For our third annual poetry festival, Brooklyn Poets is offering fellowships to cover the full cost of registration for students in need. Finalists will also earn partial awards to reduce the cost of registration. (Note: travel expenses are not covered by fellowship awards.)

To be eligible, applicants must not be enrolled in a degree program with access to creative writing instruction or have had a book of poems published or accepted for publication by a United States press (self-published authors are eligible). Applicants who hold a graduate degree in creative writing (MA/MFA/PhD) will be considered separately for a limited number of fellowship awards. Previous Brooklyn Poets workshop fellows are eligible to apply, though priority in awarding fellowships will go to those applicants who have not received one before. Previous Brooklyn Poets retreat fellows are ineligible. Applicants are limited to one festival fellowship lifetime.

Submit 4–5 poems, published or unpublished, eight pages max. Make sure to include a cover letter (250–350 words) detailing your writing background, why you're interested in attending the festival, and why you need financial aid—let us know whether you need full aid or if partial aid will suffice.

Fellowship applications will be accepted until April 27 at 11:59 PM (ET) or until we reach our submission cap, whichever comes first. Fellowship decisions will be announced via newsletter and social media on May 7. We strongly encourage writers from historically underserved and marginalized communities to apply, including (but not limited to) writers of color, LGBTQ+ writers, writers with disabilities and women writers.