Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships in Fiction and Poetry

Applications are now open for the WICW Poetry and Fiction Fellowships, awarding stipends of at least $40,000 and generous health benefits. Though the submission deadline was March 1, we have left the application portal open through the weekend. Any application received by 8:00 a.m. central time, Monday 3/4, will receive full consideration. 

Please read these instructions and eligibility requirements, before selecting your application genre below: 

To be eligible, applicants must have completed or be scheduled to complete an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing by August 15 of the fellowship year. Eligible applicants may have published no more than one full-length collection or book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction as of the March 1 deadline. Individuals who have never published a full-length collection or book remain eligible, of course. 

Successful applicants must commit to reside in the Madison area for the full duration of the Fellowship from mid-August to mid-May (holiday and other travel are of course permitted); to teach one section of undergraduate mixed-genre or single-genre creative writing each semester; to hold no other teaching, graduate study or fellowship obligations; to assist in the selection of the Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry, the University of Wisconsin’s undergraduate writing prizes, and the following year’s Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships; and in general to participate fully in the life of the Madison writing community during the fellowship period. For more details regarding the responsibilities and privileges of our fellows, please see our main fellowships page.

Applicants should prepare the following materials before applying: 

• A $50.00 Application Fee, paid online by credit card.
• A resume or curriculum vitae, concluding with the names, phone numbers, and email      addresses of two recommenders.
• A writing sample consisting of either 10 pages of poetry (single-spaced and uploaded as a pdf) or up to 30 pages of fiction (double-spaced and uploaded as a pdf). Fiction applications must consist of either one short story or a novel excerpt. Your name must not appear anywhere on your manuscript, and while previously published work may be submitted, your manuscript must in no way indicate that your work has been published.

Do not include more than one genre in a single submission. You may apply in more than one of our fellowship genres, but you must upload a separate application for each, with separate application fees. If you are submitting short fiction, please do not send more than one short story. The limit is one story no matter how short that story may be. If you send more than one story, we will only read the first. If you are sending a novel excerpt you may (but need not) include a brief synopsis (one or two paragraphs) of the novel, as page one of the manuscript.

The poetry and fiction fellows will be chosen by May 1 each year, and announced on our fellows page. If you have questions concerning these fellowships that are not answered in the FAQ below, please contact Ron Kuka, Coordinator of the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, at institutemail@english.wisc.edu.