#5: January 2024
National grants, local fellowships, & more!
Happy new year, all! I hope your 2024 is off to a lovely start.
Arts organizations are getting back into the swing of things. In today’s issue, we have grants and awards to apply for, fellowships to learn about, and a very cool local project to support!
Grants & Awards
[US & Canada] Barbara Deming Memorial Fund: Money for Women
Barbara Deming (1917-1984) was a feminist, lesbian, poet, writer and nonviolent activist in the civil rights, anti-war and women’s movements. She founded the Money for Women Fund in 1975 to give financial and moral support to creative women. The Fund makes small artist support grants ($500 – $2000) to individual feminist women and nonbinary people in the arts who are citizens with primary residence in the US and Canada. Apply by January 31.
[US] National Endowment for the Arts: Creative Writing Fellowship
The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants to published creative writers that enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. In 2024, we will be accepting applications in poetry. Apply by March 8.
[Massachusetts] Reading Frederick Douglass Together
Each year, Mass Humanities organizes and funds free public events where communities gather together to read and talk about Frederick Douglass’ influential address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Organizations interested in hosting an event can propose any format for the reading and discussion that will foster a rich and productive community conversation. Monthly deadlines from Jan-June.
Residencies, Fellowships, & More
[Boston] 2024 Boston Art Writing Fellowship
Praise Shadows Art Gallery and Boston Art Review are partnering to present the 2024 Emerging Boston Art Writing Fellowship. The program supports two individuals based in Boston ages 18–21 who are interested in expanding their knowledge of the city’s contemporary art community through hands-on experience writing reviews, artist interviews, and exhibition texts while deepening their understanding of the operations behind a commercial gallery. This fellowship is not a traditional internship, but rather a curriculum-based program with learning at the center. Apply by February 3.
[Massachusetts] The Studios at MASS MoCA Residency Program
The Studios is MASS MoCA’s artist and writers residency program situated within the museum’s factory campus and surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. Operated by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists department, the residency runs year-round and hosts up to 10 artists at a time. Artists of any nationality can apply for stays of 2 or 4 weeks. Early and Alumni applications now open for 2025 residencies; apply by March 8.
[Massachusetts] Teen Spoken Word Festival
On May 3 - 5, 2024, Mass Poetry will launch its inaugural Teen Spoken Word Festival—a three-day poetry Festival that invites young people (ages 13-19) in middle schools, high schools and youth organizations in the Boston and Massachusetts area to participate in poetry slams as well as many other noncompetitive events. If you are a school, individual, or organization interested in getting involved with the festival on any level—volunteer, competing school, competing individual, partner, sponsor, etc—please fill out the linked form and we will get back to you with more details and next steps.
Local Events
[Massachusetts] Creative Sector Advocacy Week
January 22-26
Join artists, creatives, supporters, and leaders from across the Commonwealth for a week of advocacy, action, and celebration. Meet with elected officials, organize your networks and celebrate the power of arts, culture, and creativity in Massachusetts.
[Boston] Teen Poetry Slam
Wednesday, February 28th, from 5:00-7:00pm
Spoken Word @ Mass Poetry (SW@MP) will be hosting an individual teen slam at Porter Square Books in the Seaport. The event will highlight the work of young people (21 and under), but all are welcome.
Local Project Spotlight
[The Cantabrigian] The WYOMING Project
Until February 10, local magazine The Cantabrigian is raising funds to print The WYOMING Project. WYOMING is a collaborative, nonlinear anthology featuring the fiction and poetry of three dozen authors. Six years in the making, the book is just shy of 500 pages, and will be released in interactive digital, paperback, and limited edition hardcover formats. You’ve never read anything quite like this surrealist-scifi-horror-Western-choose-your-own-adventure.
Are you hosting an event, launching a book, looking for a writer’s group, or running a workshop sometime soon? Let me know via this handy form and I’ll review it for next month’s issue!
Until next time,
Kay Marlow Allen (they/them)
Editor, Camberville Lit