LITERATURE
Discipline-Specific Guidelines
2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship
The Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in Literature supports Minnesota or New York City-based writers, early in their careers, creating bold, innovative and risk-taking new work that challenges conventional artistic forms. This program supports writers working in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. Please note that playwrights and spoken word artists should apply in the discipline of Theater/Performance Art/Spoken Word.
Please take the Eligibility Questionnaire to assess whether you meet the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship eligibility criteria before reading through these further, discipline-specific requirements. You must meet all of the general eligibility requirements as well as those found in the Discipline-Specific Guidelines below, whether you are applying as an individual artist or as a collaborative.
Defining “Early Career”
Eligible applicants must have a sufficient body of completed work that a panel can use to assess your artistic development over time, dedication to the field and ongoing motivation to create new original work.
Early career artists:
- Have between 2 to 10 years of experience as a writer of fiction, creative non-fiction and/or poetry (excluding any time in a degree-granting program or time away from working as an artist due to circumstances–e.g., having children, caring for family members, long-term illness, etc.).
Writers who have been generating new work for more than 10 years (excluding any time spent in a degree-granting program) are generally not eligible, even if they feel under-recognized. Writers beyond 10 years in the field and who have not had 3 published books who wish to discuss eligibility—based on circumstances (whether personal or geographic) or on specific creative practice considerations (i.e., the scale of work and/or extended creative cycles necessary to complete a single work)—should contact Jerome program staff before April 15, 2020 to discuss eligibility in advance of submitting an application.
- Have 20 pages of completed and published fiction and creative non-fiction or 10 pages of completed and published poems to meet the work sample requirements. Works created and published while in a degree-granting program are not eligible for meeting this requirement.
- Have at least 1 work on your resume/CV that has been supported by a publisher (including short stories or excerpts of novels or memoirs, essays or poems in a literary journal, anthology, or publication that regularly includes fiction, creative nonfiction and/or poetry as a portion of their format) or funder (for a project grant from either a foundation or a federal, state or local arts agency). Self-published work or work created and published while in a degree-granting program is not eligible for meeting this requirement.
Panels rely on work samples and a resume/CV to assess the review criterion of artistic merit, impact and readiness. Your application materials must demonstrate development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
This is not an opportunity for beginning writers whose work has yet to be published, or without a sufficient body of completed work that a panel can use to assess your artistic development over time.
Age is not a factor in determining eligibility.
Writers who are mid-career or established are not eligible.
Artists will be considered beyond early career and ineligible if they have:
- Received consistent significant financial support for their artistic work from foundations and/or federal, state or local arts agencies for multiple different projects.
- A considerable body of work with 3 or more published (or under contract to be published) novels or novellas, memoirs, and/or collections of short stories, poetry, or essays.
- Garnered significant regional or national prizes or awards in recognition or support of the creation and publication of their work, including but not limited to:
- Creative Capital Award
- Indie Booksellers’ Choice Awards
- Fulbright Fellowships
- United States Artists Fellowship
- National Poetry Competition
- National Book Award
- Lambda Literary Award
- O. Henry Award
- Minnesota Book Awards
- National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship
Receipt of any one of these grants and awards does not make an artist ineligible—it is the receipt of multiple grants and awards for multiple projects that, taken as a whole, move an artist to mid-career or beyond.
- Achieved significant commercial success.
- Received recognition in the form of awards, commissions, residencies or funding opportunities that are specifically categorized as mid-career.
- Received awards or prizes in recognition of significant cumulative career achievement (including but not limited to the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters (fiction, novel, short story, poetry), Guggenheim or the MacArthur Fellowship).
- Have a full-time tenured faculty position (or the equivalent).
Recognizing that different funders may define “mid-career” in different ways, artists who have received mid-career awards but consider themselves still in an early career stage should contact Jerome program staff before April 15, 2020, to discuss eligibility in advance of submitting an application.
Writers with substantial recognition and lengthy careers as journalists, scholars, translators of the work of others will generally be considered ineligible. Writers who want to discuss eligibility should contact Jerome program staff before April 15, 2020, in advance of submitting an application.
Mid-career or established artists from fields other than literature will not be considered early career based on the decision to shift artistic direction and begin writing. For example, a playwright with a substantial career in theater who is now moving into writing poetry will not be considered early career for the purposes of this Fellowship.
Collaborative Eligibility
Collaboratives may submit a single application requesting support for 2–5 members who will share the Fellowship funds equally. In order to submit an eligible application, the collaborative must have a majority of members that meet all of the Fellowship eligibility requirements for artists applying individually and have a demonstrated history of creating new work collectively. Only eligible collaborative artists may be included in the application.
Please take the Eligibility Questionnaire to assess whether your group meets the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship eligibility criteria for collaboratives.
Prose (fiction, creative non-fiction and prose poetry)
In the application, you must provide
- Excerpts from two completed published works totaling 20 pages. Eligible samples include short stories or excerpts of novels or memoirs, or essays published in literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include fiction and/or creative nonfiction as a portion of their format and have a competitive selection process. You may not include drafts. The samples should be formatted with a minimum font size of 11 point, double-spaced with one-inch margins, pages numbered, with your name and the title of the work at the top of each page.
- Prose writers may submit a third work sample of up to 10 pages of a work-in-progress or unpublished work, especially if this is a project you would be pursuing during your Fellowship.
Work sample page maximum:
- 20 pages total for 2 publicly presented works
- 10 pages total for 1 work-in-progress
- 30 pages total maximum
For example, you may submit 7 pages of a published short story or essay; 13 pages of a published short story, novel or memoir; and 10 pages of a work-in-progress that you are developing over the next couple of years.
Use your most recent and strongest work. Panels prefer work created within the last 3 years. Older samples may be submitted with an explanation in the “work sample context” field. Work created and presented while in a degree-granting program is not eligible.
Submit your works in the order in which you would like them to be viewed, starting with your strongest sample. Panelists want to see a range of work demonstrating development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
The applicant(s) must be the author of all submitted samples. If applying as an ensemble/collective/collaborative, all of the work samples must be the creative work authored by the members of the group who are applying.
Do not send samples of photocopied or scanned pages from a book or magazine—this creates formatting inconsistencies that are a challenge for panelists. The visual quality is also much lower than a PDF made from a text document.
Poetry
In the application, you must provide:
- Multiple poems of up to 10 pages, either published individually or as part of a collection. Eligible samples are poems published as a collection or in literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include poetry as a portion of their format and have a competitive selection process. The one formatting requirement is that the work should be a minimum font size of 11 point with page numbers. You may use whatever layout you use for your work on the page and do not need to adhere to the formatting requirements stated for prose writers. You may not include drafts.
- Each poem may be accompanied by video or audio documentation of you performing your work that corresponds to the poem. Provide cue points in the video that correspond to the text of your poetry. Do not submit promotional videos, trailers, reels, or interviews. Panels prefer to see real-time sequences of work. The preference is to submit links to the full-length work and provide cue points that correspond to the text file.
- Poets may also submit up to 5 pages of works-in-progress or unpublished poems, especially if this is work you would be pursuing during your Fellowship.
Work sample page maximum:
- 10 pages total for publicly presented works
- 5 pages total for 1 work-in-progress
- 15 pages total maximum
For example, an artist might submit 5 pages of poems from a published collection, 5 pages of poems individually published in poetry journals, and 5 pages of poems-in-progress or poems that have not been published. It is to your benefit to submit enough work to reach the 15-page limit.
Submit your works in the order in which you would like them to be viewed, starting with your strongest sample. Panelists want to see a range of work demonstrating development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
Do not send samples of copied or scanned pages from a book or magazine—this creates formatting inconsistencies that are a challenge for panelists. The visual quality is also much lower than a pdf made from a text document.
Combination of Prose and Poetry
For writers who work in prose and poetry forms, in the application you must provide:
- Excerpts from one completed published work totaling 10 pages. Eligible samples include short stories or excerpts of novels or memoirs, or essays published in literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include fiction and/or creative nonfiction as a portion of their format and have a competitive selection process. You may not include drafts. The samples should be formatted with a minimum font size of 11 point, double-spaced with one-inch margins, pages numbered, with your name and the title of the work at the top of each page.
- Multiple poems of up to 5 pages, either published individually or as part of a collection. Eligible samples are poems published as a collection or in literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include poetry as a portion of their format and have a competitive selection process. The one formatting requirement is that the work should be a minimum font size of 11 point with page numbers. You may use whatever layout you use for your work on the page and do not need to adhere to the formatting requirements stated for prose writers. You may not include drafts.
- Each poem may be accompanied by video or audio documentation of you performing your work that corresponds to the poem. Provide cue points in the video that correspond to the text of your poetry. Do not submit promotional videos, trailers, reels, or interviews. Panels prefer to see real-time sequences of work. The preference is to submit links to the full-length work and provide cue points that correspond to the text file.
- You may also submit up to 5 pages of works-in-progress or unpublished poems or 10 pages from 1 prose work-in-progress or unpublished work, especially if this is work you would be pursuing during your Fellowship.
Work sample page maximum:
-
10 pages total for 1 publicly presented prose work
-
5 pages total for publicly presented poetry works
-
5 pages total for work-in-progress poems or 10 pages total from 1 prose work-in-progress
Submit your works in the order in which you would like them to be viewed, starting with your strongest sample. Panelists want to see a range of work demonstrating development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
Do not send samples of copied or scanned pages from a book or magazine—this creates formatting inconsistencies that are a challenge for panelists. The visual quality is also much lower than a pdf made from a text document.
If applying as a collaborative, all of the work samples must be the creative work authored by the members of the group who are applying.
Jerome staff will assess whether your work samples are eligible for the panel to view.
Ineligible work samples include:
- work that has appeared in a publication for which you are the editor, publisher, or staff;
- work for hire, even if commissioned, collaborative work, academic or scholarly writing, business or instructional writing, blog posts, journalistic or news reporting, self-help books, book reviews or criticism, translations of work authored by others, editorials/letters to the editor/op-ed pieces, interviews;
- student publications and publications that primarily print work by persons who are affiliated with a particular academic institution;
- any publication by presses that publish work without a competitive selection or a stated editorial policy or publish work without professional editing;
- any work created and published while in a degree-granting program.
For each work sample in the application, you will provide the following required information:
Prose only:
- Separate PDF files for the 2 published works.
- A separate PDF file for work-in-progress.
- The total of your excerpts for all samples combined is: 20 pages of published work, 10 pages of work-in-progress.
Poetry only:
- PDF file of published works.
- A separate PDF file for work-in-progress.
- The total of your excerpts for all samples combined is: 10 pages of published work, 5 pages of work-in-progress.
- The optional Vimeo/YouTube or Soundcloud URL to corresponding poem(s).
- Vimeo or SoundCloud password, if applicable.
- Indicate your start and stop time for the excerpt (e.g., “Start at 3:30 and end at 5:15”).
Combined Prose and Poetry:
- PDF file for the 1 published prose work.
- PDF file of up to 5 published poetry works.
- The optional Vimeo/YouTube or Soundcloud URL to corresponding poem(s).
- Vimeo or SoundCloud password, if applicable.
- Indicate your start and stop time for the excerpt (e.g., “Start at 3:30 and end at 5:15”).
- A separate PDF file for work-in-progress or unpublished work: either 5 pages of poetry or 10 pages of prose.
- The total of your excerpts for all samples combined is: 10 pages of published prose work, 5 pages of published poetry work, and (optional) either 5 pages of work-in-progress poems or 10 pages of work-in-progress prose.
Work Sample Description for Prose and Poetry:
- Work Sample Description, listing:
- Name of the Work
- Date Published
- When and where the work was published, or whether it is a work-in-progress (if you are submitting a third work-in-progress sample).
- Work Sample Excerpt Context
- Provide up to 150 words (recommended length) to give panelists a precise context for what they are reading. This can include a brief description of the entire piece, any important information about sections of the work occurring either before or after your excerpt that you want them to know, or your intentions and goals in creating the work. If you’d like panelists to pay attention to specific elements of your work, this is also where you might instruct them to do so. Given the panelist preference for recent work, if you are submitting work samples that are older than 3 years, please explain why.
Applicants who cannot provide the minimum amount of requested work samples leave the panel without enough information to gauge whether the applicant is truly competitive. Applicants who cannot meet the minimum requirement will be eliminated from consideration.
Panels rely on the resume/CV to evaluate how your artistic background demonstrates development over time, dedication to the field, ongoing motivation in the creation of new, original work in your artistic field over a multi-year period and your readiness for a two-year fellowship.
To meet eligibility requirements, you must have at least 1 work on your resume/CV that has been supported by a publisher or funder (for a project grant from either a foundation or a federal, state or local arts agency). Work that has been self-published or work created and published while in a degree-granting program is not eligible for this requirement.
Staff will assess your resume/CV to make sure you are eligible for the panel to review. Any applicant whose resume does not clearly establish eligibility will be eliminated for further consideration at the prescreening stage.
Resume/CVs should be current and complete. Bios are not acceptable. The Jerome staff and panel will not do research to determine your publication dates, length, dates in degree programs, etc.
The resume is your chance to present and confirm your status as an early career writer with a history of ultimate creative control over projects, artistic development over time, dedication to the field, and ongoing motivation in the creation of new, original work. For that reason, applicants need to be specific about clearly listing your writing work separate from other work and opportunities. A sample individual writer resume is available for your reference.
Individual Artist Resumes/CVs should include the following:
- Published works: listing of published work, include all presented, commissioned and self-produced work.
- Name of the work, length and genre (e.g. fiction, creative non-fiction essay, poetry, hybrid, prose-poetry, etc.)
- Date completed or published
- Who published the work
- Provide a short (1–3 sentence) summary of the work.
Example: Uproot! published by Press A in 2018. This is my first published poetry collection. This is a bi-lingual series of 45 poems, songs, and myths that weaves the known and imagined narrative of my family history.
Eye Spy chapbook published by Press A in 2016. This is a prose-poetry hybrid meditation on first impressions with illustrations by August Lopez.
Rain Down, short story (8500 words, fiction), published in Magazine A in 2019. This is a dialogue between sisters on the eve of their mother’s death.
Blood Turnip, short story (7500 words, fiction), published in Literary Journal A in 2018. This is a playful story incorporating food metaphors in a tale of a love affair gone wrong.
- Work in Development: provide the work, date, short description
Example: Peacocks (working title), novella (approximately 90 pages, fiction). A comedy involving a semi-pro basketball team whose new owner brings along a Silicon Valley mindset.
- Other Artistic Work: list role, name of project, date, location
Example: Rapid Fire, 2014 performance & installation in collaboration with Monira Esid’s Declaration at Venue A (City). I wrote and performed the text which was also incorporated into the installation.
No Boundaries, 2016, (2000 words, creative non-fiction) essay for online blog commissioned by Institution A (City) in response to Make Sense Exhibition.
- Fellowships & Awards: list name of award, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of fellowship or award], [year], [amount of award or fellowship stipend], [length of fellowship], [name of project, if relevant]
Nominee for [name of award],[year], [name of work]
- Grants: list name of grant, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of grant], [year], [amount of grant], [name of project, if relevant]
- Residencies: list name of residency, date, length of residency
Example: [name of residency], [year], [length of residency], [name of project, if relevant]
- Readings: list name of program date and place, and short description.
Example: [name of series], 2015, Venue A (City). I read 2 poems in an evening inviting poets to share 7 minutes of work.
[name of series], 2015, Venue A (City). I read 3 poems during this event featuring readings with live music.
- Education: list any dates when you were enrolled in degree program/s
Example: University A, MFA in Creative Writing, 2012-2015
College B, B.A. in Creative Writing, NY, 2007-2011
- Teaching: list name of class, venue, city, year, length of class
Example: Taught [name of class], Venue A (city), [year], [length of class, e.g. “1-week intensive” or “12 weeks”]
- Additional relevant categories: Please include any additional categories, including curatorial experience, selected critical reviews, artistic training programs, press and publications, etc., that you usually include on your resume.
Collaborative Resumes/CVs:
Artists applying as a collaborative should submit a resume of the collaborative work in addition to individual resumes of the artists applying. The collaborative information is the same format as that requested from individual artist applicants, just specific to the collaborative creators applying.
A sample collaborative resume is available for your reference.
The collaborative resume should include:
- Published works: listing of published work created by the collaborative members in the application.
- Name of the work, length and genre (e.g. fiction, creative non-fiction essay, poetry, hybrid, prose-poetry, etc.)
- Date completed or published
- Where the work has been published
- List the roles of collaborative members. If collaborative members applying play multiple generative roles beyond author, list all of the roles applicants played in the creation of the work. See example below.
- Provide a short (1–3 sentence) summary of the work.
Example: Grain of Salt (hybrid fiction, 287 pages), published by Press A in 2018. Co-written by Free Fall Collaborative members Roni Stark and Rafael Greene. Stark also illustrated the book. This work was collaboratively created by Stark and Greene writing separate sections of a plot line they developed together, then editing and integrating the work for the final collaborative manuscript. This work follows three generations of a family wrestling with notions of home and displacement.
Blood Turnip, short story (7500 words, fiction), published in Literary Journal A in 2018. Co-written by Stark and Greene. This is a playful story incorporating food metaphors in a tale of a love affair gone wrong.
Rain Down, short story (8500 words, fiction), published in Magazine A in 2019. This work was co-written by Stark and Greene by alternating lines is a dialogue between sisters on the eve of their mother’s death.
- Work in Development: provide the work, date, short description
Example: Peacocks (working title), novella (approximately 90 pages, fiction). Co-written by Stark and Greene. A comedy involving a semi-pro basketball team whose new owner brings along a Silicon Valley mindset.
- Fellowships & Awards: list name of award, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of fellowship or award], [year], [amount of award or fellowship stipend], [length of fellowship], [name of project, if relevant]
Nominee for [name of award],[year], [name of work]
- Grants: list name of grant, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of grant], [year], [amount of grant], [name of project, if relevant]
- Residencies: list name of residency, date, length of residency
Example: [name of residency], [year], [length of residency], [name of project, if relevant]
- Readings: list name of program date and place, and short description.
Example: [name of series], 2015, Venue A (City). Stark and Greene read 4 poems as part of an evening inviting poets to share 7 minutes of work.
[name of series], 2015, Venue A (City). Stark read 3 poems during the event while Greene played a live soundscore.
- Other Artistic Work: list role, name of project, date, location
Example: Rapid Fire, 2014 performance & installation in collaboration with Monira Esid’s Declaration at Venue A (City). Free Fall Collaborative wrote and performed the text which was also incorporated into the installation.
Soundscapes, 2015, Venue A (City). Free Fall Collaborative read new unpublished work with music soundscore created by Stark.
- Teaching: list name of class, venue, city, year, length of class
Example: [CollaborativeName] taught [name of class], Venue A (city), [year], [length of class, e.g. “1-week intensive” or “12 weeks”]
- Additional relevant categories: Please include any additional categories, including curatorial experience, selected critical reviews, press and publications, etc., that you usually include on the collaborative resume.
Note: if the collaborative includes members that are not Jerome-eligible or not included in the application, but those artists were involved in the development of the published works included on the collaborative resume, please note this on the collaborative resume.
Example: Push Button, novella (100 pages, hybrid fiction), published by Press A in 2016. Co-written by Free Fall Collaborative members Roni Stark, Rafael Greene and illustrated by Lane Lee. Lane Lee is not Jerome-eligible but is a regular member of Free Fall Collaborative. The piece was developed from a collaboratively created plot line with text for alternating characters by Stark and Greene. The book is written entirely as dialogue between two androids reflecting on the demise of humanity.
