Applications for 2024 COURAGE to WRITE grants open January 7, 2024

The de Groot Foundation will award thirty COURAGE to WRITE unrestricted grants to writers in 2024.

Ten COURAGE to WRITE grants of $7000 each and twenty Writer of Note grants of $1500 each. These grants are meant to encourage and support writers as they further or complete a specific project. The Writer of Note grantees are chosen from the pool of finalists for the COURAGE to WRITE grants.

Courage is the first essential for a writer. ~Katherine Anne Porter

It takes courage and character to be a writer. It means accepting the risk of revealing yourself and overcoming fears of putting your feelings and dangerous ideas right there on the page. ~Alan Rinzler

2024 COURAGE to WRITE Guidelines

Applicants for COURAGE to WRITE grants may be writing in any genre. We welcome projects of fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, YA, children’s books, plays, and screenplays.

Who Should Apply

Writers over 18 years of age who are actively engaged in a writing project and for whom a monetary boost could help them further or complete a project.

Eligibility

Applications:

–are open to individual writers over 18 years of age regardless of race, ethnicity, gender orientation, education, economic situation, geographic origin or location.

–must be submitted in English.

–are not open to family, members of the board or employees of the The de Groot Foundation, Lando family members, reviewers, or the selection committee.

Applicants must be individuals. Companies or organizations are not eligible.

If you’ve already received a writing grant from The de Groot Foundation, please wait a year before applying again.

How to Apply

Please read this section carefully before preparing or submitting your application. We receive grant applications through the Submittable platform. If you have an account already, click the button at the bottom of this page and login to apply. If you do not have an account, you will need to create a free account in order to apply. You can create an account here: https://manager.submittable.com/signup

Application

There are three parts to your application: 1) a biosketch, 2) the letter of application, 3) your writing sample

1. Your biosketch

a. A brief statement about you, what matters in your work, what you’ve written, what you want to write, and something about you as a person

b. Limited to no more than 100 words

c. Your biosketch will be inserted into a form on the application so have this ready to cut and paste.

2. The letter of application (2-4 pages) which must include:

a. An introduction to the writing project for which you are seeking support (1-3 paragraphs)

b. How this project is important (1-2 paragraphs)

c. How a grant at this time would be helpful to you and how you would use the funds (2-3 paragraphs)

d. Anything else you would like us to know about you as a writer (1 paragraph)

e. Please address the letter to: Dear COURAGE to WRITE Reviewers

f. Please double space your letter of application and use Times New Roman 12-point font.

The paragraph suggestions above are recommendations. Should you wish to add a paragraph in a section and have one fewer in another that is fine as long as the needed information is well conveyed.

3. Writing sample

a. Please submit an unpublished writing sample, which relates to the project for which you are requesting funds. Do not submit a previously published writing sample.

b. Your unpublished writing sample should be five pages.

c. The writing sample, like the letter of application, should be double spaced and in Times New Roman 12-point font.

d. Exceptions:

i. Poetry: Use your original poetry formatting. You do not need to double space the poems. There can be more than one poem on a page.

ii. Screenplay or a play: You may submit up to 12 pages of a sample using the standard formatting for plays or screenplays.

iii. Graphic novel: You may include up to 10 pages of prose and graphics for the writing sample. Please submit by PDF.

IMPORTANT: The letter of application and the five pages of your current writing project must be uploaded as a SINGLE DOCUMENT. Please make sure you have merged them as a SINGLE DOCUMENT before you submit.

Submit your application through the Submittable platform, which you will be directed to below. Make sure your document is ready and exactly as you want it to be before uploading. Once you have submitted an application, you are unable to change it.

Format

–Use Times New Roman 12-point font and double space your application document.

–Numbering pages is optional.

Application Timeline:

–Applications open January 7, 2024.

–Applications close at Midnight PST on February 5, 2024.

–Grant recipients will receive an automatic notification from Submittable once your application is received.

–Finalists will be notified by the end of April 2024.

–Grant awardees will be notified by the end of May 2024.

Review and Selection

You’ll be sent a message when your application has been received.

Stage 1 Review: All eligible applications are read by teams of reviewers. Depending on the discretion of the reviewers, between 40 to 60 finalist applications are chosen.

Stage 2 Review: Finalist applications are evaluated by the final Selection Committee. This committee chooses the ten COURAGE to WRITE grantees. From the remaining applications, this committee will then pick the 20 Writer of Note grantees.

The Selection Committees are writers and writing professionals who appreciate the challenges of emerging writers. Selection Committee decisions are final. Correspondence will only be entered into with finalists and grantees.

Grantees will be asked to complete a Grant Acceptance Agreement and, if appropriate, a U.S. W-9 tax form. One year after receipt of funding, grantees agree to complete and return a one-to-three-page final report so that we can learn about your project and the grant’s impact on your work.

Application Fee

The application reviewing fee of $22.00 must be paid through the Submittable platform at the time that you submit.

If you have questions about alternative forms of submitting your application or fee waivers, please carefully read the FAQs.

If you have questions that have not been answered in these guidelines, please read the FAQs.