No application fee, New York City Emerging Writers Program, grant: $3,000

Deadline: 31 January 2011

Submit by email to: grants@centerforfiction.org

Program Guidelines:

The Center for Fiction is pleased to announce a new grant program for emerging fiction writers who reside within the five boroughs of New York City. This grant is generously funded by an initial grant from the Jerome Foundation, matched by additional funds from individuals. Eight writers will be selected in 2011 and during the one-year grant period will receive:

* A grant of $3,000
* Space and time to write in the Center’s Writers Studio, available 24/7
* The option to engage in a mentorship with a selected freelance editor
* The opportunity to meet with agents who represent new writers
* Access to our Writer’s Collection of books on the craft of writing as well as career-oriented publications such as Literary Marketplace
* A Center for Fiction membership that includes borrowing privileges for our collection of 80,000 volumes of fiction and fiction-related titles
* Free admission to all Center events for one year, including our Craftwork lectures series on writing
* 30% discount on tuition at select writing workshops at the Center
* Two public readings as part of our annual program of events
* The opportunity to submit new work to the Center’s Literarian online magazine

Criteria:

Applicants must be residents of one of the five boroughs. Full-time students are not eligible to apply.

This program awards grants and professional support to emerging writers whose work shows promise of excellence. Applicants can be of any age, but must be in the early stages of their careers as fiction writers and will not have had the support needed to achieve major recognition for their work. We define “emerging writer” as someone who has not yet had a novel or short story collection published by either a major or independent publisher and who is also not currently under contract to a publisher. Eligible applicants may have had stories or novel excerpts published in magazines, literary journals or online, but this is not a requirement.

Application Procedures

The application must be submitted by email to grants@centerforfiction.org as of 6pm on January 31, 2011, and should include the following items as attachments:

a) A one-page resume
b) A work sample, not to exceed 10,000 words, submitted as a double-spaced Word document or RTF file. The submission must include page numbers and the author’s name on each page.
c) A PDF or jpeg scan showing proof of residency – preferably a New York driver’s license or non-driver’s ID card. If you are a full-time resident of New York City but do not have a state-issued ID card, please call (212) 755-6710 to discuss other proof of residency that you may be able to provide.

Please note that we do not wish to receive application cover letters. Instead, in the email accompanying the above attachments, please list your mailing address and phone number. Please do not include any other information unless absolutely necessary, such as questions or comments relating to your eligibility or the submission process. All career and other professional information should be provided only in your attached one-page resume.

Review and Funding Process

For the purpose of diversity of opinion and thoughtful review, there is a two-tier review process. First-tier readers include writers, critics, editors and agents, and each submission is read by three of these readers. Scores are based on the quality, creativity and promise of excellence shown in the work provided. The 20 applicants scoring highest with the first-tier readers will move on to a second-tier panel of established fiction writers. The eight winners will be announced on April 25, 2011.

Names of artists receiving support and persons serving on the Review Panel will be posted on The Center’s website. Declined applicants are free to resubmit in future years.

The grant period will begin on May 15, 2011 and last for one year. Recipients are required to make use of the grant award, Writers Studio and other benefits during this time period.

More information here.