The Joel Gay Creative Fellowships

In partnership with Substack, I am establishing the Joel Gay Creative Fellowships to support three emerging writers over the course of the year as they develop and publish a newsletter on the Substack platform.

Fellows will receive a $25,000 stipend, paid monthly from the initial publication of their newsletter, as well as up to $15,000 in services from Substack, including editorial support, design assistance in developing a logo for your newsletter, access to Getty Images, Substack Defender, and other business support services. Fellows will contract directly with Substack for the stipend. 

Additionally, I will meet with fellows once a month over the course of the year to provide mentorship on both craft and navigating the business of writing. The fellowships are open to writers from all backgrounds but I am prioritizing writers from underrepresented communities. 

To apply, submit a brief proposal detailing the newsletter you would like to create and why as well as brief summaries (100 words or so, each) of five potential newsletter issues (essays). Please also include a prose writing sample (fiction or nonfiction). The entire application should be no more than 2,500 words. Submit your materials in a single PDF via gay.submittable.com, using the Joel Gay Creative Fellowship submission category. This fellowship is open to any writer who does not yet have a book published or under contract. There are no other requirements. 

Applications are due by midnight on February 10th, and the selected fellows will be announced by March 15th. 

These fellowships honor the memory of Joel Gay, beloved son, father, brother, and husband. He was passionate, creative, and ambitious–all qualities the selected fellows should embody.