Rhode Island Foundation offers $25K fellowships to budding writers

BUDDING WRITERS HAVE until Aug. 8 to apply for $25,000 fellowships through the Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation. Pictured are six previous recipients. Above, from left to right, top row: Sidy Maiga, Lynne Harlow and Erik Carlson; bottom row: Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Michael Morse and Annu Matthew. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION

PROVIDENCE – Up to three local writers are eligible for $25,000 Rhode Island Foundation fellowships that will allow them to focus on the creative process and invest in personal development.

“This assistance will permit local writers to spend more time thinking about their work instead of trying to make ends meet. This fellowship reflects the importance that our donors placed on the presence of practicing artists in the community,” said Jenny Pereira, the foundation’s vice president of grant programs, in prepared remarks.

Previous fellows include Marie Myung-Ok Lee, a former visiting lecturer at Brown University who has been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times and The Paris Review, and Sussy Santana, whose most recent book of poetry is “Poemas Domésticos.”

Applicants have until Aug. 8 to apply to the foundation and must have been legal residents of Rhode Island for at least one year prior to the deadline. Those ineligible for fellowship include high school students, college and graduate students enrolled in a degree-granting program, and writers who have advanced levels of career achievement.

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Judging will be based on quality of work samples, artistic development, creative contributions and potential for career advancement. Applications will be accepted from writers creating new, original work in any genre, including poetry. Recipients are expected to be able to devote time to their writing and engage in activities to further their artistic growth during the fellowship.

Five out-of-state jurors, “recognized practicing artists and arts professionals,” per the Rhode Island Foundation release, will choose the fellows.

The fellowships, funded through the foundation’s Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund, were established in 2003 and rotate between composers, writers and visual artists on a three-year cycle.

Over the years, the foundation has awarded 39 fellowships totaling $975,000.

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.

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