An aerial view of Madison. Helen C. White Hall, home of the Creative Writing Program, is one building out of frame in the bottom right corner. Fellows' offices overlook the lake. Photo © University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

Applying for the Djerassi
Playwriting Fellowship

Applicants to the Djerassi Playwriting Fellowship must have completed or be scheduled to complete an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing or Playwriting by August 15, 2013. For details regarding the responsibilities and privileges of our fellows, please see the main fellowships page. All applications must be postmarked by April 20, 2013 and should indicate "Djerassi Playwriting Fellowship" clearly on the envelope. There is no application form or entry fee, though applications must include the following materials:

• A single cover sheet listing your name, address, phone number, email address and the title of your writing sample.
• A resume or curriculum vitae.
• Two letters of recommendation.
• A single writing sample (i.e. one published play or one unpublished manuscript). Your name must not appear anywhere on your manuscript.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope for our decision.

Please note that the application materials required for this fellowship differ from those required from the fiction, poetry, and HEAF fellowships. Djerassi Playwriting applications are accepted by mail only. Send your completed application to:
      Sean Bishop, Coordinator
      Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing
      Djerassi Playwriting Fellowship
      Department of English
      600 N Park St, 6195A H.C. White Hall
      University of Wisconsin-Madison
      Madison, WI 53706

The Djerassi Playwriting Fellow will be chosen by June 1, 2013 and announced on the fellows page. If you have questions not answered in the FAQ below, please contact Sean Bishop, the Graduate & Institute Programs Coordinator, at institutemail@english.wisc.edu.

Applying for a Poetry, Fiction,
or HEAF Fellowship

Applications to the poetry, fiction, and HEAF fellowships are open from February 1 to February 28. After reading the details below, you may submit your application electronically by clicking here.

To be eligible, applicants must have completed or be scheduled to complete an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing by August 15, 2013. For the first time this year, we will consider applications from individuals who have published only one full-length book of fiction or poetry as of the February 28 application deadline. We will, of course, continue to consider applications from those who have not yet published a collection. For more details regarding the responsibilities and privileges of our fellows, please see the main fellowships page.

Applicants should prepare the following materials before applying (some exceptions are noted for HEAF applicants):

• A $45.00 Application Fee, paid online by credit card. (This fee is waived for HEAF applicants only)
• A resume or curriculum vitae, concluding with the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of two recommenders. You will upload this CV separately, after uploading your manuscript
• A writing sample consisting of either 10 pages of poetry (single-spaced and uploaded as a pdf) or up to 30 pages of fiction (double-spaced and uploaded as a pdf). Fiction applications must consist of either one short story or a novel excerpt. Your name must not appear anywhere on your manuscript, and while previously published work may be submitted, your manuscript must in no way indicate that your work has been published.

Do not include more than one genre in a single submission. You may apply in more than one of our fellowship genres, but you must upload a separate application for each, with separate application fees. Graduates of the UW MFA program are only eligible for the HEAF Fellowship, which will be awarded for poetry manuscripts only in 2013. If you are not a graduate of UW's MFA program you are not eligible for the HEAF!; please submit in the Poetry or Fiction category instead.

If you are submitting short fiction, please do not send more than one short story. The limit is one story no matter how short that story may be. If you send more than one story, we will read only the first. If you are sending a novel excerpt, you may (but need not) include a brief synopsis (one or two paragraphs) of the novel, as page one of the manuscript.

The poetry, fiction, and HEAF fellows will be chosen by May 1 each year, and announced on the fellows page. If you have questions concerning these fellowships that are not answered in the FAQ below, please contact Sean Bishop, the Creative Writing Program Administrator, at institutemail@english.wisc.edu.

Online Submissions Trouble

• Q: I didn't see anyplace to submit my CV. What do I do?  A: You must submit your CV separately. Go back to the submissions manager, login using the form in the upper left-hand corner, and then click the "submit your work" link on the left. This time, select "Curriculum Vitae" from the dropdown menu.
• Q: I tried to upload my CV, but the system informed me that I can't submit more than one file at a time. What do I do?  A: You must have accidentally tried to submit the CV under the "Poetry Fellowship" or "Fiction Fellowship" genre, instead of the "Curriculum Vitae" genre. Go back to the submissions manager, login using the form in the upper left-hand corner, and click the "submit your work" link on the left. This time, make sure you select "Curriculum Vitae" from the dropdown menu.
• Q: Oops! I accidentally uploaded the wrong file / included my name in the manuscript. What do I do?!?!  A: Go back to the submissions manager, login using the form in the upper left-hand corner, and then click the "withdraw" link to the right of your application. Then resubmit using the "submit your work" link on the left. This time, when directed to the payment portal, simply close the window without payment (since you have already submitted a payment with the original application).
• Q: What do I do if my payment didn't go through, or I closed out of the payment portal by accident?  A: Click this link to go back to checkout and pay your fee.

Required Degree

• Q: I don't have an MFA in Creative Writing, but I am a serious writer with a record of publications, awards, and the like to prove it. May I apply for a fellowship?  A: Unfortunately, no. To be eligible for a Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing fellowship—including the playwriting fellowship—you must have completed an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing by August 15th of the fellowship year. We cannot waive this rule even for those with a record of publications or other special circumstances.
• Q: I have a graduate degree in a field other than creative writing. Am I eligible for a fellowship?  A: Again, we have to say no. This question is usually asked by persons holding PhDs in other fields. Unfortunately, we are not able to award fellowships to persons with PhDs in any other area, including English literature, composition, theater, or other areas of English or theater studies. Even if you have a PhD in English, took graduate-level writing workshops, and wrote a creative dissertation, we still cannot offer you a fellowship if your degree is not specifically in creative writing.
• Q: May I apply for a fellowship if I have an MA in creative writing?  A: Once again, no. Although in the past we did give fellowships to persons with MAs in creative writing, we have changed that rule as the MFA has become the standard terminal degree in creative writing. We make an exception only for applicants who received graduate degree in Creative Writing in Europe or another part of the world where "the MFA" does not exist.

Previous Books (fiction, poetry, & HEAF fellowships only)

• Q: Am I eligible if I have already published a novel or a full-length collection of poetry, short stories, or creative nonfiction?  A: Yes. Beginning this year, we will allow applicants to have published one full-length book of creative writing prior to the February 28 application deadline. If you have published more than one book, however, you are not eligible.
• Q: I have not published a book-length collection. Am I still eligible? Should I bother applying?  A: Yes! Our reading process is blind; even with the change in qualification requirements, we anticipate that many of our chosen fellows will not have published a collection prior to applying.
• Q: I signed a contract (or won a book competition) for a second collection after I submitted my application for a fellowship. Am I still eligible?  A: Yes. As long as you did not have the second book published or accepted for publication at the time you applied, you are still eligible.
• Q: I've published more than one book that is neither fiction nor poetry nor creative nonfiction (e.g. a cookbook, a car repair manual, or an ESL textbook). Am I eligible for the fellowship?  A: Yes. Books that are not creative writing do not count for fellowship purposes. If you are unsure if your book is considered a creative work, feel free to contact us.
• Q: In addition to one collection of creative work, I've edited an anthology. Am I eligible for the fellowship?  A: Yes.
• Q: Am I still eligible if I published one full-length book of creative writing, plus one or more chapbooks?  A: Yes. A chapbook is not considered a book for fellowship purposes.
• Q: If I've published more than one full-length book of creative writing, but in two or more different genres, may I still apply for a fellowship?  A: No. Since the fellowship is provided to give writers time to work on a first or second book of creative work, you are no longer eligible to apply, even though your books were in different genres.

Writing Sample (fiction and poetry fellowships only)

• Q: May I submit a slightly longer writing sample than the rules permit?  A: No. Additional material beyond the stated page limits will not be read.
• Q: If I write very short stories, may I send more than one? May I upload two 15-page stories instead of one 30-page story?  A: No to both questions. You may submit only one short story, no matter how short, even if that means you are sending fewer than 30 pages of work. If you send more than one story, only the first will be read.
• Q: You say I may include only one poem on a page. What do I do about a poem that won't fit on just one page?  A: In the case of longer poems you may, of course, continue the poem on as many pages (up to 10) as necessary. You may, for example, submit a single 10-page poem or two 5-page poems. What we are asking is that each new poem should begin on a new page.
• Q: May I upload/e-mail additional material, or substitute another story, or otherwise update my application at a later date?  A: No. Only the original material submitted with the application will be considered.

Selection Process (fiction and poetry fellowships only)

• Q: Could you give me an idea of how you go about selecting your poetry and fiction fellows?  A: Sure. Early in March, staff members separate the applicants' manuscripts from their other application materials using a number-coding system. At that point, the anonymous fiction manuscripts go to a panel of fiction judges and the anonymous poetry manuscripts go to a panel of poetry judges. The judges then read and evaluate the manuscripts, narrowing down the field until each panel has selected the fellowship recipients and several alternates. Judges who recognize work by former students or personal acquaintances recuse themselves with respect to that work. Only after the judges have made their final decisions are the selected manuscripts matched up with the applicants' other materials. This is the first time the judges learn the names of, and other information about, the persons selected.
• Q: Who are the judges?  A: The exact composition of the fiction and poetry panels changes from year to year, but panels always consist of members of the creative writing faculty and current Institute fellows. There are generally five to seven judges on each committee. Because HEAF applicants must be former Wisconsin MFAs, however, those manuscripts go to an outside judge who publishes both fiction and poetry; the name of this judge is not revealed until the fellowship recipient is announced.
• Q: When and how will you let me know your decision?  A: We make our decisions and email or phone the selected poetry, fiction, and HEAF fellows by May 1. Djerassi Playwriting Fellows are notified by June 1. As soon as we have all of our acceptances we post the names of our new fellows on this website and notify other applicants via e-mail of our selections.
• Q: Is there a certain style of writing you favor?  A: While selecting the fellows is a subjective process in which personal taste plays a large role, we do not intentionally restrict ourselves to certain styles of writing (as you will see if you read our fellows' books). Because the composition of our selection panel changes annually, it is hard to predict what kind of work will speak to a panel in a given year. All we can suggest is that you try not to second-guess the panel, but send in what you consider to be your very best work.
• Q: Do I have to indicate which of the fellowships I'm applying for (e.g. if I'm applying for a poetry fellowship, do I have to specify whether I'm applying for a Halls or a Middlebrook fellowship)?  A: No. The Institute will assign the fellowships; all you have to do is let us know the genre in which you're applying.