.

Grade-Point Expectations

As representatives of UW’s Department of English, MFA candidates in creative writing are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.5 or above. In addition to coursework, each candidate is also expected to pursue an independent schedule of reading and writing in consultation with their professors and thesis advisors. Any MFA who receives a grade lower than a B in any course (whether workshop, pedagogy, or elective) will be placed on informal academic probation by the MFA Director, in consultation with the Creative Writing Steering Committee. A cumulative GPA that dips below 3.5 will be brought to the attention of the Director of Graduate Studies, and may be determined to constitute “unsatisfactory progress” toward the degree, which may in turn result in a student’s scholarships, tuition remission, and/or TAship being revoked. A GPA of 3.0 or below, however, will certainly be considered “unsatisfactory progress” and disciplinary measures will be taken accordingly.

An MFA candidate may not have more than two incompletes on his or her record at any one time. Incompletes will be allowed only in extraordinary circumstances, and they must be removed within eight weeks of the following semester of registration.  If an incomplete is not removed within that time, the grade will revert to a failure unless special dispensation is granted by the Director of the MFA Program.

Credit Requirements

Each MFA must complete 42 credit-hours to graduate, and cannot take more than 6 thesis hours per semester.

• 9 credit-hours of workshop in the candidate’s primary genre (fiction or poetry, ENGL 781 or 782) during the first, second and third semesters.
• 3 credit-hours of Creative Writing Pedagogy (ENGL 783) during the first semester, or the third semester for Kemper Knapp Fellows.
• At least 15 credit-hours of thesis work (3 in each of the first, second, and third semesters, and 6 in the final semester), through course number ENGL 785.
• At least 9 credit-hours of electives (usually divided evenly among the second, third, and fourth semesters). Electives must be approved by the MFA Director. They should be graduate-level courses, or undergraduate courses numbered 300 or above.
• 6 additional credit-hours of electives or thesis hours.

Teaching Requirements

In addition to the course work, MFA students (with the exception of AOF Fellows, Kemper Knapp Fellows, or Martha Meier Renk Fellows) will teach one course in creative writing or composition in each of their four semesters in residence. AOF, Kemper Knapp, and Renk fellows will teach one course in each of two semesters during their first or second year, as indicated in the offer letter.  Successful teaching, as determined by student and faculty evaluations of classes, is a requirement for satisfactory progress toward the MFA degree.

Thesis Requirements

The capstone project for the MFA degree is the completion of a thesis, a book-length manuscript of poetry or fiction. The thesis is the single most important requirement of the MFA, and will be an outgrowth of work done for the writing workshops and in conjunction with individual conferences. There is no oral or written examination per se, but each candidate will confer periodically with a thesis advisor during each of the semesters in residence, and will discuss the thesis with the advisor and a second reader (the advisor and said reader constituting the student’s thesis committee) before the end of the fourth semester in residence. The committee will affirm that the successful thesis represents an ambitious project of publishable quality.

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Center for Steinbeck Studies

Steinbeck Fellowship

The Steinbeck Fellows Program of San José State University was endowed through the generosity of  Martha Heasley Cox . It offers writers of any age and background a $15,000 fellowship to finish a significant writing project. Named in honor of author John Steinbeck, the program is guided by his lifetime of work in literature, the media, and environmental activism.

Fellowships are currently offered in Creative Writing (excluding poetry) and Steinbeck Studies. Fellows may be appointed in many fields, including literary scholarship, fiction, drama, education, science and the media. 

Find more Application Information before you apply.

Graduate Steinbeck Fellows

The Center also supports up to six exceptional incoming students in San José State's MFA/Creative Writing and MA/English  programs with full in-state tuition for their first year of study. All applicants to the two programs are considered for these fellowships; there is no additional application. Visit our  Graduate Steinbeck Fellows page  to learn more.

Steinbeck / Gentlemen of the Road Service Fellowship

The Steinbeck / Gentlemen of the Road Service Fellowship brings together a cohort of students from Stanford University and San José State University to complete a summer of community service in Steinbeck Country. The Fellowship is funded by “Gentlemen of the Road,”  the community engagement organization of the folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, from the proceeds of a concert the band played at Stanford University in September 2019 upon receiving the John Steinbeck Award . The Fellowship is open to students from any race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or domestic partner status, political affiliation, HIV or AIDS status, or disability. Fellows receive a stipend of $5,500, with an additional $2,200 possible depending on financial need.

This Year's Steinbeck Fellows

View Past Fellows

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