Read the Artist Fellowships Overview for general eligibility criteria, a description of program goals and requirements and a selection process schedule.
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Eligibility
This category is open to:
- Poets and spoken-word performers
- Playwrights
- Prose writers, including writers of fiction and creative nonfiction
- Screenwriters
- Writers of literary translation and writers of work for children in any of the above genres
Because the Arts Council convenes separate panels to review prose, poetry and screenplays/play scripts, you may not submit work in a combination of genres. Collaborators should submit only one application (see Overview for more information). Artists may submit only one application per year as either the primary applicant or a collaborator.
How to Apply
You will submit your application electronically using ARTS Grants Online (AGO), a comprehensive electronic application. The system will accept all of your application materials, including work samples. Online submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 1, 2012. You will also mail four copies of your work samples to the N.C. Arts Council offices postmarked by the deadline.
AGO works best if you use Mozilla Firefox as your browser, though other browsers, including Internet Explorer, are also functional. If you don't have a computer at home, all public libraries have computers available for public use. Click here for the statewide library directory.
A complete fellowship application will generally have five components:
- Applicant profile
- Narrative
- Résumé
- Work samples
- Support materials, including work sample descriptions
In addition to work sample descriptions, requested support materials include a synopsis for prose works, permissions for adaptations or translations, and/or a summary page (also for translations).
Applicant Profile
This page provides us with your basic information, such as your name and ways to contact you during and at the conclusion of the process.
If you are new to our online application system, you will need to create a profile. Make sure to check “Individual” when creating your profile. In the Primary Contact Information fields, enter your name the way you would like to be listed on our database and in our application records. If you go by your middle name, you may enter it in the field for middle initial.
If you have applied previously using the AGO online system, please review your profile and update information, as needed. Should any of your contact information change during the course of the review, please correct your profile in AGO and let us know so we can update your records on our database.
At the bottom of the profile, enter your own website address, if you have one, on the Web Address line. Otherwise, leave it blank.
Once your profile is complete, go to Current Programs and Applications and click on Start Application below the heading for N.C. Artist Fellowship 2013-2014.
Narrative
Before you answer the narrative questions, you must answer several further identifying questions to ensure that your name is listed correctly and that your work will be reviewed by the appropriate panel.
- Please make sure the name you enter here corresponds to the name you entered in the Primary Contact Information fields in the profile.
- The discipline you select will determine the panel that reviews your application.
- The genre/medium should describe the work samples you submitted.
Your narrative will address the following questions:
- How do you plan to use the fellowship?
- How will receiving a fellowship affect your artistic development?
- Why is it important that you receive a fellowship at this point in your artistic career?
You will answer each question in a separate text box, with a specified character limit. The total space available to respond to all three questions is roughly one typed page. A budget page is not requested with your narrative.
The narrative is an essential part of your fellowship application. In responding to the questions, consider what a panelist, who has seen the work samples you submitted, will want to know about the direction and ambitions you have for your work.
Résumé
Attach a PDF of your artist résumé emphasizing literature-related activities. Include pertinent biographical details as education, employment and accomplishments, publications, residencies and honors, as well as articles and publications written about your work. We recommend that you limit the length of your résumé to no more than five pages.
Work Samples
Work samples are the most important part of your fellowship application. Fellowships are awarded primarily on artistic merit and your work samples are the only means panelists have to assess it. Samples should represent the best of your creative ability and be of the highest possible quality.
Your work samples must be:
- In typescript and clearly readable. Use a 12-point or larger font. Include the page number in the upper right corner of each page. Do not crowd pages. Use 1” margins and follow the line spacing requirements described below for each literary form. Do not submit more than the maximum number of pages that are allowed; excess pages will be removed.
- Completely free of your name, initials, address and any other identifying information. We use a blind review process to review work samples in the first round.
- In the literary form for which you are applying. Please indicate the literary form at the top of the first page of your manuscript. It should correspond to the form you selected in the drop-down menu for genre/medium.
- From work that you have written within the past three years. You may submit published work, unpublished work or work in progress.
You will upload PDF files of your recent work to the Written Document Bank by following the instructions on the Work Sample Selection page of the AGO site. Once you have uploaded the files, you will need to select the files from the Document Bank by returning to the Work Sample Selection page in your application and following the prompts for choosing files from your Document Bank. You will also need to mail four copies of these samples to the N.C. Arts Council following the directions below.
Manuscript requirements by literary form:
Poetry
- 10 typescript, single-column, single-spaced pages of poetry. This can include:
- a single 10-page poem, or
- Several shorter poems, or
- A section of a longer work, or
- A combination of the above.
For poems shorter than one page, please submit one poem per page.
Upload a PDF of your work sample manuscript to AGO and mail four identical paper copies, each stapled in the upper left-hand corner to the Arts Council.
Spoken word
- Performance artists may present their work in digital video format. Work samples should consist of your original poetry performed by you in a solo performance(s). Samples should not exceed a total of 10 minutes in length. You will upload samples to AGO in MP4 format using the Video Samples tool, or provide a link(s) to a work(s) on the Web using the Web Link Collection Form (a link is provided on the Work Sample Selection page). The maximum for total uploads to AGO per applicant is 500 MB.
- A manuscript following the poetry guidelines above, containing the original poems performed on the video submission described above.
Prose (fiction and creative nonfiction)
- A minimum of 20 and up to 30 typescript, double-spaced pages of
- Fiction, or
- Short stories, or
- Creative nonfiction
If you submit an excerpt, include within the 30-page maximum a one-page synopsis of the work as a whole. You may submit examples of more than one form, but it is not recommended.
Upload a PDF of your work sample manuscript and synopsis (if applicable) to AGO. Mail four identical paper copies of your manuscript work sample, each stapled in the upper left-hand corner to the Arts Council. Include also four copies of your one-page synopsis, if appropriate. Do NOT staple the synopsis to the manuscript.
Playwrighting and screenwriting
- A minimum of 20 and up to 30 typescript pages, double- or single-spaced taken from:
- Scripts for theatrical production, or
- Scripts for film and television, or
- An adaptation of a nontheatrical work for the stage or for film.
Include within the 30-page maximum a one-page synopsis of the work as a whole. Follow industry standards when formatting your work sample. Script-formatting software is widely available, including Final Draft, MovieMagic Screenwriter, Movie Outline and CeltX. Microsoft also has a screenplay template available for Word.
Upload a PDF of your manuscript work sample to AGO. Mail four paper copies of your manuscript, three-hole punched and individually bound with Acco #5 1.25 metal brads to the N.C. Arts Council.
Literary translations
- A sample in the original language of the published work you propose to translate.
- Your translation of the published work
- Poetry: 10 typescript, single-column, single-spaced pages, or
- Prose: a minimum of 20 and up to 30 typescript, double-spaced pages, or
- Plays and screenplays: a minimum of 20 and up to 30 typescript pages, double or single-spaced of scripts.
Upload a PDF of the work sample manuscript and original language version to AGO. For mailing instructions, follow the same requirements for number of copies, length and binding described in the literary categories above for the manuscript work sample you will submit.
Remember: Your name, initials, address or other identifying marks must not appear on any page of the work sample materials you are submitting.
Support Materials
We also require the following support materials to supplement the work samples you submit. You will upload these support materials to the Work Sample Selection page of the AGO site and mail copies to the N.C. Arts Council per instructions below.
Work Sample Descriptions
You will have the opportunity to describe your work sample(s) when you upload them to the Written Documents Bank. However, your submission must be accompanied by a separate Work Sample Description page, regardless of the genre of your work sample.
Your description page must include:
- Your name as it appears in the Primary Contact Information section of the profile
- Your address
- Any other relevant contact information
- The title(s) of the work(s) you are submitting.
Permissions
If the work is still under copyright, translations and adaptations of nontheatrical works for the stage or film must be accompanied by a written and signed permission from the copyright holder of the original, whether it’s the publisher, author or another party.
Summary Page
For literary translations, you must include a one-page summary describing the work, including:
- The need for your translation of the work into English
- Your credentials for the project.
Upload a PDF of your work sample description to the Work Sample Selection page on AGO and mail one loose copy with the manuscript copies of your work sample submission to the Arts Council.
Upload permissions and/or summary page (as appropriate) to the Work Sample Selection page on AGO and mail four copies of the written permission and summary page with your work sample submission to the Arts Council. Do NOT bind the written permissions or summary page to the manuscript bundle.
If you have questions about the work samples, please call the staff before the deadline to discuss your submission.
Submitting Your Application Packet
Submit your completed application electronically online on the AGO site by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. Then mail us the appropriate work samples, postmarked by the deadline:
- 4 copies of your manuscript work sample, and
- 1 copy of the work sample description page
If applicable, also send:
- 4 copies of the adaption or translation permission, and/or
- 4 copies of the summary page for translation submissions
Send the packet to:
Regular mail
Artist Fellowship Grants
North Carolina Arts Council
4632 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4632
Express and hand delivery
Artist Fellowship Grants
North Carolina Arts Council
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-1023
The work sample package must be postmarked by the deadline: Nov. 1, 2012. You must also submit the online application by 5 p.m. on the deadline date.
What Happens Next
You will receive an automatic e-mail confirming the electronic receipt of your online application. After we've had an opportunity to make a first review of all of the submissions, we'll send you another notice, usually by early December, acknowledging that both the electronic application and your work samples have been received.
If you wish to be notified sooner than December, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in your application package and we'll mail it back as soon as your application is processed. Please do not call or e-mail the Arts Council to verify receipt, as that only delays the processing of applications.
Arts Council staff reviews all of the applications for eligibility and completeness and prepares them for panel review in 2013, a process that can take several months, depending on the number of submissions.
Discipline-based panels are assembled to review the applications and recommend the artists they consider most deserving of a fellowship. We then submit the panels' recommendations to the Secretary of Cultural Resources for approval.
We send letters to all of the applicants as soon as possible after approval is given, no later than mid-summer of 2013, after the legislature passes a budget for the Arts Council.
Helpful Links
Artist Fellowship Overview
Artist Fellowship Application
