Our Inaugural Fresh Voices Fellowship 2021
Epiphany is thrilled to announce the Fresh Voices Fellowship, a year-long fellowship supporting one emerging Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other writer of color who does not have an MFA and is not currently enrolled in a degree-granting creative writing program.
Through opening up the possibilities of the literary world to a BIPOC writer who has so far pursued their work outside the traditional establishment—whether due to lack of funds or opportunity, or by choice—the Fresh Voices Fellowship represents one small but significant piece of Epiphany’s commitment to diversity, not just among the background of the writers we publish, but within our organization, among our readers, on our editorial team, and on our Board. Because diversity does not just mean a range of skin tones, we are committed to engaging, too, with a diversity of expression—in communication, storytelling, language, education, and more—for in so doing, we hope to expand our editorial horizons, realign our expectations of what literature is and has been, and meet the voices and readers of the future.
It is our hope that our first Fresh Voices Fellow will walk away from the yearlong program with: new, hospitable contacts in the literary world; a demystified and holistic understanding of the publication process and operations of a small nonprofit literary journal; and a sense of empowerment, with which they will feel invigorated to participate in their writing life however they may choose.
We are also offering everyone who applies to the Fresh Voices Fellowship a free digital subscription to Epiphany. If you apply for the fellowship, the code for a free digital subscription will be included in our initial response letter.
As the program is in its first year, we expect that it will evolve along with the winning Fellow and their interests. Benefits of the Fellowship include, but need not be limited to:
A $2000 stipend
Paid publication in the Spring/Summer 2022 print issue of Epiphany
Paid online publication at epiphanyzine.com
Connection with an appropriate mentor in the creative writing community
Additional mentorship provided by Epiphany’s Web Editor Diego Medina and EIC Rachel Lyon
Optional attendance at biweekly editorial meetings and, if of interest, a place on the editorial team
A crash course in the nitty-gritty of the independent publishing industry
A free 6- or 8-week creative writing workshop of the Fellow’s choice at, e.g.: the Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Catapult, the Center for Fiction, etc.
Criteria
Applicants may not be currently enrolled in an degree-granting creative writing program or have a degree in creative writing.
Applicants may not have published a book. (Chapbooks and work published in literary journals are acceptable.)
Applicants may submit work in any genre: prose, poetry, or otherwise.
Optionally, if applicants have some interest in the workings of a small nonprofit literary journal, so much the better.
Application Materials
Work Sample
Please include a 5-page sample (double-spaced) of work you feel most represents you, your interests, and your literary style. (If you’re sending a novel excerpt, please include a short synopsis of the novel and an explanation of where, in the story, the excerpt falls.)Artist Statement
Please include a statement of up to 1 page in length describing yourself, your artistic work, and how you envision your work developing over time.Statement of Interest
Particularly because this program is in its first year, it will be helpful for us to understand what you are interested in and if/how we can help, over the course of your yearlong Fellowship. Please include a statement of up to 1 page telling us a bit about yourself as a person in the world, vis-a-vis this Fellowship and our organization. What are you interested in, and how can we help?
There is no fee for applications to the Fresh Voices Fellowship. Please click here to submit your application.
