Kweli Fellowship Program 2025/ How To Apply ($2000 + more)
Kweli, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, invites emerging writers to apply for its prestigious Fellowship Program. Supported by esteemed organizations like the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, Kweli fosters creative growth and literary excellence.
Eligibility For The Kweli Fellowship Program 2025
Eligible candidates are early career vocational writers living in New York City, who are NOT enrolled in degree-granting programs and self-identify as Black, Indigenous/Native, POC, and/or Arab American.
Writers who have NOT yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply.
Please do not submit a piece you have previously submitted to Kweli Journal, either through the Fellowship category or the General Submissions category.
Requirements For The Kweli Fellowship Program 2025
To apply, submit:
- Cover letter with:
- Biographical statement (1 paragraph)
- Favorite passage from a recently read book (1 paragraph)
- Brief statement on the passage’s significance
- Place of residence
- CV or résumé
- Brief statement of career goals and expectations as a Kweli Fellow
- 10-page writing sample. There is no word-count requirement. Eligible genres are: fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and cross-genre writing, whether written for adults, young adults, or children.
Benefits
Kweli Journal will award three fellowships, which will include:
- ten months of editorial support from Kweli Journal editors to prepare a piece for publication in the magazine;
- a $2,000 stipend;
- admission-free enrollment in three professionally led writing workshops on literary fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry.
- participation in four public readings by workshop participants;
- admission-free participation in our International Literary Festival, inclusive of pitch sessions with literary agents and editors;
- optionally, admission-free participation in our Color of Children Literature Conference;
- publication in Kweli Journal;
- all expense paid writing retreat hosted at Akwaaba.
Important Dates
- Application deadline: November 19, 2024 (11:59 p.m. EST)
- Selection notification: December 19, 2024
- Fellowship period: January 6, 2025 – December 6, 2025
Submission Guidelines
- Apply through Submittable (Fellowship category)
- No application fee
- PDF or Word files (.doc and .docx) only
- Incomplete applications will not be considered
Kweli Journal is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visit https://www.kwelijournal.org/ for more information.
