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Early in my writing career, I discovered a troubling truth about those arguments I’d had in my (very, very cool) adolescence about spelling, commas, pronouns and other conundrums of the English language.

No right answers exist.

No definitive tome rules over all of English to set the record straight—in part because the contradicting rules each have merit in some situations. 

Instead of a single set of writing laws, we have style guides. These magnificent manuals tame the whims of writers and place boundaries on the problematic potential of our language. And, yes, tell us whether or not to use an Oxford comma.

Professional writers should know how to pick a style guide, which guide is standard for which types of writing and how to use a style guide to polish your writing (and impress your editors).

What is a writing style guide?

A style guide is a collection of conventions for writing for an industry, brand or project.

Historically published as books and now also as online databases, they guide writers and editors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, word usage, formatting and other questions that come up while you write because of the variance and fluidity of the English language.

Most industry style guides are descriptive, so they make recommendations based on how people use language commonly, rather than dictate rules for how we should use it.

Style guides for brands or projects are more often prescriptive, setting guidelines for how an individual or company should use language in written materials.

Some companies use “style guide” to mean a set of standards for tone, voice, visuals and programming to guide their marketing and design efforts. I generally call that a “brand style guide” or “visual style guide” to distinguish from the writing or editorial style guide.

Why do you need a style guide?

A style guide ensures consistency and clarity in writing across an industry, company or project. 

English offers a ton of ways to write almost anything, even within one continent. Sometimes deciding which way to go is a matter of expression — like whether to say “traffic light” or “stop-and-go light.” Sometimes the answer is written into common grammar rules, like using “me” as an object and “I” as a subject.

But a lot of times, a correct answer doesn’t exist — like whether you can start a sentence with “because.” Style guides step in to determine a standard in those cases to keep your book, publication or marketing materials from being a mess of inconsistencies driven by personal preferences.

How many writing style guides are there?

Tons of style guides exist across industries and genres, and new ones pop up frequently. Most writers will encounter four commonly used guides: AP style for journalism, Chicago style for publishing, APA style for scholarly writing and MLA style for scholarly citation (more on each of these below).

Style guides tend to emerge to define standards for distinct styles of writing — technical, academic, journalistic, fiction or blogging, for example. They often start as guides for one organization and become industry standard.

What is the best writing style guide?

No style guide is more accurate or correct than another. The best one for your writing depends on what you’re writing and where it’ll be published.

How to pick a style guide for your writing project

To find the best style guide for the kind of writing you do, consider:

• House or corporate style: If you’re working with a publication, publishing house or company, first ask your editor or manager whether it uses a house style guide. They’ll point you to internal documentation or let you know which industry guide they prefer
• Genre and medium: Learn which style guide is standard for the type of writing you do. This will help you prepare manuscripts before you have a publication on board, and it’ll give you a place to turn if you work for a company that doesn’t document editorial standards
• Niche or field: Lots of niche style guides exist for industries or academic fields, like chemistry or sociology, to address unique issues

Writing style guides every writer should know

These are the four main style guides you’ll encounter as a professional writer, plus some alternatives to be aware of.

Associated Press Stylebook

The AP style guide is officially called “The Associated Press Stylebook.” It publishes a biennial spiral-bound print book and the AP Stylebook Online.

What is AP style?

AP style is a set of standards for writing in news media and one of the most comprehensive style guides. It includes recommendations for grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage; plus topical guides to define standards for news topics and cultural trends (like gender-neutral terms).

Who uses AP style?

AP style is the industry standard for journalism, and most blogs and content marketing. It’s technically the house style for the Associated Press, and most newspapers adopted the standards because many publish AP stories alongside their own.

How often is AP style updated?

Editors update AP Stylebook Online throughout the year to address questions and major news events. Up until 2020, a new print edition was published annually, but is now updated and published every other year. AP editors debut changes each spring at the ACES conference for editors.

Chicago Manual of Style

Colloquially called the Chicago style guide or CMOS, the Chicago Manual of Style has been published by the University of Chicago Press since 1906, including the Chicago Manual of Style Online since 2006.

What is Chicago Manual of Style?

CMOS is a set of standards for writing in commercial and academic publishing and one of the most widely used style guides. It includes recommendations for grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage; plus manuscript formatting and two variations of source citation.

Who uses Chicago Manual of Style?

Chicago is the preferred style of print publishers in both fiction and nonfiction, and many academic journals in the humanities. Instructors in college or high school courses might teach Chicago-style citation but don’t usually enforce other preferences of the manual unless you’re writing for publication, like in grad school.

How often is Chicago style updated?

The press has published 17 editions of CMOS since 1906, most recently in 2017. In recent history, an updated print edition has been published about every seven years. CMOS Online is updated throughout the year, and editors address timely topics and questions online through the Chicago Style Q&A.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

The APA style guide, officially the “Publication Manual,” started in 1929 as a lengthy article from a group of psychologists, anthropologists and business managers. APA has published seven editions of the “Publication Manual” since the first in 1952, and the APA Style Blog since 2009.

What is APA style?

APA style is a set of standards to make scientific writing easier to comprehend. It includes recommendations for grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage; plus its signature in-text citation style, ethical standards for publishing research and how to format an academic paper.

Who uses APA style?

Scholarly writers and journals in many social sciences, humanities, health care and some natural sciences follow APA style. College-level instructors might prefer APA-style citation, and most high school and college instructors prefer APA-style paper formatting, but neither tend to enforce other APA recommendations.

How often is APA style updated?

APA has published seven editions of the “Publication Manual,” most recently in 2020. Since 1974, a new edition has come out about every 10 years. The APA Style website is updated with each new edition, and editors update the blog occasionally with timely topics and news.

MLA Handbook

MLA style began in 1951 when the Modern Language Association of America published the “MLA Style Sheet.” It’s been publishing the updated “MLA Handbook” for students since 1977 and the bulk of its contents online through the MLA Style Center since 2009.

MLA used to publish a separate “MLA Style Manual” for grad students and professional scholars, but that went out of print in 2016. Now “MLA Handbook” is meant for writers at all levels.

What is MLA style?

MLA style is primarily a set of guidelines for citation and formatting in academic papers. It’s best known for its source citation template. It includes limited guidance on writing mechanics and no recommendations for usage.

Who uses MLA style?

Scholarly writers and journals in segments of the humanities focused on language and writing, like language studies and literary criticism, follow MLA style. English students in college and high school might use MLA style for citation and paper formatting instead of APA style.

How often is MLA style updated?

MLA has published eight editions of the “Handbook” since 1977, most recently in 2021. It updates and publishes a new print edition about every three to five years, and answers ongoing writer questions online through Ask the MLA.

Alternative style guides

The field or niche you work in might need to address unique publishing quirks the heavy-hitting style guides don’t cover.

Organizations have responded to that need over the years by developing their own style guides. These might be alternatives or complementary to the dominant style guide in a genre.

Popular guides journalists use to complement or supplement AP style include:

• The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage provides additional and alternative guidance to the AP Stylebook, like recommending the use of courtesy titles instead of referring to a subject just by their last name (e.g. Mr. Smith).
• BuzzFeed Style Guide defines standards for writing online and on social media, codifying such conventions as how to spell “I’mma” (as in “I’mma let you finish…”) and leading the way in guidance for inclusive language
• Diversity Style Guide is a project of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University that gathers guidance from several organizations to help media cover people of diverse races, ethnicities, genders, abilities and more
• Conscious Style Guide includes guidance on usage, framing and representation to be inclusive and respectful of any audience
• GLAAD Media Reference provides guidance on covering LGBTQ stories and issues
• Guardian and Observer Style Guide offers insights into the newspapers writing, editing and English usage

Some complements and alternatives to APA style for academic writing include:

• AMA Manual of Style from the American Medical Association for writing about health and medicine
• NLM Style Guide from the National Library of Medicine, published online-only by the National Institute for Health for writing about health and medicine
• Scientific Style and Format by the Council of Science Editors
• ACS Style Guide from the American Chemical Society for chemistry professionals
• The Bluebook citation guide for legal professionals and scholars
• Oxford University style guide for educational institutions and its staff

Popular guides for technical writing for formal reports and user manuals include:

• Microsoft Manual of Style
• IBM DeveloperWorks Editorial Style Guide
• Handbook of Technical Writing

Other books about writing

Some commercial books about writing are not authoritative in any industry, but writers and editors keep them on hand for style and usage recommendations. Some popular books:

• “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, a well-known guide detailing just a few rules of grammar and punctuation, composition and formatting, and a list of commonly misused words and phrases.
• “A Dictionary of Modern English Usage” by H.W. Fowler (also known as “Fowler’s Modern English Usage”), a guide to word choice, grammar and style peppered with Fowler’s humor and unshakable opinions.
• “Garner’s Modern English Usage” by Bryan A. Garner, a witty reference book on grammar and vocabulary.
• “Writing with Style” by Lane Greene, an insight into what one can learn from the Economist

House style guides and book style sheets

Any publication or company you write for likely has a house or corporate style guide. In most cases, they follow an industry guide—like AP style—as a base. The house style guide documents anywhere it makes sense to deviate and addresses questions the industry guide doesn’t answer.

If you write a book, your editor creates a style sheet for the manuscript. It includes style rules, plus a list of names of places and people in the book to ensure consistent spelling throughout.

Getting the most out of a style guide

Once you know which style to follow and set up your online subscription or stack your desk with reference books, here’s how to put those magnificent guides to use.

Know when to consult it

No one expects a writer or editor to know all the rules of any style guide, no matter how much you’ve used it in your career. The trick to using a style guide is knowing when to consult it.

Become familiar with the biggest differences among styles, and train yourself to check the guide when you encounter them. Some major triggers:

• Headline capitalization: AP style uses sentence case, while Chicago uses title case, and APA uses each in different situations. House style is often different from any of these
• Citation: MLA, APA and Chicago each offer templates for citing sources within a paper or a reference list
• Punctuation: Notably, guides differ in their recommendations for the Oxford comma, the percent symbol, hyphens and dashes
• Numbers: Whether to spell a number or use a figure varies among style guides and even within each, depending on how you use the number. Also look up how to handle dates, ages and time
• Compound words: Recommendations for compounds change quickly, especially as words become common. Check a current guide for whether to write health care, healthcare, or health-care, for example
• Abbreviations and acronyms: Should you use a state abbreviation (like Fla.) or a postal code (like FL)… or always spell it out? In acronyms like U.S., do you need the periods? AP says yes, Chicago says you can go either way
• Formatting: Chicago and APA italicize book titles, while AP uses quotation marks around them. Guides also include preferences for formatting bulleted lists, block quotes, sentence spacing and more
• Words about technology: Common usage changes quickly, and your content can look outdated if it doesn’t keep up—for example, a hyphen in “e-mail” or capitalizing “Internet.” Check your current style guide for recommendations, but also address these in house style if conventional guidance doesn’t make sense for your audience
• Brand names: Will you use camel case for eBay and iPhone? All-caps for IKEA? A hyphen in Wal-Mart or Walmart? Style guides make recommendations, but this is another area house style should address more thoroughly for your audience
• Identifying groups of people: The boundaries for respectful and inclusive language are ever-shifting, so terms you’re accustomed to could be outdated. AP style, complementary media guides and APA style include up-to-date guidance based on common usage and recommendations from advocacy groups. Refer to those if your industry guide doesn’t include preferences

A good rule of thumb: Consult your style guide, even when you think you know the answer! You might misremember, conflate styles or miss a vital update.

Don’t deviate if you don’t have to

If you have the privilege of contributing to a company’s or publication’s style guide, start with an industry-standard guide (AP, Chicago or APA) as a base, and stick to it unless you have a compelling reason not to.

Writers and editors in your industry are likely familiar with the basics of the common style guide, but every in-house idiosyncrasy is a detail you have to teach each freelancer and new hire you work with. It’s also an opportunity to appear incorrect to readers and peers. 

Don’t sweat the small stuff

I say this as both an editor and a writer!

Writers, familiarize yourself with big style differences and important in-house preferences, but don’t get preoccupied with minute details. Editors are there to correct those; it’s not worth your time to spend all day perusing a style guide for answers.

Kick your writing style up a notch

Knowing how to use a style guide boosts your value as a writer. It means you’ll turn in cleaner copy and require less work from editors.

On a fun note, it also helps you understand your work better! Learning the linguistic conventions in your industry and niche and reading the explanations for them can help you define the audience you write for, how they think and what they know.

Plus, as someone who works with words, knowing how style guides work deepens your relationship with the work you create. Writing a sentence becomes exhilarating when you comprehend the simultaneous fluidity and brute force of the language you’re using.

Right? Just me?

Photo via GuadiLab / Shutterstock 

If you’re keen to focus on a long-term writing project, but you aren’t sure how to fund your work, writing fellowships may provide the support you need.

Writing fellowships usually consist of funding and space for writers to focus on a creative project rather than the business of supporting themselves. 

From writing fellowships for new writers to creative writing fellowships, there are plenty of different types for any kind of creative who is looking for a chance to let their projects thrive.

Many writing fellowships require residency in a particular city for the duration of the fellowship, while others fund international travel—but all provide financial support that enables their recipients to fully dedicate their time to writing.

The world of writing fellowships can be dizzying, but we’ve sifted through the options and found some of the best for poets, fiction writers, nonfiction writers and journalists alike.

The opportunities here run the gamut from fellowships for established writers to launching pads for those at the beginning of their careers. Each fellowship on the list is an annual contest, so if this year’s deadline has passed, you’ll have lots of time to prepare for next year.

20 writing fellowships for authors, journalists and poets

Wherever you are in your writing career, you’re bound to find a tempting option or two on this list of writing fellowships that could help you pursue your next project.

1. Steinbeck Fellow Program of San José State University

If you’re up for a year in San José and need funding to focus on your work of fiction, creative nonfiction, drama or biography, this is a fantastic opportunity. 

Named the Steinbeck Fellow Program in honor of John Steinbeck, this $15,000 fellowship allows writers to spend a year working on their manuscript while benefiting from the faculty and graduate-student community at SJSU.

The fellowship is designed for writers who have had “some success, but have not published extensively.” It requires a one- to three-page proposal, including a timeline, three letters of recommendation, a resume and a writing sample under 25 pages.

Deadline: Applications are usually due in early January.

2. Mother Jones Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program

Emerging journalists who want to immerse themselves in an investigative reporting environment will be hard-pressed to find a better opportunity than this. 

Based in San Francisco or Washington, D.C., Mother Jones’ editorial fellowship program is renowned for its impressive alumni list. Fellows do hands-on research and fact-checking and have opportunities to pitch online and print content.

Mother Jones offers fellows $23.52 per hour USD.  To apply, follow the guidelines posted on the website.

Deadline: The 2025-2026 fellowship cycle will begin in June 2025, and run for one year. Applications will open in the spring.

3. The Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellowship

The Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center is awarded each year to an emerging woman writer of exceptional promise. The fellowship fully funds the seven-month residency and includes a $2,500 prize to help defray the cost of travel and living expenses.

There is also a Fellowship Access Fund for others accepted into the Writing or Visual Arts Fellowship. This is a one-time award ranging from $500 to $2,500 USD.

Deadline: The 2025-2026 Writing Fellowship deadline is December 16, 2024. The 2025-2026 Visual Arts Fellowship deadline is February 3, 2025.

4. The Kenyon Review Fellowship

Creative writers of all genres are invited to apply for the two-year KR Fellowship at Ohio’s Kenyon College. Applicants should have experience teaching literature or creative writing to undergraduate students, as they will be required to teach one semester each year in the English department while undertaking “a significant writing project.”

Additionally, fellows are expected to work on a variety of creative and editorial projects for The Kenyon Review. Fellows receive an annual salary plus benefits. Be sure to highlight your “achievement and long-term potential” in your application, and play up your teaching experience.

Deadline: In 2024, applications were due October 18. Check the website for future deadlines. 

5. Loft McKnight Artist Fellowships

Minnesota writers, this one’s for you. Five $25,000 writing fellowships are available: four in creative prose or poetry and one creative writing fellowship for a writer of children’s literature. 

If you’re just starting out, you might want to bookmark the Loft McKnight Artist Fellowship for later in your career.  To be eligible, writers must demonstrate past publication, either a book or a significant number of literary journal publications.

The funding is intended to enable its recipients to focus on their craft for the year. Your 15 to 18 page writing sample will be the bedrock of your application.

Deadline: The deadline is usually in autumn. In 2024 the deadline is November, 19. 

6. Bucknell Stadler Fellowship

The Bucknell University Humanities Center provides several fellowship and grant opportunities for both faculty and students who wish to study and work in the humanities.

The Humanities Center Faculty Research Fellowships (FRF) are intended to provide faculty in the humanities with the resources needed to support and enhance ongoing research leading to publication in peer-reviewed venues (print and/or digital). In 2024 to 2025, the fellowship provides $3,000 for research expenses. The fellowship period will be Oct. 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.

Deadline: The Application Period for 2024-2025 is closed, but check back for future opportunities.

7. Nieman Fellowships

Perhaps the most generous award available for established journalists, the Nieman Foundation at Harvard offers writing fellowships for up to 24 journalists each year. Fellows spend two semesters at the college delving into master classes, shop talks, seminars and journalism conferences.

Most fellows receive a stipend of $75,000 over the nine months they spend at Harvard, in addition to housing, childcare and healthcare. 

This fellowship is less about making time to write and more about the chance to benefit from a community of fellow journalists and academics before you return to your professional life.

You must have five years of full-time media experience under your belt to apply. Also noteworthy: 12 of the 24 fellows will be international journalists, so non-U.S. citizens should definitely consider this opportunity.

Deadline: The deadline for international candidates is generally in early December (in 2024 the deadline is December 1), while U.S. candidates can generally apply until late January (this cycle it’s January 31, 2025).

8. James Jones First Novel Fellowship

Fiction writers wrestling with their first (unpublished) novel should take note of this fellowship. Named in honor of the “From Here to Eternity” author, the winner of the First Novel Fellowship will receive $12,000 USD.

Applicants are asked to submit an outline of their novel-in-progress, as well as the first 50 pages of their manuscript (so if your novel is still in idea form, take advantage of NaNoWriMo or a similar challenge and get cracking). If you have more than one novel in the works, you’re welcome to submit multiple manuscripts as separate entries. An entry fee of $30 is required to accompany each submission.

Deadline: Entries are accepted from October 1 of every year until midnight on March 15 of every year.

9. The Hodder Fellowship

Open to writers and visual artists (and composers, choreographers, performance artists or other kinds of artists), the Hodder Fellowship invites fellows to pursue independent projects at Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts during the academic year. Fellows are awarded a $92,000 stipend over the 10-month fellowship. 

The “exceptional promise” called for by the criteria should take the form of advanced degrees and previously published work, as most literary fellows have published a book prior to their fellowship year.

The Hodder is unique, as far as campus-based writer fellowship programs are concerned: Fellows are not required to teach or even interact with campus life if they don’t want to. The Lewis Center looks for writers who are at a crucial moment in their career, where they’ll greatly benefit from time away from busy lives.

Deadline: Applications are generally due in mid-September. In 2024, the deadline was September 10 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

10. Pen Center Emerging Voices Fellowship

Designed for underrepresented, marginalized writers who are isolated from the literary establishment, the Emerging Voices Fellowship fosters the careers of emerging writers through coursework, readings, Q&A sessions with prominent authors, mentorship, scholarship opportunities and a $1,500 honorarium. 

For five months in Los Angeles, Emerging Voices fellows will work on a specific writing project with a professional mentor in addition to attending organized events and classes.

Writers of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry are invited to apply. The fellowship is not open to writers who have an undergraduate degree in English with a creative writing emphasis, or those who have completed MA or MFA creative writing programs. And if you’re already widely published or can boast an array of accolades, this isn’t the fellowship for you.

Deadline: The application period is open between January 1 and January 31. 

11. Persephone Miel Fellowship

The Persephone Miel Fellowship is a great opportunity for non-U.S. journalists who want to amplify their reporting on issues that are overlooked by the mainstream media. 

The fellow will receive a $5,000 grant for a reporting project on topics and regions of global importance, with an emphasis on issues that have gone unreported or underreported in the mainstream media.

Any journalists (staff writers or freelancers) outside of the U.S. who wish to report from their home country are invited to apply, especially women or journalists from developing countries.

Deadline: The deadline is typically in early March. Please visit the website for future call dates and deadlines. 

12. Wallace Stegner Fellowship

Ten talented fellows—five fiction writers and five poets—will spend two years writing at Stanford University as recipients of the Wallace Stegner Fellowship.

Fellows participate in a weekly three-hour workshop led by Stanford faculty, but have no other campus duties beyond workshop attendance.  However, it is expected that fellows will attend the numerous enriching events offered by Stanford’s creative-writing program, such as readings and lectures given by established authors.

The main goal of the fellowship is to complete or make significant progress on a manuscript. The Stegner is open to any interested writer, regardless of age or nationality, and pays a living stipend of $43,000 per academic year,  in addition to tuition and health insurance. Applicants cannot be enrolled in a degree program at the same time as their fellowship.

Deadline: The application period is usually open in autumn. In 2024, the deadline for the 2025-2027 fellowship closes November 1 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

13. Patrick Henry History Fellowship

If delving into American history through your writing is your dream, this one’s for you. The Patrick Henry History Fellowship is a nine-month residency at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. and is open to both scholars and non-academic writers whose work focuses on “the history or legacy of the U.S. founding era and the nation’s founding ideas.”

Candidates should be able to demonstrate significant progress on their writing project prior to applying and should have extensive publication history under their belts. The fellowship pays $45,000 and provides health insurance, faculty privileges and a book allowance.

Deadline: The deadline for the 2025-2026 fellowship is January 15, 2025.

14. Scripps Fellowship

Budding environmental journalists will swoon for the chance to spend two semesters at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism. 

In addition to undertaking an independent study which should lead to “a significant piece of journalistic work,” recipients of the Scripps Fellowship take at least three classes each semester in environmental science, law and policy, and participate in relevant field trips around Denver, Boulder and beyond.

Fellows receive $80,000 for the academic year. Five writing fellowships are awarded each year, and the fellowship is open to any U.S. citizen with five years of professional journalism experience under their belt, even if they have never reported on the environment.

Deadline: The application deadline is March 1, annually.

15. Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellows

The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowships are for applicants with an MFA or PhD in creative writing who have no published books or only one full-length collection published by the application deadline. The Institute typically internationally awards two fiction fellowships and two poetry fellowships, and one third-year MFA fellowship to a current student.

The year-long writing fellowships provide “at least” $40,000 with “generous” health benefits, and it requires fellows to teach one course per semester. 

Fellows should live near Madison, Wis., and be available to fully participate in the local writing community, give a public reading and help select the following year’s fellows.

Deadline: The application period is generally open in the winter, with a deadline set at March 1.

16. Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellowships

The Leon Levy Center for Biography (LLCB) offers several fellowships annually to fund the research and writing of outstanding biographies, including special fellowships for CUNY dissertation students writing biography, and the Sloan Fellowship to fund biographies of scientists.

Recipients spend time working on their projects, going to seminars, attending public events and being part of the community. First-time biography writers are preferred.

Deadline: Applications are typically due in early January.

17. O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism

The O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism is a nine-month fellowship focusing on journalism “with the potential to drive action and improve lives.” Applicants should have at least five years of professional experience and produce journalism regularly. 

Fellows work on public service journalism from a regional, national or international level, working from the O’Brien suite at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication in Milwaukee.

Funds include a $75,000 salary stipend (USD), and fellows can tap into generous allotments for housing, although they also take remote or partially-remote applications in addition to full-residency applications.

Deadline: Applications typically open in December, with the deadline in January.

18. National Endowment for the Arts

Operating on a two-year cycle, Creative Writing Fellowships in prose and poetry are available for writers at various career stages in alternating years through the National Endowment for the Arts Literature. That means fellowships in prose (fiction and nonfiction) are available one year, and fellowships in poetry are offered the next. 

This competitive program offers $25,000 grants to a diverse range of published creative writers to support their efforts in writing, research, travel and other career advancement endeavors that result in the expansion of their portfolio of American art. “The criteria for review are the artistic excellence and artistic merit of the submitted manuscript,” so be sure to submit your best work.

Deadline: Applications are typically due mid-March each year (in 2024 the deadline was March 13 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time). Watch the website for next year’s application announcement.

19. A Public Space Writing Fellowships

A Public Space is an independent, non-profit publisher of the award-winning literary and arts magazine of the same name. The Writing Fellowship supports “early-career writers who embrace risk in their work and their own singular vision.”

This six-month writing fellowships includes editorial support from the magazine’s editors to help you prepare a piece for publication in the magazine, a $1,000 honorarium, plus the opportunity to meet agents, editors and published writers in the publishing community.

Keep in mind only writers who’ve yet to be published or contracted to write a book-length work are eligible. To apply, you’ll need a cover letter with a one-paragraph biographical statement and one previously unpublished prose piece of any word count.

Deadline: Watch the website for details on upcoming Writing Fellowships, which should be posted in December.

20. Emerging Writer Fellowship

If you’re 18 or older and you have a passion for writing, you meet the criteria to apply to the Emerging Writer Fellowship, a year-long experience created by GrubStreet creative writing center. To develop new, exciting voices and eliminate some of the financial barriers to entering the publishing world, the Emerging Writer Fellowship provides three writers tuition-free access to GrubStreet’s classes and conferences. 

Throughout the year, writers will attend seminars, multi-week courses of their choosing and conference sessions to learn more about the craft of writing and the publishing industry. Apply with a 500-word personal statement and writing samples.

Deadline: Check the website for details on upcoming Emerging Writer Fellowships, which should be posted in January.

This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.