Midwest Arts Writers Fellowship: Application Questions

Deadline to apply: 11:59pm CST on March 27, 2024

APPLY HERE

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About the Fellowship

Sixty Inches From Center (Sixty) is inviting applications for our Midwest Arts Writers Fellowship, a 6-month opportunity for two writers to develop, refine, and publish writings on topics that are resonant and relevant to Indigenous, trans, queer, diasporic, and/or disabled artists and arts workers in our region. Each fellow will receive an unrestricted $3,000 award to support their writing and research.

Fellows will be invited to consider and reflect on the complexities of Midwest life and the artists who help define and articulate its culture. With this fellowship we want to support writers whose work elevates the ways that artists are thinking about the defining dynamics of the Midwest, from their distinct vantage point. During the fellowship each writer will publish two long-form and related articles (1,200+ words) that offer a deeper understanding of the cultural ecosystems of the Midwest and explore how their topic/s intersect politically, culturally, and regionally.

This Fellowship is remote and virtual with possible in-person opportunities and travel to Chicago.

Application Questions

Note: Sixty may contact you to discuss the details of your proposal.

• Name + Contact Information
• Pronouns
• Where are you based?
• Please provide your website, if you have one.
• Tell us about yourself. (1,000 characters) How did you start writing? What are your interests as a writer? Do you have any other creative practices? Why are you applying to this fellowship?
• Pitch Title Title may be changed or altered as needed during fellowship
• Pitch Description (1,000 characters) What do you want to write about? How will you approach this idea across your two written pieces? What are the themes? Please include the names of any artists, collectives, or organizations you plan to contact or sources you plan to use during the fellowship period.
• How does this topic connect to your own practice, areas of interest, or life experience? (750 characters)
• If not already stated in your project description, how is this topic relevant or resonant to Midwest artists and residents? (750 characters)
• What existing knowledge, histories, or personal research is this idea building on? (750 characters)
• Please attach one (1) PDF with all of your writing samples included or provide the link to your writing samples. We accept up to three samples with a word count of 1,500 words or fewer. You can submit full pieces or excerpts from longer pieces, but they must be 1,500 words or fewer. If you send pieces longer than 1,500 and don’t specify an excerpt, we will only read the first 1,500 words.
• What other publications have you written for?
• Is there anything else you’d like us to know that you feel is relevant to this application? (750 characters)
• Please include a short bio. If you are selected for the fellowship, we’ll use this bio to announce the award and for publication. (750 characters)
• If you aren’t selected for the fellowship, would you be interested in having this pitch considered under Sixty’s general publishing? Please note that you would receive a different payment. The contributor rate for writers within Sixty’s general publishing is $150 per contributor.

Please send all questions to writeforsixty@sixtyinchesfromcenter.org with “Midwest Arts Writers Fellowship” in the subject line.

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