July 2024 View online
SLF Monthly Newsletter

What's in this month's issue:

  • Diversity Grants submissions due by July 31
  • Fall Deep Dish dates coming soon
  • Latest Deep Dive interviews
  • SLF at 2024 Printers Row Lit Fest and World Fantasy Con
  • Co-writing opportunities
  • Membership
  • Opportunities for writers
Diversity Grants submissions due July 31
Writers, there is only one week left to apply to our Diversity Grants! The application is free, easy, and straightforward, with the deadline closing on the night of July 31st. Writers may apply to either or both grants: The Diverse Writers grant is intended to support speculative fiction writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups — such as writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, etc. — whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing and publishing process. The Diverse Worlds grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background.
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Deep Dish Reading Series
The next events in our Deep Dish Reading Series are in the works for fall 2024! 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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Deep Dish Reading Series
Latest Deep Dive interviews
Latest Deep Dive interviews
Have you checked out the SLF's Deep Dive interviews lately? The SLF's Portolan Project presents interviews with authors, editors and experts, many of which include linked educational modules with writing exercises and discussion questions. Look for our latest interview, with Richard J. Chwedyk, to be posted by the end of July!
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SLF at 2024 Printers Row Lit Fest and World Fantasy Con
Join the SLF this fall at the 2024 Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago and the 2024 World Fantasy Con in Niagara Falls! Look for more details coming soon.
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Join our writing community
The SLF hosts regular Saturday co-writing sessions from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT. 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.
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Membership
Not a member yet? The SLF serves the speculative literature community through support from people like you. Members receive benefits including access to the SLF Discord, discounts on SLF events, programs and courses and more!
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Opportunities for writers

The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, a short story award to promote science fiction and related genres of writing in Pakistan, is now open for submissions. Participants must either be currently residing in Pakistan, or be of Pakistani birth/descent. Learn more and apply by July 31 at thesalamaward.com.

The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists is offered annually to an author of children’s or young adult fiction for a novel-in-progress. The award was developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and assist a writer at a crucial moment in their career to complete their novel. The author of the winning manuscript will receive an award of $5,000. Applications will be accepted through Aug. 1 at pen.org/pen-phyllis-naylor-grant. 

The Salam Award Writers Workshop is open for applications for its 2025 session. The workshop will be held February 17-27, 2025 in Lahore, Pakistan with lead instructors Karen Joy Fowler and Amal El-Mohtar. This workshop will exclusively focus on enhancing and furthering speculative fiction writing and authors. If accepted, conference fees are PKR 40,000 and cover three meals, accommodation at LUMS, instruction costs, and all materials. Limited scholarships are available. Learn more and apply by Sept. 7 at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclyxBVIX6nT51zMHYJpy7LKy_KFZpMGUhDiEzUBbJc5y37FA/viewform. 

South Arts' Individual Artist Career Opportunity Grant supports a milestone opportunity in an artist's career that will likely lead to substantial career advancement. Grants of up to $2,000 are available for opportunities taking place between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Learn more and apply by Sept. 3 at southarts.org/grants-opportunities/individual-artist-career-opportunity-grants.

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 at iaftfita.wildapricot.org/Imagining-Indigenous-Futurisms-Award.

The Speculative Literature Foundation is partially funded by grants from the Oak Park Area Arts Council, Village of Oak Park, Illinois Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation and The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.