Apply Now | NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Fiction

“I had two small kids at the time. The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship was a validation. I used the money for a babysitter and left to sit and work in the Brooklyn Public Library and write my third book.” – Kathryn Harrison, Fellow in Fiction ‘94

The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is a $7,000 unrestricted cash award open to individual and collaborative artists living and working in New York State. Fellowships are offered in 15 different disciplines over a three-year period; Fiction is one of five categories offered this award cycle. Other categories include Folk/Traditional Arts, Interdisciplinary Work, Painting, and Video/Film. 

The Fiction category accepts work in all varieties and genres of prose fiction, including novels, short stories, and experimental forms. Work in graphic or “comic book” fiction is also accepted in this category. You may include as many different short stories or novel excerpts as you wish within the 20-page limit, but overly brief fragments should be avoided.

Applications are open to all writers at any stage of their career. It is not a prerequisite that writers have published work or have completed any further study in writing.

Past NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows in Fiction include:

• Jennifer Egan (’90)
• Liana Finck (’15)
• A.M. Homes (’88)
• Samantha Hunt (’10)
• Janet McNally (’08)
• Thaddeus Rutkowski (’12)
• Saïd Sayrafiezadeh (’10)
• Ranbir Sidhu (’08)
• Xuan Wang (’15)

Deadline: Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 11:59 PM (EST)

Application Materials

• Work Statement – 100 words (max)
• Excerpt Explanation – 400 words (max)
• Cultural Statement – 400 words (max) (optional)
• Work Samples – up to 20 pages of manuscript, double-spaced

Eligibility Guidelines

• You must be 25 years old or older
• You must be a current resident of New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located in New York State, and have been a resident for at least the last two consecutive years prior to the application deadline (2016 & 2017)
• At the time of the application deadline you must not be enrolled in a degree-seeking program of any kind
• You must not have received a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in any disciplines in the last five years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), and cannot submit any artwork samples that have been previously awarded a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship
• Fellowships are not awarded to interpretive artists such as dancers or actors; applicants must be the originators of the work; i.e. choreographers or playwrights
• Artists that have been awarded five NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships receive Emeritus Status and are no longer eligible to appy
• You must not be a NYFA employee, member of the NYFA Board of Trustees or Artists’ Advisory Committee, an immediate family member of any of the above, or an immediate family member of a 2017-2018 panelist

Apply Now!

Visit Submittable to start your application.

For more information about the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, read the 2018 Application Overview, review the guidelines for Fiction, and consult our Frequently Asked Questions page.

NYFA is pleased to announce that the name of this award has changed to NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship. NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships are administered with leadership support from New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Image: Sebastian Dooris, 2012