October 2024 View online
SLF Monthly Newsletter

What's in this month's issue:

  • November Deep Dish
  • Meet our new finance director
  • Gulliver Travel Research Grant
  • Call for volunteers
  • Co-writing opportunities
  • Membership
  • Opportunities for writers
November Deep Dish
November Deep Dish
Please join us November 14 at Volumes bookstore in Wicker Park for the next event in our Deep Dish Reading Series! Featured readers are Jay Bonansinga and Eiren Caffall. Rapid fire readers include Devi Badhuri, Shellie DiSalvo, Ben Harrington, Tina Jens, Rory Leahy, Connor Nevitt, Sully Peterson-Quinn, Alexis Silas and Eliza Sullivan.
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Call for Deep Dish readers
Chicagoland writers, join us at an upcoming Deep Dish to share your recent publication or work in progress. Fill out the form at the bottom of our Deep Dish page to learn more.
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Meet our new Finance Director
Please help us welcome our new finance Director, Alexis Nau! An alumna of the University of Evansville, Alexis (she/her) hails from Tuscola, IL and has been a proud Chicago resident since 2021.
Contact Alexis
Meet our new Finance Director
Gulliver Travel Research Grant opens Nov. 1
Submissions for the Gulliver Travel Research Grant will be accepted November 1-30, 2024. This $1,000 grant is awarded annually to assist writers of speculative literature in their (non-academic) research. It can be used to cover airfare, lodging, and/or other travel expenses.
Learn more
Call for volunteers
The SLF has in-person and remote volunteer opportunities for writers and readers who would like to help advance our mission and network with others in the spec lit community. Interested? Contact Volunteer Coordinator Angeli Primlani to learn more.
Contact Angeli
Join our writing community
The SLF hosts regular Saturday co-writing sessions from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central. These sessions are for writers who would like support for their writing, and are currently open and free of charge to anyone interested in being a part of our writing community. These sessions are a great time to catch up on the writing you’ve been meaning to do, in the supportive presence of others doing the same.
Learn more
Become a member
Please help the SLF continue our important work by becoming a member today. SLF members receive benefits such as access to the SLF discord and the SLF’s Annual Collection, an anthology of new fiction from our grant recipients. Not to mention our fantastic swag!
Learn more
Opportunities for writers

The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts' Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award recognizes emerging authors who use science fiction to address issues of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. Learn more and apply by Dec. 1., 2024 at iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Imagining-Indigenous-Futurisms-Award.

The Watermelon Grant offers $2,000 in unrestricted funds to an emerging Palestinian creator in the field of speculative arts. The 2025 grant considers works of speculative fiction and poetry. Learn more and apply by Dec. 6, 2024 atldlewiswrites.com/watermelon-grant.

The 2025 Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour is open to submissions from unpublished writers of color based in the UK. The winner will receive £4,500, one runner-up £2,500, and up to six shortlisted authors will each receive £850. Learn more and apply by Jan. 26, 2025 at futureworldsprize.co.uk/2025-prize.

The Speculative Literature Foundation is partially funded by the Oak Park Area Arts Council, in partnership with the Village of Oak Park, the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.