by NmaHassan Muhammad
This list consists of fellowships, residencies, and writing and journalism bursaries. Please read the full guidelines and requirements before you apply to these opportunities.
Scott Trust Bursary – The Guardian
The Guardian Foundation is this year offering six bursaries for aspiring journalists to study for an MA in journalism. This is for UK-based writers; see eligibility requirements here. The primary aim of these bursary awards is to assist students who face financial difficulty in attaining the qualifications needed to pursue a career in journalism, and who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the media.
The bursaries pay all course tuition fees and provide a subsistence allowance of £6,741 towards living expenses, and more for those in London. In addition, candidates take part in up to six weeks of work experience at Guardian News & Media and are paired with a Guardian mentor. The opportunity also provides the possibility of a paid fixed-term contract at the Guardian, following the successful completion of the scheme.
This is open to those who have already completed their degree and those who are still currently studying. Please note that you must have graduated before the Masters course starts. They do not accept deferred applications. Please check out the available courses, application instructions and the FAQs page before you apply. Also, you’ll be required to sign up for a free account on the website.
Deadline is May 15, 2023. More details here and here.
AIR–Artist in Residence
AIR–Artist in Residence Niederösterreich offers living and working spaces for architects, visual artists, musicians and writers in Krems an der Donau for a period of one to three months. Studio apartments and a monthly stipend of €1300 shall be awarded based on the premise that foreign artists are to be given the opportunity to work in Lower Austria and get to know different art and cultural institutions in the country. By bringing foreign artists in contact with the Austrian artist scene, AIR–Artist in Residence Niederösterreich seeks to contribute to the internationalization of art in the country and to promote a process of interdisciplinary exchange in the arts. This international exchange takes place primarily on an institutionalized level once a year during their open call.
The basic prerequisite for funding is a degree in a field of art (university level). If the applicant does not have a university degree, proof of equivalent ability must be provided through his or her artistic career. In any case, the applicant must demonstrate regular artistic activity in the proposed areas of funding. Applicants can be artists from the areas of building culture, visual arts, digital arts, literature and music. Austrian artists and artists residing in Austria are not eligible to apply.
A couple of requirements of a literature application are sample text and planned project description. An 80% attendance at AIR–Artist in Residence is compulsory.
Deadline is May 21, 2023. More details here. Submission here (you’ll be required to register before applying).
Jessica George Bursary
Jessica George Bursary is aimed at offering comprehensive support to an underrepresented writer seeking agent representation. The winner will receive: a non cash prize valued at £1200; a full manuscript assessment (which includes an editorial report and a follow up conversation); agent one-to-ones; ticket to the Festival of Writing; a day-ticket to Jericho Writers’ Festival of Writing in October 2023; a lifetime Premium Membership; a lifetime Jericho Writers Premium Membership and tailored support. Two runner-ups will each receive an online one-to-one and a lifetime Jericho Writers Premium Membership.
You must have a completed manuscript that you’re ready to seek agent representation with. Your manuscript must be general adult fiction, fitting under commercial or literary. Genre fiction is not eligible (this includes sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, romance, historical fiction, etc.). The bursary is exclusively open to residents of the United Kingdom who identify as underrepresented.
To apply, you will need: the first 500 words of your manuscript; a full synopsis of maximum 1 page; and a short introduction to yourself, including how you qualify as underrepresented, and what winning the bursary would mean to you.
Deadline is May 22, 2023. More details here.
Grubstreet Teaching Fellowship for Black Writers
GrubStreet’s Teaching Fellowship for Black Writers provides financial and professional development support to two self-identified Black writers interested in teaching classes, participating in events, and working with our instructors and staff to deepen their curriculum. The fellowship includes compensation of $25,000, artistic mentorship, a showcase of the Fellows’ work, and access to the GrubStreet community and the Muse and the Marketplace conference, and a two-year GrubStreet membership. The program offers sustainable support to Black writers and creates a cohort of fellows who have direct access to GrubStreet resources, classes, and events. They also hope the fellows can influence GrubStreet’s pedagogy and cultural vision based on their experience and feedback.
The teaching load and responsibilities for the fellowship year include: teaching one ten-week class, one six-week class, one week-long teen camp, one three-hour seminar (plus, the option to teach more for additional payment). The fellow will also moderate or participate in a Boston Writers of Color’s event, meet with the Head of Faculty and Education Director periodically to track progress and end the year with a showcase and conversation on their Writer’s Stage (additional stipend paid to Fellows for this).
Meet with new fellows at the end of your own fellowship year.
This fellowship is open to writers who self-identify as Black, are 18 or older, are able to work with both adult and teen audiences, and have a passion for expansive pedagogy, curriculum development, and professional growth. Ideal candidates will have some publication and teaching experience. Preference will be given to those working on their first book or a larger project. MFAs, a long publishing record, or extensive teaching experience are not requirements to apply, though feel free to state if you have any of these things. Submission materials include: a personal statement (500 words max); CV or resume; a writing sample (20 pages limit for prose; 12 pages for poetry; 25 pages for scripts; and 20 pages for other or fused genres); and two personal references (name, email, and phone number).
Deadline is May 30, 2023. More details here. Submission here.
The Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowships
The Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowships offer grants, editorial mentorship, and other opportunities to early-career New York City-based practitioners who are at a critical moment in their development as fiction writers. During the one-year Fellowship period, grantees will receive: a grant of $5,000; have their manuscript revised and critiqued by an experienced editor; access to write in their Writers Studio; meet with editors, authors, and agents who represent new writers at monthly dinners; two public readings as part of their annual program of events; a professional headshot for personal publicity use; inclusion in an anthology distributed to industry professionals; tickets to their First Novel Fête and/or Annual Awards Benefit; complimentary admission to all Center events; a 25% discount on writing workshops at the Center; and a workshop on reading as performance, conducted by Audible.
Deadline is May 31, 2023. More details here, here. Submission here.
Eliza Moore Fellowship for Artistic Excellence
The Eliza Moore Fellowship for Artistic Excellence is awarded annually to one outstanding, early-career artist who is developing new works that address plants, gardens, or landscapes in the broad sense. This award is open to visual artists, literary artists, dancers, and musicians. The award includes a $10,000 individual grant and requires a 2-5 week stay at Oak Spring. While at OSGF, the Fellow will be able to meet with staff, explore their 700-acre landscape and their efforts in sustainable land management, and visit their rare book library that holds over 19,000 objects, including many examples of botanical art.
OSGF intends to award the Fellowship to an exceptional artist whose works show remarkable promise to contribute to a deeper understanding of the natural world, and humankind’s place in it. The Fellow will be scheduled to visit when there are other Interdisciplinary Residents or Fellows on-site. This scheduling will allow the Fellow to join in communal meals, and optional activities and field trips with other artists, ecologists, researchers, or scholars working on projects related to OSGF’s mission. At the culmination of their stay, Fellows are encouraged, but not required, to give a 20-30 minute presentation with time for questions, to Oak Spring staff and any other Fellows, Residents, or program participants who might be on site.
Materials include: a resume/curriculum vitae (not to exceed two pages); a 200 – 300-word statement on your artistic practice; a statement of 200 – 300 words stating how your work relates to Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s mission; and work samples.
Eligible applicants must be early-career artists not enrolled in an undergraduate degree program in 2024. They will consider individuals with a proven track-record of professionalism, but who are yet under-recognized, as early-career. Eligible early-career applicants will have some recognition in the form of exhibitions, commissions, performances, grant awards, residencies, Fellowships and/or publications. Individuals who have participated in an extensive number of solo exhibitions, or who have published a significant number of books are not eligible. They encourage those who are not eligible for this Fellowship to apply to the Interdisciplinary Residency. Please read the full guidelines before you apply.
Deadline is May 31, 2023. More details here. Submission here.
Pillars Artist Fellowship
The Pillars Artist Fellowship champions and mentors Muslim directors and writers, 18 years or older and based in the UK or US (at the time of the application). In addition to an unrestricted award of $25,000, ten (10) fellows will receive mentorship from industry experts on how to navigate the business of Hollywood, professional development and creative guidance in their fields, and access to an advisory committee of award-winning Muslim actors, directors, producers and writers. Please read their FAQs page for full eligibility and requirements.
Deadline is May 31, 2023. More details here and here. Submission here.
Global Africa Translation Fellowship 2024
The Africa Institute invites applications to the fourth cohort of the Global Africa Translation Fellowship for the year 2024. The fellowship welcomes applications from across the Global South for a grant of up to $5,000 to complete translations of works from the African continent and its diaspora, into English or Arabic. This is a non-residential fellowship that allows the recipient scholar to complete the work outside of The Africa Institute (Sharjah, UAE). The aim of the fellowship is to make important texts in African and African Diaspora studies accessible to a wider readership across the world.
Recipients will be chosen based on the quality of the proposal, and the demonstrated capacity of the applicant to complete the project. Selected projects may be retranslations of old, classic texts, previously untranslated works, poetry, prose, or critical theory collections. The project may be a work-in-progress, or a new project feasible for completion within the timeframe of the grant.
Submitted applications must include a statement, sample, copyright status (if applicable), and CV, in that order into a single PDF file. Please read the full requirements and the format guidelines before you apply.
Deadline is June 1, 2023. More details here.
The Bard Fiction Prize
The Bard Fiction Prize is awarded to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application. The winner will receive $30,000 and will be appointed as writer in residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation of teaching traditional courses. The recipient gives at least one public lecture and meets informally with students.
The prize is intended to encourage and support young writers of fiction, and provide them with an opportunity to work in a fertile intellectual environment. To apply, candidates should write a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard and submit a CV, along with three copies of the published book they feel best represents their work. No manuscripts will be accepted.
Deadline is June 1, 2023. More details here.
Bio: NmaHassan Muhammad writes and resides in Minna, Nigeria. He has been shortlisted for the new The Welkin Prize and is also a category prize winner. Like his picture books, he dedicates this win to Hamood, and all those children we have and lost. Follow him on Twitter @NmahassanM
