by NmaHassan Muhammad

Below are a number of funding opportunities for writers that are open to submissions. If a deadline is known, it is included.

Whale Rock Workshops’ 2022 Diversity Grant 

Whale Rock Workshops is working in conjunction with Greatest Stories Never Told (501c3) to offer BIPOC and other under-represented students full tuition coverage to participate in one of their programs. Students who demonstrate talent and financial need will be prioritized. Applicants do not have to be published or agented, but the student who must reside in Canada or USA, must have writing samples and be working on a writing project. Students must have access to a laptop and Zoom technology AND must be able to participate in the full duration of each program. Grants are designed for their full immersion programs: The Virtual Master Skills Workshop and Mentorship Program.

Also, candidates must be new to Whale Rock Workshops and must submit a writing experience statement (tell us what you write and why, and what your writing journey has been like to date). For the week-long master’s workshop, please submit a 1000 word writing sample of a manuscript geared towards middle grade or young adult readers. For the mentorship program, please submit a complete picture book manuscript or a 1000 word middle grade or young adult sample.

Deadline is March 1, 2022.

For details, go here.

2022 Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award

The Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award is a grant of $12,500 to support the work of a promising early-career nonfiction writer on a story that uncovers truths about the human condition. The award proceeds from the recognition that many important stories need to be reported from afar, and that publications do not always have the resources to send a writer where the story is. The money need not be used exclusively for travel, but we expect that most successful applications will include such expenses.

The award will not fund proposals to report on armed conflicts where journalists are already imperiled, nor projects that are mainly investigatory. The winner will normally receive visiting scholar privileges at NYU, including library access.

Deadline is March 3, 2022.

For details, go here.

Highlights Foundation New Scholarships

Highlights Foundation have put a new, streamlined process in place for scholarship applications and will award more than $75,000 in scholarships in 2022! The application period is open to all aspiring and published storytellers. The awards will be made as follows: 25 full tuition scholarships and 20 partial tuition scholarships for workshops that take place at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center, 30 full tuition scholarships for online courses, and 15 scholarships for personal retreats at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center. Recipients will be notified in April, and will choose the workshop or retreat that meets their interests during the 2022 or 2023 program seasons. Awards will be based on the following criteria, evaluated by a scholarship committee via the application: seriousness of purpose (including time and effort devoted to craft), talent (displayed via a writing or art sample), and financial need.

Deadline is March 13, 2022.

For details, go here.

The Princess Grace Awards 2022

The Princess Grace Awards recognize both creative generators (including but not limited to theater directors, designers,  choreographers, film directors, etc.) and performance-based creatives (including but not limited to actors, dancers, etc.) currently living and working in the United States. Applicants who are not U.S. citizens must have permanent work authorization from USCIS. It also offers a Playwriting Fellowship through a partnership with New Dramatists.

The award is an unrestricted cash grant of $10,000 paid directly to the artist. All applicants must be nominated by a non-profit university, organization, media arts center or previous Princess Grace Award winner.

Deadline is March 15, 2022.

For details, go here. To apply, go here.

Sustainable Arts Foundation Individual Award (for parent writers)

This year, SAF will make awards of $5,000 each to twenty artists and writers with children. Their awards offer unrestricted cash, which recipients can use as they see fit. Their selection process is focused almost entirely on the strength of the submitted portfolio.

To be eligible, the applicant must have at least one child under the age of 18. Parents of older children with a disability or special needs may also be eligible.

Artists and writers with at least one child under the age of 18 and a strong portfolio are welcome to apply.

Details here.

Groits Well Poetry Development Program

Writerz and Scribez CIC is accepting submissions for Griot’s Well – a 1 year poetry development programme for Black and ethnically diverse UK poets over the age of 25. Only one entry per applicant will be accepted. Over the course of a year the selected eight poets will be supported through a range of activities including monthly critique workshops, five masterclasses, one to one mentoring, 3 day writing retreat, and paid artist residencies. Poets must be able to commit to the duration of the project.

Deadline is February 18, 2022.

Details here.

Emergency Fund for Diverse Creatives and Educators

WNDB provides emergency grants to diverse authors, illustrators, publishing professionals, and K-12 educators who are experiencing dire financial need. They aim to bolster these marginalized groups by giving grants between $500 and $1,000 each.

Details here.

Educators Making a Difference Grants

WNDB established the Educators Making a Difference Grants for educators who believe in the importance of incorporating diverse books by diverse authors into their schools, libraries, and educational organizations. These grants will provide up to $2000 per recipient and can be used toward buying diverse titles, hosting diversity-focused student or community events, or any other project that supports diverse literature.

Details here.

The Writing Barn Scholarship

The Writing Barn has a small but budding scholarship program available for our programming. Scholarships are awarded on the following criteria: seriousness of purpose, talent and financial need. They also offer specific Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity scholarships for B.I.P.O.C, LGBTQIA+, Neurodiverse writers, and writers with disabilities.

Full or partial scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis and those being awarded scholarships will be notified as soon as possible. If you have any other questions please email info@thewritingbarn.com.

Details here.

Whole Novel Historical: A Virtual Course for Historical Novelists

The Whole Novel Workshop by the Highlights Foundation is offering writers the rare opportunity to have the entire draft of a novel (up to 80,000 words) read with written feedback provided.  The course will run from April 24 – June 16, 2022. This multi- month online program focuses on the Historical Novel, with sessions dedicated to: planning for revision, writing history as a contemporary author, confronting writer’s block, submissions, and building a supportive network of writers. Scholarships are available for this workshop outside of their traditional scholarship process.

Deadline to submit is April 9, 2022.

Details here, submission here.

Miami Book Fair’s Emerging Writer Fellowships

Miami Book Fair’s Emerging Writer Fellowships program offers a life-changing experience to fresh literary voices. EWF supports developing writers who demonstrate exceptional talent and promise by providing them with time, space, and an intellectually and culturally rich artistic community. The program’s goal is to actively support these writers – who are working to complete a book-length project within a year – and help them launch their literary careers. Emerging Writer fellows are granted professional experience in arts administration, teaching creative writing, and other opportunities; a $41,000 stipend; and strong literary community support to allow for 12 glorious months of uninterrupted time to craft their works.

Send inquiries to: wbookfair@mdc.edu.

Details here.

The Joel Gay Creative Fellowship

In memorial of Joel Gay, this fellowship will support three emerging writers for one year as they develop and publish a newsletter on the Substack platform. Fellows, who will contract with Substack, will receive a $25,000.00 stipend, paid monthly from the initial publication of their newsletter, as well as up to $15,000.00 in services from Substack, including editorial support, design assistance in developing a logo for their newsletter, access to Getty Images, Substack Defender and other business support services. In addition, there will be a mentorship on craft and the business of writing for the fellowship duration.

It is open to writers from all backgrounds that do not have a book published or under any contract, with special consideration for those from underrepresented communities. To apply, submit a brief proposal detailing the newsletter you would like to create and why as well as brief summaries of five potential newsletter issues (essays).

Deadline is February 10, 2022.

For details, go here.