Please read the following closely, as our application requirements have changed and aspects of our program have been adjusted for 2021.

Twelve fellows will receive an honorarium of $1,000. Fellows will be paired with a mentor to serve as a source of guidance for the project, and the cohort will convene virtually at least twice for intensive shared experiences.

PEN America will draw on the Emerging Voices Advisory Committee, as well as its network of agents, editors, publishers, partner organizations, and outlets in order to assist efforts for publication and dissemination of the work of the fellows. Opportunities for sharing the created work through public forums will be organized on virtual platforms.

The five months of the fellowship are designed for fellows to connect with mentors and the cohort and refine their writing project while learning new skills and building relationships with publishing industry instructors, PEN America staff, and the literary community.

• February–March: 2021 Emerging Voices Fellowship application period
• April: Fellows announced
• May-October: 2021 Emerging Voices Fellowship period
• November: Final virtual public reading event

• Applicants must be 21 years of age or older at time of application.
• Applicants do not need to be a U.S. permanent resident and/or citizen but must be residing in the United States at the time of applying for, and during the duration of, the fellowship.
• Applicants must be available to participate actively in all dimensions of fellowship programming, including mandatory workshops, virtual gatherings, and virtual public programs.
• Applicants cannot be enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application.
• Applicants cannot be a recipient of an advanced degree in creative writing.
• Applicants cannot have one or more books published through major or independent publishers, university presses, or established presses, nor have a book under contract to a publisher at the time of application. Chapbooks or work published in literary journals are acceptable.
• Former Emerging Voices Fellows are not eligible to reapply.

Given the highly competitive nature of the selection process for this fellowship, we advise using care in your project application. Though the application will be assessed as a whole, fellows will be selected primarily based on the strength of the writing sample by a committee of established writers, former fellows, and PEN America staff. We encourage you to submit writing that best showcases your work.

Please be mindful of the specific application requests. Failure to follow instructions carefully will result in disqualification. Late applications will not be accepted, without exception. We suggest you submit early to avoid technical issues. Applicants may only submit in one genre to the 2021 fellowship.

The selection decisions of PEN America will be final and not subject to review. We regret that due to the volume of applications, we will not be able to provide any individualized feedback at any point during or after the application process. General questions about the application process sent to [email protected] will be answered at the discretion of PEN America.

Applications close at 8:59pm PT / 11:59pm ET on March 17, 2021. Fellows will be announced in April. Apply on Submittable »

Terms of Use: PEN America archives submissions in their entirety for organizational purposes. We will never use or share your application outside of PEN America, and you retain all the rights to your work submitted as part of your application.

PEN America does not discriminate based upon age, color, national origin, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, status as a veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Application Fee: $25

Do I need to live in the United States area to apply to the Emerging Voices Fellowship?
Yes. Although applicants do not need to be a U.S. permanent resident and/or citizen, you must be residing in the United States during the duration of the Fellowship.

Are there any age restrictions?
The Emerging Voices Fellowship is open to all writers 21 years of age or older.

Can I submit work that has been previously published?
Yes, if you feel it is the work that best represents you as a writer.

Can you help me decide what work to submit as my writing sample?
No, although we do strongly encourage you to submit writing that corresponds to your genre and your project proposal. Please make full use of the 15-page submission limit for prose, but do not exceed 15 pages. This allows the selection committee to gain a better understanding of your project and how you and your work could benefit from the fellowship.

How should the manuscript be formatted?
Fiction and nonfiction manuscripts should be 15 pages of double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins all around. You may format poetry manuscripts however you feel best represents the poetry you are submitting, as long as you do not exceed the 10-page limit and the typed font is legible. All pages must be numbered. Your name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript.  The document must be in PDF format.

What does the selection committee look for in a manuscript?
A strong writing sample. The best advice we can give is to seek the advice of other writers and instructors when preparing your manuscript.

When are applicants notified of the committee’s decision?
All applicants will be notified in mid to late April.

Can you give me feedback on my manuscript or tell me why I wasn’t selected for the fellowship?
We cannot provide any comments on manuscripts or on applications submitted.

I write screenplays/graphic novels/children’s books. Am I eligible?
The accepted genres for the Emerging Voices Fellowship are fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. All classes, mentors, and programming for the fellowship are based on one of these three genres. Many alumni have gone on to pursue careers in graphic novels, performance art, and screenwriting, but concentrated on either prose or poetry for the duration of the fellowship.

Do I need to provide references?
Applicants must provide the email address of two references. Your reference should be familiar with you and your writing, and can attest to your ability to complete a long-term project. Your reference will receive an email with a link to upload a reference letter. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure they receive your reference request. Reference letters must be uploaded by the end of the application period.

Is there an application fee?
Yes, there is a $25 fee to submit the application. The application fee must be paid on Submittable.

If offered a place in the fellowship, may I defer acceptance for another year?
You may not defer acceptance.

If not awarded the fellowship, may I reapply?
If you are not awarded a fellowship, we encourage you to reapply if interested.

Are current PEN America staff, interns, donors, and Board members eligible for the Emerging Voices Fellowship? What about past staff, interns, donors, and Board members?
Writers who also are current PEN America staff or interns, trustees, or chairs of member committees are not eligible for the fellowship. We understand the literary community to be close and interconnected, and being involved with PEN America in these ways in the past does not result in disqualification. We ask that the writer have not been connected with PEN America in these ways during the calendar year of the applicable fellowship cycle. For example, a person involved with PEN America in one of the categories described in 2021 will not be eligible for the fellowship in 2021.

If someone is a member and active in, say, a committee, they are eligible, so long as they aren’t chair or co-chair.

PEN America issued a press release with an update on a new workshop series for emerging writers, as well as information about the Emerging Voices program.

Dear Friend,

We are writing to the Emerging Voices community with some good news that we are pleased to share. As we previously let you know, having to cancel our galas and other fundraising events, as well as absorb loss associated with the pandemic and economic crisis, required some tough decisions and changes in order to sustain our organization. That said, in this year in which we’ve come to expect the unexpected, we are elated to share that, late this week, we were able to secure a new commitment, beginning in 2021, from one of our donors to reallocate a portion of their giving. The redirected funds will underwrite efforts to nurture, mentor, and support emerging writers, who have been historically excluded from publishing, through a structured program that will be deeply informed by and will expand upon our Los Angeles-based Emerging Voices Fellowship. Part of the effort will include finding new ways to foster connections between annual participants and program alumni and agents, editors, and publishers. We will also seek lessons learned from other similar efforts, especially those that operate virtually. The vision is a national program operating virtually and, we hope, with some in-person engagement as public health circumstances allow.

We will devote the next few months to extensive consultation and study in order to define an approach that can work nationally and offer the kind of intensive experience that we know has been so important. We very much hope that many of you will participate in that process, as your expertise and knowledge will be invaluable. That consultation and information-gathering effort will be led by Los Angeles office executive director and former EV program manager Michelle Franke and PEN America’s senior director of literary programs Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf in consultation with our Board Literary Committee and other stakeholders. We plan to reach out with opportunities for discussion and consultation in the hopes that you will be willing to share your ideas and participate in the future of this essential work. We also plan to do an optional survey for EV alumni, EV program participants, and other emerging writers coast to coast. Our plan is to outline a way forward, based on our findings, in the first part of 2021. As this generous donation will cover only a portion of expenses associated with this program, fundraising will be ongoing. We are heartened to be able to ensure that the current Emerging Voices hiatus will be a limited one, and we are excited to work together.

There are many details to be addressed in the months to come, but we know that you care deeply about this work, and we wanted to share the positive news.

Very best,

Suzanne Nossel
PEN America CEO

Jennifer Egan
PEN America President

Ayad Akhtar
PEN America Vice President, PEN America President-elect

Michelle Franke
Executive Director, Los Angeles

Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf
Senior Director Literary Programs

Thank you for your interest in the PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship (EV). Over the past months, we have so appreciated your support and encouragement, and know that you share our deep commitment to ensuring sustained efforts to nurture the careers of those who have been locked out of the literary communities and publishing.

Since March, PEN America has been assessing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis on every aspect of our work. This includes safety, logistical, and financial implications for each of our programs, and certainly for EV, which has historically operated in-person in Los Angeles. We have made the tough but necessary decision not to open the 2021 fellowship application, due to the constraints on convening a cohort of fellows and the non-renewal of several key grants that have supported the program.

That said, as we use this time to determine how best to move forward with this vital work, we are very pleased to announce that PEN America will be presenting a series of online professional development workshops inspired by elements of the EV program. Recognizing the urgent needs of emerging writers coast to coast, this free and open access workshop series on craft and career issues will be presented in partnership with our PEN Across America initiative and local chapters in cities nationwide. Other updates, including the workshop slate, will be available in early fall.

Our work to determine a path forward will involve several elements. In the coming days, we’re launching a detailed survey of EV participants since 1996 to learn more about the outcomes of the program over time and the current needs of emerging writers. We will assess how we can best connect emerging writers to representation and the publishing industry, leveraging PEN America’s deep networks. We will look at how similar programs supporting emerging writers, both within and outside PEN America, have transitioned to an online learning environment. This inquiry will serve as a foundation for our efforts to secure new funding to support this work.

Like many of our peer organizations, PEN America has been hit by the forced cancellation of in-person fundraising events due to the pandemic. We are also navigating the changing priorities of some donors. Even prior to this year’s challenges, it has been difficult to find consistent funding for the EV program, in part due to the intensive nature of its design. We have scrambled to cover annual costs, and at times have not been able to do so with designated funds. We are determined to use this interim period to examine how we can evolve our offering and put it on solid financial footing. Going forward, the program will require a substantial multi-year funding commitment, beyond short-term donations. Some supporters have reached out about fundraising; we appreciate that and will continue to welcome ideas. We hope that by early 2021 we will be in a position to announce a way forward.

There is an important history on which to build. Since 1996, EV has aimed to provide writers from underrepresented, marginalized communities with the tools they need to launch a professional literary career. EV has served as a hub for the Los Angeles literary community, supporting and championing more than 150 writers who have published 65 books and shorter pieces in 200+ anthologies and journals. Many fellows, in addition to pursuing their own literary careers, have also gone on to make significant creative contributions across the country.

The pandemic has underscored significant gaps in opportunity and wellbeing in the literary community and beyond. With our interim workshop series, we hope to provide the greatest number of writers, especially those from historically excluded communities, the chance to benefit from what EV has historically only offered to a select few. Readers need stories from new and diverse voices, and we hope that demystifying the path to publication results in increased connections, representation, and opportunities.

During a challenging time marked by much uncertainty, and as a part of PEN America’s century of efforts to stand with writers, dissenters, and those advocating for positive change, we’re excited to launch the workshop series, make new friends, see old ones, and open some of the most beloved and helpful components of EV to writers across the country. Sign up to receive updates on the workshop series and other news on PEN America Los Angeles, or follow us online on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and on the Emerging Voices Facebook and Twitter.

For further information, please contact Michelle Franke, executive director, PEN America, Los Angeles at [email protected]

Meet the 2020 Emerging Voices Fellows and Mentors »

The Final Reading
During this live, online program presented by the Hammer Museum, the 2020 Emerging Voices Fellows read together for the last time as the culmination of their fellowship experience.

Watch the livestream »
Read the program »

2020 Emerging Voices Fellows’ Essays
“Unwrapping” by Damien Belliveau
“Tiger Heads All the Way Down” by Claire Lin
“Leave Expectations at the Door” by Shannon Gatewood
“The Poetics of Sovereignty: Embracing Self-Determination on the Page” by Megan Dorame
“The Path to Remembering” by M. Kiguwa

Meet the 2019 Emerging Voices Fellows and Mentors »

2019 Emerging Voices Welcome Party
Thank you to everyone who came out to Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits to hear the 2019 Emerging Voices Fellows read together for the first time. If you weren’t able to make it, you can watch the reading or take a look at the photos.

The Final Reading

Thank you to everyone involved for another inspiring fellowship year. The 2019 fellows read together for the last time at the Hammer Museum on July 23.

Take a look at the photos and watch the incredible show.

2018 Emerging Voices Welcome Party

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate the 2018 Emerging Voices at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions.

Angela, Ron, Natalie, Francisco, and Jubi read excerpts of their work to a packed house full of friends, family, mentors, EV alumni, instructors, and writers. It was literary Los Angeles at its finest.

Take a look at the photos, and make sure to mark your calendars for their next reading at the Hotel Café on Saturday, April 28 for Tongue and Groove with musical guest Elephants With Guns.

PEN America Los Angeles is generously supported by the Amazon Literary Partnership, California Arts Council, Herb Alpert Foundation, Rosenthal Family Foundation, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, New Balloon & Catapult, and Ovation Foundation.

The Final Reading

The final reading featured our 2018 Emerging Voices Fellows Jubi Arriola-Headley, Ron L. Dowell, Natalie Mislang Mann, Angela M. Sanchez, and Francisco Uribe introduced by mentors Douglas Manuel, Tananarive Due, Angela Morales, Lilliam Rivera, and Michael Jaime-Becerra.

View photos from the final reading »

Tongue & Groove Presents the 2018 Emerging Voices Fellows

PEN America and Tongue & Groove presented a reading by the 2018 Emerging Voices Fellows at Hotel Café. It was a night of reading and drinking with musical guest Elephants With Guns. Featuring Jubi Arriola-Headley, Ron L. Dowell, Natalie Mislang Mann, Angela M. Sanchez, and Francisco Uribe.

View photos from the event »