Summer Fellowships 2008

Each year, Fishtrap, Inc. awards up to five Fellowships valued at $1000 for Summer Fishtrap Workshops and Gathering, held every July at Wallowa Lake, Oregon. Awards are made on the basis of writing submission only, and are not limited to any one genre. Submissions should follow the Fishtrap mission, which is to promote "good writing in and about the West." Therefore, applicants should be from the West, or writing of the West. Fellowships cover the cost of a workshop, registration for the Gathering, and food and lodging for the week. A small travel stipend is also included.

It is the goal of Fishtrap's Fellowship program to recognize and encourage emerging writers. Previous Fellows include novelists Kathleen Tyau and Michael FitzGerald, poets Charles Goodrich and Marilyn Johnston, short fiction writer Kelly Magee, and non-fiction writer Ellie Waterston.

Because we now receive a high volume of Fellowship applications, we are unable to accept applications that don't follow the guidelines stated below. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT ACCEPT ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS. Thanks for reading these guidelines carefully.

Here's what to include in your Fellowship application:

A writing sample:

Material can be published or unpublished but MUST be in manuscript form, typed or printed– double-spaced for prose.

Writer's name MUST NOT appear anywhere on the manuscript.

Prose –fiction or non-fiction– 2500 words maximum; poetry 8 pages maximum.

If the work is from a book-length manuscript, you may send a half-page introduction in addition to the 2500 word selection.

DO NOT FOLD. Please use a 9" x 12" envelope to mail your manuscript flat.

Brief author's bio: The bio is not used in judging, but in publicizing winners.

Other optional enclosures: Self addressed stamped postcard if you'd like to be notified upon reciept of your manuscript. If you include an email address, this is the default method for receipt notification. You may also include a brief cover letter.

SASE if you want your manuscript returned to you. Make sure it has sufficient postage. If you do not provide a SASE with sufficient postage we'll dispose of the manuscript.

Fellows have been selected and that the next submission cycle will start December 1, 2009

All applications will be read by a preliminary judging panel of current and/or past members of the Fishtrap Board of Directors. Final judging will be done by 2009 faculty members. None of the judges will see any information about the applicant, only the manuscript.

2008 Fellows:

There were 295 Fellowship applications in 2008. All submissions were read by at least two readers–Fishtrap Board Members and former Board Members. The final judges were Susan Armitage of Washington State University, and Bob Greene, proprietor of Bookpeople in Moscow, Idaho.

Judith Groudine Finkel left the practice of law to write a legal thriller, Texas Justice, and her memoir, The Three Stooges Gene, excerpts of which have appeared in the Houston Chronicle. Her short stories have been published in the Birmingham Arts Journal, the Cuiver River Anthology, the Heartland Review, and the Sin Fronteras Journal. She lives in Houston.

Lorraine Healy is an Argentinean born and raised poet, now living on Whidbey Island, Washington. She has an MFA in poetry from New England College, New Hampshire, and a post MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles. She has been published in The Seattle Review, Kimera, Puerto del Sol, The Rio Grande Review, Concrete Wolf, and Calyx, among others. Lorraine has published two chapbooks and was a 2004 Pushcart nominee.

Beverly Akerman spent over two decades in molecular genetics research, and realized that "she was learning more and more about less and less. Unchecked [I’d] eventually know everything about nothing." She turned to fiction. In 2007, her work appeared in The Nashwaak Review, Red Wheelbarrow. Rio Grande Review, and Fog City Review. She has twice been a finalist in The Writers’ Union of Canada’s Short Prose Competition. A freelance medical writer in addition to her work in fiction, Beverly lives and writes in Montreal, Canada.

Anna Ross holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MFA from Columbia University. Her poetry has appeared in AGNI, The New Republic, The Paris Review, Salamander, and Southwest Review, among other journals, and her translations have appeared in Poetry Wales and Rattapallax. Her chapbook, Hawk Weather, was recently named the winner of the 2008 New Women’s Voices Chapbook Prize from Finishing Line Press. She is a contributing editor for Guernica: A Magazine of Art and Politics, and teaches poetry and writing near her home in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Jennifer D. Munro grew up in Hawaii as a fourth generation islander and now lives in Seattle. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including North American Review, Boulevard, Zyzzyva, Massachusetts Review, Best of Best American Erotica 2008, Literary Mama, Secrets & Confidences: The Complicated Truth About Women’s Friendships, and The Bigger the Better the Tighter the Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty and Body Image.

Over 90 fine writers have been selected as Fishtrap Fellows since 1990. Now, Fishtrap would like to help libraries, arts and culture organizations, schools, and community groups connect with Fishtrap Fellows for readings, workshops, classes, lectures, and more. You can view or download a

Nearly 100 fine writers have been selected as Fishtrap Fellows since 1990. Now, Fishtrap would like to help libraries, arts and culture organizations, schools, and community groups connect with Fishtrap Fellows for readings, workshops, classes, lectures, and more. You can view or download a Fishtrap Fellows Directory (in PDF format) and find a poet, novelist, storyteller, or other writer to present to or work with your audience. If you were a Fishtrap Fellow and are not in this directory, please email us with your information and we will update the Directory

FOR MORE INFORMATION Call Fishtrap 541-426-3623, or email director@fishtrap.org.

For information on previous Fishtrap Fellows, see our history page.

NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION Fishtrap, Inc. prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age within its organization and during the conduct of any of its programs.