Donor Advised Scholarships for the 2018 Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices

Author: William Johnson

November 29, 2017

Lambda Literary, the global leader advancing LGBTQ literature, is pleased to announce four donor-advised scholarships for students of the organization’s 2018 Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, which begins August 5th in California.

The 2018 Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices is the nation’s premier LGBTQ writer’s workshop and residency. The residency will be held on August 5-12, 2018 on the campus of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. Founded in 2007, the Retreat is designed to offer intensive and sophisticated instruction to selected writers over a carefully designed one-week period.

Through the support of generous benefactors, the donor-advised scholarships provide additional financial aid to Retreat fellows so they may advance in their craft and careers. The scholarships will be awarded to writers who’ve already been accepted to the Retreat

The Jeanne Córdova Words Scholarship

The Jeanne Córdova Words Scholarship, in memory of the beloved activist and author, is given annually in conjunction with Lambda’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices. The Scholarship will be awarded to a lesbian of color or lesbian-identified queer or trans woman of color, working on text with lesbian content in any of the workshop categories excluding poetry.

The scholarship includes the Retreat tuition, room and board fees plus transportation costs, up to a total of $2,500. The Scholarship awardee will be selected by the Córdova Words Scholarship Committee, from a list of writers accepted to the Retreat who meet the scholarship criteria.

Applicants must be a lesbian of color or lesbian-identified queer or trans woman of color.

The Justin Chin Memorial Scholarship

Sponsored by Alexander Chee and Christine Lee, The Justin Chin Memorial Scholarship is offered in memory of the late author Justin Chin, and aims to support a queer AAPIA writer, writing with queer content in any of the workshop categories attending the Lambda Literary Retreat for LGBTQ Voices.

From Alexander Chee and Christine Lee:

Justin was a generous mentor and first reader to many writers. He was keenly aware of the need for more AAPIA queer writers and his writing and his mentorship underlined this with a sense of urgency. He guided his work as a writer and teacher with this question: “What is your responsibility, as a writer, to your culture, your society, the culture and society, to your family, friends and loved ones, to your subjects, and to yourself?”  It is in honor of his sense of the writer’s responsibility that we offer this scholarship.

The scholarship covers the Retreat tuition, room and board fees plus transportation costs, up to a total of $2,500, and each year’s Scholarship fellow will be selected by the Justin Chin Memorial Fellowship Committee, selected from qualifying writers who’ve already been accepted to the Retreat and who meet the scholarship criteria.

Lili Elbe Scholarship

Honoring the life and legacy of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, the Lili Elbe Scholarship recognizes a transgender Lambda Literary Fellow in any genre whose work shows considerable talent and promise. A Danish trans woman, Lili Elbe was one of the earliest recipients of Gender Confirmation Surgery.

The scholarship covers the Retreat tuition, room and board fees plus transportation costs, up to a total of $2500. The Scholarship is sponsored by David Ebershoff, whose first novel about Elbe, The Danish Girl, won the Lambda Literary Award for transgender fiction and was recently adapted into an Oscar-winning film.

The Bryn Kelly Scholarship for Trans Women/Trans Femme Writers

Initiated by the 2013 Lambda Literary Retreat Fellows, The Bryn Kelly Scholarship for Trans Women/Trans Femme Writers at the Lambda Literary Retreat honors the life and artistic work of Bryn Kelly, a 2013 Lambda Literary Emerging Writer Workshop participant. The scholarship will support one Emerging Writer Workshop participant towards tuition, room & board, and travel costs to and from the workshop.

Applicants must be a trans woman or trans feminine-identified.

“These scholarship provide a vital opportunity for the Retreat fellows to take part in a dynamic identity-affirming literary experience.“ says Lambda Literary Program Director, William Johnson, “The scholarships allow writers to write, free of the financial stress that is often an unfortunate hindrance to those who strive to excel in the literary arts.”

Click here to apply to the Retreat and, if applicable, the various scholarships.