The PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship (EV) is a literary mentorship that aims to provide new writers who are isolated from the literary establishment with the tools, skills, and knowledge they need to launch a professional writing career.
While Emerging Voices encourages applications from writers living all over the country, this rigorous fellowship is based in Los Angeles. Weekly meetings combine with an intense reading and writing schedule. If you are not a resident of Los Angeles, and you are awarded the fellowship you will need to relocate for the seven month period, from January to July of 2020. Housing is not provided.
Components of the Emerging Voices Fellowship Include:
- Guidance from a professional mentor, chosen from a curated list of authors.
- Private Author Evenings with writers, agents, editors and publishers.
- Genre-specific master classes.
- UCLA Extension Writers' Program classes.
- Submissions, social media and marketing, and personal essay workshops.
- A professional voice instruction class and recording session.
- A volunteer opportunity.
- Professional author photos and bio.
- Three public readings in Los Angeles.
- A $1,000 stipend.
People ineligible for the Emerging Voices Fellowship:
- Those who have a B.A., M.A., M.F.A., or Ph.D. in Creative Writing.
- Students currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs.
- Writers who have published one or more books through major publishing houses, university presses, or established presses.
- Current professional magazine and or newspaper feature writers or editors.
- Writers who are widely published in top-tier literary journals and/or magazines.
- Anyone under the age of 21.
Applications Must Include:
- Completed short answers.
- A professional CV or résumé. Please list any writing experience, education, and publishing credits.
- Two current letters of recommendation written by people who are either familiar with your writing, or can attest to your ability to complete a long term project. Letters must include the recommender's current e-mail address and phone number. Recommenders are not notified until the completed application is submitted. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the two letters are uploaded on August 1, 2019, by 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. (If you are waiting until the last minute to apply, be sure to notify your recommenders ahead of time so that their letters are ready to upload.)
- A writing sample of up to 20 pages of double-spaced fiction or creative nonfiction, or 10 pages of single-spaced poetry. This sample should be relevant to the project you are proposing in the short answer section of your Emerging Voices Fellowship Application. Writing samples that exceed this page count will be disqualified.
Writing Samples Must:
- Include full name and e-mail address on each page.
- Be typed, double-spaced and paginated in 12-point Times New Roman font.
- Uploaded as an attachment.
- Not be longer than the required page count. (See above.)
Notification:
- Finalists will be notified in November and will be required to interview in person with the selection committee in Los Angeles. The list of selected fellows will be posted on the PEN America website following interviews. Application Deadline: August 1, 2019 at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time.
PEN America does not discriminate based upon age, color, national origin, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, status as a veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.
The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers each year recognizes twelve emerging fiction writers for their debut short story published during a given calendar year in a literary magazine or cultural website and aims to support the launch of their careers as fiction writers.
Each of the twelve winning writers will receive a cash purse of $2,000 and will be honored at the annual PEN Literary Awards Ceremony in New York City. The independent book publisher Catapult will publish the twelve winning stories in an annual anthology entitled The PEN America Best Debut Short Stories.
Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from June 1, 2019 through November 15, 2019.
Who is Eligible:
- PEN will only accept submissions from editors of eligible publications. Authors may not submit their own work.
- Participating publications may be cultural websites, online magazines, or print magazines distributed in the U.S.
- Editors from eligible publications may only submit a short story by a debut writer. The story must be the writer’s first English publication of ANY genre that has undergone an editorial review process and been accepted and published in a literary journal, book, media outlet, or other publication that the author is not academically or professionally associated with.
- Stories must have been published or forthcoming in 2019.
- Editors from eligible publications may submit up to four eligible stories from eligible authors in a given award year.
- Editors from eligible publications must submit short stories that are up to 12,000 words in length.
- The editor and author must agree to the award’s Declaration of Eligibility and Consent form, which outlines serial rights for Catapult’s forthcoming anthology.
- There are no restrictions on the candidate’s age or on the style of his or her work.
How to Apply:
1. Editors from eligible publications must download and complete the award’s Declaration of Eligibility and Consent form.
2. Complete the online Submittable form below.
The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship is a $5,000 award offered annually to an author of children's or young-adult fiction. It has been developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in their career to complete a book-length work-in-progress.
Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from April 1, 2019 through August 15, 2019.
Who Is Eligible:
A candidate is a writer of children’s or young adult fiction.
- Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated significant sales.
- The writer’s previously published book(s) must be published by a U.S. trade publisher. Self-published works are ineligible.
- The submitted work must be a novel-in-progress.
- Judges will be looking for candidates whose work has not yet attracted a broad readership.
- Please note: Graphic novels and picture books are not eligible for the fellowship.
How to Apply or Nominate:
Please note that the application process in now entirely online; hard copy applications will not be accepted. Writers may apply themselves or nominate a fellow writer.
To apply, please submit the following materials:
- Cover letter: A 1-2 page letter including a brief (1-3 sentence) summary of the project, a description of how the candidate meets the criteria for the fellowship, and a list of the candidate's published novel(s) for children and/or young adults.
- One professional review: Copies of or links to 1-3 reviews of the candidate's novel(s) from professional publications.
- Letter of recommendation: A 1-2 page letter of support from an editor or fellow writer.
- Project outline: A brief (2-4 page) outline of the novel-in-progress being submitted. The candidate's name should not appear anywhere on the outline to ensure anonymity, as the outline and manuscript (and only the outline and manuscript) will be given to the judges for consideration.
- Manuscript sample: 50–75 pages of the text. The candidate's name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript sample, in order to ensure anonymity for the judging process. The outline and manuscript sample (and only the outline and manuscript sample) will be given to the judges for consideration. Please note that graphic novels and picture books are not eligible for this fellowship.
- Letter of Utility: A brief description (1-2 pages) of how the funds will be used to complete the project. What will the candidate be able to accomplish with this funding that they could not do otherwise? Book sales, earnings, or other relevant information may be included here.
