The Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship Program

Application Instructions
Please submit a fiction writing sample, not to exceed 7,500 words, as a double-spaced Word document (.doc or .docx). The submission must include page numbers. The writing sample may be either a novel excerpt or one complete short story. If you write primarily “flash fiction” or “short shorts” (1,000 words or less) you are permitted to submit multiple stories as long as the total word count does not exceed the previously stated limit. Please do not include any personal or identifying information on your writing sample. Writing samples containing this information will not be read.

When your submission has successfully uploaded, please email a PDF or jpeg scan showing proof of residency to submissions@centerforfiction.org. A New York driver’s license or non-driver’s ID card is the preferred proof of residency. A PDF of a current utility bill, bank statement, lease/rental agreement, or recent pay stub may also be used to show residency. If you are a full-time resident of New York City but do not have any of these items, please e-mail submissions@centerforfiction.org to discuss other proof of residency that may be provided.

Please note that we do not wish to receive application cover letters. Instead, please include your mailing address and phone number in the email with your proof of residency. Please do not include any other information unless absolutely necessary, such as questions or comments relating to your eligibility or the submission process.

Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must be current residents of one of the five boroughs and must remain in New York City for the entire year of the fellowship. Students in degree-granting programs are not eligible to apply. This program supports emerging writers whose work shows promise of excellence. Applicants can be of any age, but must be in the early stages of their careers as fiction writers and will not have had the support needed to achieve major recognition for their work. We define “emerging writer” as someone who has not yet had a novel or short story collection published by either a major or independent publisher, and who is also not currently under contract to a publisher for a work of fiction. Eligible applicants may have had stories or novel excerpts published in magazines, literary journals or online, but this is not a requirement. If at any point during the judging process an applicant signs a contract for publication or accepts an offer to study in a degree-granting program, he or she must alert us immediately to have the application pulled from consideration.

Please email submissions@centerforfiction.org with any questions or concerns.