Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships

I don't write as much poetry as I used to, or even as much as I'd like to, because I feel guilty not spending my writing time on my novels. But if you're like me and would really like to get back into the poetry game, perhaps this fellowship is motivation enough. Alas, I am beyond the upper age limit since you must be between the ages of 21 and 31, but if you are still in that age bracket, here are the particulars:

"Five Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships in the amount of $15,000 will be awarded to young poets through a national competition sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry. Established in 1989 by the Indianapolis philanthropist Ruth Lilly, the fellowships are intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry.



APPLICANT GUIDELINES:

*Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

*Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 31 years of age as of March 31, 2012.

*Applications must be submitted by March 31, 2012.

*Applications must be made through our submission website, fellowships.poetryfoundation.org, according to the guidelines below.

*Application materials sent via e-mail or standard mail will not be considered.

Go to the website for full details, and the big plus is that there is no application fee--what do you have to lose? They'll want ten pages of poems in your application packet, so get writing, or take another look at those poems in that notebook you used to carry around!

Stipends for Starving Writers

Some of the freelance markets have dried up in the last few years, victims of the economy's impact on readers' disposable income. That means there aren't as many good magazines to read, but the flip side is that there aren't as many opportunities for freelance writers to sell their work.

As a result, you might find that you want or need to supplement your writing income in other ways. Contests, grants, and fellowships can be good sources of funds, as long as you know what you're getting into (what are the entry fees, do you retain rights to your work, will your work be tied up for the entire judging period, etc). Here are a few opportunities that don't involve entry fees:

Fellowship for Creative and Performing Artists and Writers

"The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), a national research library and learned society of American history and culture, is calling for applications for visiting fellowships for historical research by creative and performing artists, writers, film makers, journalists, and other persons whose goals are to produce imaginative, non-formulaic works dealing with pre-twentieth-century American history.

"Successful applicants are those whose work is for the general public rather than for academic or educational audiences. The Society's goal in sponsoring this program is to multiply and improve the ways in which an understanding of history is communicated to the American people."

If this sounds like you, go to the AAS link above and apply by October 5 to be eligible for a stipend of $1350-1850

Real Simple's 4th Annual Life Lessons Essay Contest

Enter Real Simple’s fourth annual Life Lessons Essay Contest by September 15 and you could:

*Have your essay published in Real Simple

*Win round-trip tickets for two to New York City, hotel accommodations for two nights, tickets to a Broadway play, and a lunch with Real Simple editors

*Receive a prize of $3,000

Entries must be no more than 1,500 words and address the theme "When did you first understand the meaning of love?"

Good luck, everyone, if you decide to get into the running for either of these! You could see a tremendous return on the cost of postage (or no postage at all, in the RS contest since it's email entry) and your time.

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com
 

Fellowships, scholarships, and grants (oh my!)

Writer's conferences and workshops may have fellowships, scholarships, or grants available, but they don't seem to advertise them widely. This makes sense, of course, because they would have people who might otherwise register choose to wait and see if they got some funds to pay their way.

I try to pay for conferences out of my writing income instead of household funds, but this year my account is pretty low. So I decided to look for other ways to attend writer's events, such as volunteering (like I did at our SCBWI Regional Conference recently), fellowships, and grants. I wanted to share some of the opportunities in my neck of the woods, to give some ideas of places to check in your area.

Our SCBWI regional chapter has a grant available for members to attend the Summer Conference in Los Angeles this August. They'll pay up to $1,000 dollars to cover your lodging, conference fees, and a paid critique (oddly, you must be logged in to the site to view the details and application instructions). Incidentally, SCBWI offers a number of other grants for members.

UC Davis, through their extension courses on creative writing and nonfiction writing, holds the Tomales Bay Workshops in October this year. You may apply for an Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation Fellowship, which will be awarded in each genre: fiction, poetry, and nonfiction/personal essay. Or just become the student editor-in-chief of the American River Review (the literary journal of American River College) and you can automatically get a fellowship.

That last suggestion may be a little more time intensive than you want (and may require you to relocate), but most of the other fellowships, grants, and scholarships require little more than your time and writing effort. There are usually no fees to apply, but you may have to submit an essay or CV along with your writing samples. It didn't take me very long to get my packets together to apply for each of these, and if I get the grant or fellowship it will be time well spent.

Also, I've posted about it before, but it's worth a reminder that Poets & Writers has a searchable database for grants and awards.

Does anyone else want to share any links, or creative low-cost ways to get access to conferences and workshops?

Know Any Hard-up Writers?

Do you know a children's or YA writer that has a few published books under their belt, but can't quite give up the day job? Perhaps the PEN American Center and its $5,000 Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship can get them a little closer. The best part is that candidates can be nominated by fellow writers as well as editors.

Who is eligible:
A candidate is a writer of children or young-adult fiction in financial need; candidates have published at least two novels for children or young adults which have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated sufficient income to support the author. The writer's books must be published by a U.S. publisher.

I only heard about this one a few days ago, so hurry over to their website and submit the info by February 3rd!
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And don't forget to vote on your favorite first line over at the something else to distract me blog. Can you guess which one is mine?

Fellowship Opportunity for Historical Writers

Do you write historical fiction, plays or poetry and have a stack of research questions you've been waiting to answer? The American Antiquarian Society offers a fellowship, including a stipend and housing, while you use their resources.

The AAS is "calling for applications for visiting fellowships for historical research by creative and performing artists, writers, film makers, journalists, and other persons whose goals are to produce imaginative, non-formulaic works dealing with pre-twentieth-century American history. Successful applicants are those whose work is for the general public rather than for academic or educational audiences."

The deadline to apply is October 5, and best of all there is NO ENTRY FEE.