The Gulliver Travel Grant

OPEN NOVEMBER 1, 2023 – NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Award: $1,000 USD.

Winner announced January 15, 2024.

Since 2004, the Gulliver Travel Grant has been awarded annually to assist writers of speculative literature in their non-academic research. These funds are used to cover airfare, lodging, and other travel expenses. Travel may be domestic or international. You may apply for travel to take place at any point in the following year.

This grant, as with all SLF grants, is intended to help writers working with speculative literature. Speculative literature spans the breadth of fantastic writing, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, including ghost stories, horror, folk and fairy tales, slipstream, magical realism, and more. Any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element would fall under our aegis.

This grant is awarded on the basis of interest and merit. If awarded the grant, the recipient agrees to provide a brief report of their research experience (500-1,000 words) and an autobiographical statement describing themselves and their writing (500-1,000 words) for our files and for public dissemination on our website and mailing list.

Please note that the goal of these grants is to help as many writers as possible, so recent winners can reapply but will be considered low-priority within a 2-year window of winning.

Grant Application Process

Complete the Application Form. The application form for the Gulliver Travel Grant is only active during the open submission period: 12:00AM November 1, 2023 – 11:59PM November 30, 2023 (All times UTC -4). Required materials include:

    • A cover letter: Include a one-page written description of the project, including details on the travel location and an estimated completion date (no more than 500 words)and a bibliography of previously published work, if applicable. Applicants need not have prior publishing credits to apply.
    • A writing sample: Up to 10 pages of poetry, 10 pages of drama, or 5,000 words of fiction or creative nonfiction. If you are sending a segment of a novel, novella, or novelette, please include a one-page synopsis as the first page of the document. The submitted work must be speculative, as defined above.
 
Jurors will deliberate with the goal of announcing winners by January 15th, 2024.

Accessibility

If you are unable to use the form for accessibility reasons, please use this form or send an email to grants@speculativeliterature.org, and an alternative means of submission will be provided for you.

Testimonials