The annual fellowship is designed to support an individual whose doctoral dissertation involves literary history and/or aesthetics by providing a three-week residency at a cabin nestled on nine acres in the mountains of West Virginia. Preference is given to candidates whose dissertation is at an advanced stage. The cabin is fully equipped and has Internet service. The dates of the residency are flexible and to be determined by the fellowship recipient in consultation with the ALSCW. Applicants must submit a cover letter, c.v., a chapter of their dissertation, a two-page description of the entire dissertation, and two letters of recommendation. Materials should be submitted online to alscw@cua.edu with the heading ALSCW Fellowship on the subject line of the email. Additional references and an occupancy agreement may be required. All applicants must be members of the ALSCW or sponsored by a member of the ALSCW. The deadline for submission is February 15th. The recipient of the fellowship will be notified by mid-March. Membership information is available on the ALSCW website.

The ALSCW/Vermont Studio Center Fellowship provides a one-month VSC residency for a writer who is a current member of the ALSCW. It is open to all of the Association’s creative writers and literary translators. To be eligible for the Fellowship, please make sure you have paid your annual dues. We are pleased to partner with the VSC for this fellowship.

Applications are now available for ALSCW members wishing to apply for the ALSCW Fellowship, a residency program for writers of poetry, prose, or translations. The fellowship, funded by gracious donations from the ALSCW community, allows the recipient to stay at the Vermont Studio Center, situated in the Vermont countryside, for a month of his or her choosing to become immersed in the craft of writing without the distractions of ordinary life.

For the four weeks of the fellowship, the ALSCW Fellow will have a private studio in the new Maverick Writing building, which is devoted entirely to writing studios. All of the studios are furnished with desks, multiple chairs, and a lamp; equipped with internet access, both wireless and hardwired; and networked to communal printing facilities. Fellows live in single-occupancy rooms in one of ten residency houses, which feature linen service and have shared baths. Rooms are located within a short walk of the studio building and Red Mill Dining Hall. The VSC provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner to residents in the dining hall, where snacks are available to residents twenty-four hours a day.

In addition to the environment and facilities, Writing Residents are able to take advantage of the two Visiting Writers VSC arranges to have at the Center every month. These Visiting Writers not only give readings and a “craft talk,” but they are also made available for individual conferences with residents who have been accepted in the same genre. Past Visiting Writers include longstanding champion of the ALSCW, and the sponsor of last year’s ALSCW/VSC Fellowship, Rosanna Warren; poet Adam Zagajewski, whose poem, “The Piano Lesson,” graces the first broadside printed as part of the ALSCW Broadside Series; and Jane Hirshfield, another poet to contribute an original piece – titled “For the Lobria, Usnea, Witches’ Hair, Map Lichen, Beard Lichen, Ground Lichen, Shield Lichen” – to the ALSCW Broadside Series.

Those who are interested in applying for the ALSCW Fellowship may fill out an application online using the VSC’s electronic submission system, accessible at vsc.slideroom.com. Applications may also be sent to the VSC via mail using the form available for download at vsc.slideroom.com. For more information about the Vermont Studio Center and the programs offered, visit the Center’s website at vermontstudiocenter.org, or contact them by email at info@vermontstudiocenter.org.

This Fellowship is limited to ALSCW members. Be sure that you have joined or renewed your membership by the time you apply. Please remember to renew your annual membership, if you haven’t already. Oxford University Press (OUP) is now handling membership and membership renewals for the ALSCW.

Oxford University Press collects membership dues for the ALSCW. Subscribing to Literary Imagination includes a one-year membership to the ALSCW. Online registration can be completed at the Oxford University Press website (click here). The OUP purchase site might require individuals to open a (free) OUP account so that the renewal process can go forward.

To register by post, please mail a copy of the Gift Membership Form to the address below. All checks must be made out to Oxford University Press with “ALSCW Dues” in the memo line.

If you have questions regarding your membership status, please contact Oxford University Press Customer Service at +1 919-677-0977 or +1 800-852-7323 (toll-free in USA/Canada). Be sure to mention Literary Imagination when you call, as ALSCW membership is tied to your subscription to Literary Imagination.