by Hassan Muhammad
The following list provides you with excellent opportunities to start the year with a foot through the door. So stop your procrastination – please! – and get your application out – before deadlines arrive. Best of luck with your applications!
Also please note that Princeton University Press has a great fellow opportunity now entering it’s second year. Applicants must be a US citizen or permanent resident over the age of 18. There are two positions available, each paying $40,000 USD a year, plus benefits. To find out more, go here.
GrubStreet Emerging Writer Fellowship
The Emerging Writer Fellowship aims to develop new, exciting voices by providing three writers one year access to GrubStreet’s classes and Muse & the Marketplace conferences. The fellowship is for one year. The Fellows will attend a combination of seminars and multi-week courses of their choosing, bookended by attendance at both the 2022 and the 2023 Muse & the Marketplace conference, in order to enhance their understanding of craft and the publishing industry.
Deadline is February 28, 2022.
For details, go here.
Note: they also offer other scholarships to their various programs. Applicants from anywhere can apply for multiple scholarships made possible by the excellent literary citizenship of their donors. To apply, applicants must set up their profile and apply through individual programs which mostly are offered online and/or Zoom. For further reading, go here.
2022 Good Story Grant
The 2022 Good Story Grant aims to help two writers reach the next step in their creative journeys. It is open to writers at any stage working in any genre and category. One grant will go to a writer who identifies as BIPOC, with the aim of championing underrepresented voices. The award is $1,500, used however you’d like, as long as it has to do with writing and helps you tell your story.
Applicants must be able to receive and use funds in US dollars sent via PayPal, and be available to write a 1,000-word essay for the Good Story Blog or interview for the Good Story Podcast about their experience on achieving their deliverable.
Deadline is January 31, 2022.
For details, go 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.
Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-In-Residence Fellowship
The Africa Institute, as part of its African Languages and Translation Program, announces the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship in honor of the late Nigerian Professor Tejumola Olaniyan and his remarkable intellectual legacy in the field of African literature and critical theory.
The residency welcomes applications from creative writers including novelists, short story writers, playwrights, poets and scriptwriters related to Africa and the African diaspora for a grant of 45,000 AED in total. The proposed project can be in Arabic or English (other languages will be considered). The recipients will be hosted in Sharjah, UAE for a period of three months to complete their work.
Recipients will have the opportunity to publish their texts through The Africa Institute’s publications program. Projects relating to theatre and film scripts can also be published as texts or receive support in facilitating productions. The project could be new or a work-in-progress and should be feasible for completion within the timeframe of the residency.
All applications will be reviewed by The Africa Institute through a committee of peers of well-known writers. Three recipients will be chosen based on the quality of their proposal, and the demonstrated feasibility of completion within the timeframe of the residency.
The first term for 2022 will begin in September and run until November.
Deadline for applications is February 28, 2022.
For details, go here.
Gotham Writers’ Professional Development Scholarship 2022
The Gotham Professional Development Scholarship is open to people of color of 18 years and above, who have an interest in improving their writing skills in the professional world, whatever the profession.
Three scholarships will be offered every year. Each scholarship includes: One 6-week Business Writing class, intensives for Grammar 1 and 2, and one 6-hour Business Writing or Grammar Mentorship.
Application is open to all people of color, age 18 and up. At least one spot will be rewarded to a Black applicant.
There is no time limit on when all the courses must be completed.
Deadline is February 15, 2022.
For details, go here.
JIAS Writers’ Workshop
The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) invites applications from emerging African creative writers for its Inaugural Writers’ Workshop.
From June 2 to June 29, 2022, JIAS will host a group of promising African creative writers. The workshop will be a writing-intensive, four-week program for early-career writers who have a current work in progress that they would like to complete or polish. Each writer will focus on her/his/their individual work as well as read others’ work and provide feedback. Writers will greatly benefit from the supportive structure that a writers’ workshop creates.
The JIAS Writers’ Workshop is open to African writers who work in Fiction (long and short form), Creative Non-Fiction, Playwriting, Screenwriting and Poetry. Workshop participants will be mentored by accomplished, critically-acclaimed and award-winning writers. This is a great opportunity for novice writers to learn from established writers who are masters of their craft. Participants in the workshop will also be able to take advantage of and benefit from the vitality and diversity that a dynamic city like Johannesburg has to offer.
There is no application fee and participation in the workshop is free.
Each participant will receive: Accommodation at JIAS’ private residence, daily meals, an intensive and immersive creative experience, and mentorship from an established and accomplished writer
Deadline is February 1, 2022.
For details, go here.
Bio: Hassan Muhammad, pennamed NmaHassan Muhammad, resides in Minna, Nigeria. He has published poetry, short stories, articles, and two children’s books. On November 3, 2021, he lost his three-year-old son Abdullateef Hamood Hassan in a tragic fire accident. To honor his son’s memory, he is compiling a book of Haiku poems.
