The Insider's Guide to Writing Personal Statements and Applying for Grants & Residencies
This class is now sold out. To be alerted when the next session of this class is announced, please email academy@narratively.com.
Let’s face it: Making a living as a writer or an artist is HARD. But it’s infinitely easier to get your dream projects finished and published if you can take advantage of the many artists’ residencies, grants and fellowships available. Unfortunately, navigating those opportunities can be daunting and confusing — particularly figuring out how to best present yourself and your work and help you stand out from the crowd.
Acclaimed writer and photographer Abeer Hoque has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Queens Council on the Arts. In this unique two-day workshop, Abeer will guide students through how to write compelling and clear statements of purpose, and discuss how to create strong applications for grants, fellowships and artists’ residencies.
In the first session, Abeer will talk about the building blocks of personal statements, as well as offer generative brainstorming sessions about each person’s creative project. The second session will feature more traditional workshops of each person’s artist statement, as well as tools for managing submissions and researching and accessing online writing resources. By the end of this two-day workshop, you’ll have the confidence to put yourself out there and get those grants, fellowships and residencies to take your work to the next level.
This is the right class for you if…
You have a big writing or art project that could benefit from the time and resources provided by a grant, fellowship or artist residency.
You’re considering applying to grants, fellowships and/or residencies but aren’t sure about the best way to position yourself and your work.
You’ve applied to grants, fellowships and residencies in the past but haven’t yet had success.
After this class you’ll be ready to…
Confidently navigate the entire application process and put your best foot forward with a dynamite personal statement.
This two-day workshop takes place on Sunday, November 10, and Sunday, November 17, from 12pm to 3pm ET. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world.
Instructor Bio: Abeer Hoque is a Nigerian-born Bangladeshi American writer and photographer. Her books include a coffee table book, The Long Way Home, 2013, a linked collection of stories, poems and photographs, The Lovers and the Leavers, 2015, and a memoir, Olive Witch, 2017. She has won fellowships from the NEA, the Queens Council on the Arts, NYFA and the Fulbright Foundation, and holds a B.S. and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and an M.F.A. in writing from the University of San Francisco. See more at olivewitch.com.
“This course is an absolute must for any writer trying to make their way through the muddled landscape of residencies and funding. Abeer’s critical eye helps writers get to the heart of what they want to say in a statement, and she offers practical guidance that is hard to find elsewhere. She is passionate and enthusiastic about new work, and her feedback to writers is invaluable. I learned a great deal in a very short period of time, and I wish I signed up sooner.” —Former student.
Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. All purchases are final and nonrefundable. After signing up, you’ll receive an email receipt confirming your purchase. Prior to the start of your class, you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.
Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.
MORE: Check out all of our upcoming Narratively Academy classes here.