Fellowships and Mentorship for Emerging Writers That Prioritize Diversity
/In the mid-2010s, and then again in the early 2020s, numerous initiatives were formed to uplift writers from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. Sadly, some have shut down, but here is a list of fellowships and mentorships that still appear to be going strong or are new. While most require that applicants be part of a marginalized group, others specify that the applicant focus on topics that have been historically underrepresented. The majority have a common goal: to level out the playing field in an industry that has made some strides toward inclusivity but still has a long way to go.
Of course, there are many mentorships and many more fellowships out there, and while some of them are lucrative (Stanford’s Wallace Stegner Fellows receive a $75,000 stipend and benefits; the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center Fellows receive $90,000), they seem to be geared toward very established writers or scholars and/or are residencies (others do target emerging writers, such as the Center for Fiction writer fellowships and the Boston Public Library’s picture book fellowship). Still others are government-funded by state or region, and compiling these would be another research project.
Still other fellowships and mentorships I found require significant payment from the writer, but the ones listed below, in date order by application deadline, appear to be free of charge except perhaps for an application fee (PEN) or a membership requirement in the organization (AWP, WWFA). They are geared toward emerging writers of adult fiction, creative nonfiction, and children’s books who are based in the U.S. (though some are open to international applicants) and are people of color, women, or in one case, both.
Please note that all information below is based on my personal online research, and I have no affiliation with the organizations or publishers listed below unless otherwise stated. My goal is to help my clients, who specialize in the aforementioned categories, to find the support they need in their writing journey. If you think of any mentorships or fellowships that should be on this list, please drop me a line. If you would like feedback on your project before submitting to these contests, please visit the editorial services pages of my website to find out how I can help. And if you apply for any of the opportunities noted below, be sure to double check all details: The information is as accurate as I could make it as of the date of this writing, but keep in mind that it can change at any time. Best wishes if you apply!
We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) Mentorships: First launched in 2016, this program pairs “aspiring creators with published authors to hone their craft, learn about publishing, and launch their careers.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: This mentorship is for “writers who have completed a full draft of a manuscript for children or teens featuring a diverse main character or diverse central subject matter,” as well as for illustrators. Previously published writers are eligible.
Length of program: One year; “the logistics and frequency of communication will be mutually agreed upon by you and your mentor after the selection process”
Application window: September 1–30, 2026
Additional notes: WNDB also offers $2000 Walter Grants for unpublished writers and illustrators (applications will reopen in October 2026, per their website), along with several other programs and initiatives.
Periplus is “a mentorship collective serving U.S. writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: Applicants must identify as noted above. They are paired with established writers who write fiction, nonfiction, longform journalism, poetry, and hybrid works. “You are NOT ELIGIBLE for a Periplus Fellowship if you are currently enrolled in any degree-granting programs… [or] if you have published a book or have one under contract with a major U.S. press (this includes any imprints, publishers, or presses with significant editorial, marketing, and/or distribution resources).”
Length of program: One year, with monthly meetings
Application window: Will close on October 11, 2026
Additional notes: The inaugural Periplus fellows were announced in 2021 “from a pool of more than 1,400 applicants.” See the collective’s social media posts, along with their lists of past mentors and mentees, for more information.
Round Table Mentor puts the “focus on your writing and the breadth of your career, rather than short term gain.” Benefits include seminars from industry professionals and special talks on writing race sensitively. A pitch party takes place at the end of the program to showcase mentees’ work.
Eligibility and genre specifications: The program is open to “any unagented writers who have not been previously agented or traditionally published (self-published is fine),” and they must have a completed manuscript. Per the program’s list of mentors, accepted categories look to be adult, new adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction in a range of genres.
Length of program: One year, with quarterly expectations
Application window: November 6–20, 2026
Additional notes: Launched in 2023, Round Table Mentor is “deeply committed to diversity and equity.” “The program is an application-only process which will ensure at least 50% of mentees and mentors are People of Color.”
Originators is “the Women’s Prize Trust mentorship program dedicated to developing emerging women novelists from across the United States, presented by CHANEL.” “Each writer is partnered with an established author as a mentor, working together to refine and present their work to the wider literary world. Participants also receive a grant and benefit from a curated program of special guest speakers, publishing experts, industry leaders, and creatives.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: “All genres and styles written for an adult reader are welcome.” “This novel you are applying with must be unpublished.”
Length of program: Four months, and “applicants must be available to participate actively in all dimensions of the Originators Program” (online sessions and one in-person celebratory event).
Application window: Will close on November 30, 2026
Additional notes: This is a new mentorship that was announced by several news sites including Publishers Weekly on September 30, 2026. The judges are all Women’s Prize recipients!
Asian American Writers Workshop (AAWW) Margins Fellowship is “an opportunity for four New York-based emerging creative writers to establish a home for their writing as they make progress on a book-length work.” Fellows are awarded a $5000 stipend, residency time, writing space, and more.
Eligibility and genre specifications: The AAWW’s fellowships are open to “Asian American and Asian diasporic writers” and must reside in one of the five NYC boroughs. “Writers who intend to work on projects other than poetry, fiction, or nonfiction during the fellowship term are not eligible.”
Length of program: One year; during the second half of the fellowship term, established writers serve as mentors.
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it last closed on December 1, 2025
Additional notes: AAWW also offers a Margins Residency, an Open City Editorial Fellowship, and several other programs. The Margins Fellowship looks to have launched in 2015.
PEN Emerging Voices Fellowships provide “a virtual five-month immersive mentorship program for early-career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world.” Ten fellows receive an honorarium of $1,500.
Eligibility and genre specifications: Applicants cannot be enrolled in a degree-granting program and cannot have one or more books published. “The accepted genres for the Emerging Voices Fellowship are fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.”
Length of program: Five months, during which fellows “participate in workshops on editing, marketing, and building a professional platform.”
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it was last open January 1–January 30, 2026.
Additional notes: The most established program on this list, the Emerging Voices Fellowship was established in 1996, and my client Naema Mallick was named a finalist in 2024!
AWP Writer to Writer Mentorship Program “matches emerging writers and published authors for a three-month series of modules on topics such as craft, revision, publishing, and the writing life.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: The program “is open to all AWP members who identify as emerging writers but [encourages] applications from those writers who have never been associated with an MFA program, and those writing from regions, backgrounds, and cultures that are too often underrepresented in the literary world.” Accepted genres/categories look to be creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.
Length of program: Three months
Application window: February 15–March 15 and July 1–31, annually
Additional notes: Approximately 25 applications are matched per season, out of “around 170–200 applications.” Launched in 2015, the program is currently in its twenty-fourth iteration.
The Word's Editor-Writer Mentorship: Since 2018, this program has paired “upcoming writers from underrepresented groups with experienced book publishing editors” and provides “substantive feedback to help raise a strong manuscript to its best position for submission to potential agents and editors.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: The mentorship is open to “aspiring or upcoming writers from underrepresented groups (see explanation below)* with a completed, unpublished manuscript” in the following genres/categories: picture book, middle grade fiction, young adult fiction, adult fiction, and adult non-fiction.
Length of program: Six to nine months, with a minimum of two meetings
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it was last open February 16–March 19, 2026.
Additional notes: The Word offers numerous programs that promote voices from the margins, including a literary conference. I’m proud to have served as a founding board member of this nonprofit and to have presented at its Literary Futures cohort program earlier this year.
Women’s Fiction Writing Association mentorship program “pairs writers who are working toward publication with published (large press, small press, and independent) authors, agented authors, developmental editors, and book coaches.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: “In order to get the most out of the experience, mentees ideally have participated in workshops and groups before seeking a mentor. Mentees may only be matched once during their time in WFWA and should have been in WFWA for one year prior to applying.” (As per its name, WFWA is for women’s fiction writers.)
Length of program: Three months per session, offered twice per year in the spring and the fall
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but applications for this past spring’s session closed on March 20, 2026.
Additional notes: I found out about this mentorship program because I’m a (passive) member of WFWA, which offers scholarships, awards, webinars, and a book club, among other benefits. Other writing organizations, such as SCBWI, also offer mentorships, with guidelines that vary per chapter or region.
Las Hermanas “is a selection-based mentorship program for traditionally unpublished Latinx kidlit writers and illustrators. It will connect unpublished creatives with current Madrinas.” Mentees “will have the opportunity to ask for publishing/marketing related advice and/or receive help with a specific manuscript.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: “Mentees should be Latinx women and otherwise marginalized people (whose gender identity aligns with femininity) authors and/or illustrators who would like guidance on a specific Picture Book, Chapter Book, Middle Grade or Young Adult project.” “Those previously self-published or published by hybrid presses and are currently agented but have not sold a project are eligible to apply.”
Length of program: Six months, and mentees should have the “time and energy to commit.”
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it last closed on March 31, 2026.
Additional notes: “On August 28, 2018, Las Musas debuted with 12 members” and has now grown to over 100 members.
Jewel Parker Rhodes Fellowship for Emerging Voices awards a “$10,000 grant to an unpublished or self-published writer creating works for children,” along with a travel stipend “to meet with an LBYR editor and receive two rounds of feedback on their submission.” The fellowship “aims to address inequities in the publishing industry by supporting writers whose work explores lesser-known histories of historically underserved communities for young readers.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: Applicants should be “previously unpublished or self-published, unagented writers of middle grade fiction.”
Length of program: Unclear, but per the guidelines, this is officially a contest
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it was last open February 25, 2026–April 17, 2026.
Additional notes: This fellowship is administered by my former employer Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (LBYR), but I have no affiliation with this grant, which launched in 2026.
The Rumpus Writing Fellowships “offer two writers a year a $10,000 stipend and mentorship to write two pieces of fiction or creative nonfiction to be published on The Rumpus during the course of the fellowship.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: “This fellowship is open to emerging writers who have not published a book and have five (5) or fewer essay or story publications. This is a remote position and fellows can participate from anywhere.” “The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors.”
Length of program: One year
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it was last open April 1–30, 2026.
Additional notes: The Rumpus also offers micro grants, with applications due December 30, 2026. It’s unclear if these fellowships and grants are for underrepresented writers, but editor Roxane Gay’s imprint with Grove Atlantic “prioritizes underrepresented writers and does so, proudly.”
Muses & Melanin BIPOC Fellowship is “the nation’s first professional development career-accelerator practicum that helps talented creative writers of color establish sustainable literary careers in a #PublishingSoWhite industry.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: “Designed for talented California creative writers of color who aspire to become professional authors, this 7-month Fellowship is geared for people who do not yet have a lengthy list of publishing credits, are not under a publishing contract, do not have literary agent representation, and do not have a doctoral degree” (a bachelor’s degree is required).
Length of program: Seven months, including participation in “a series of professional development workshops, writing workshops, and co-working sessions. During the last four months of the program, Fellows submit their work to publications, conferences, residencies, and contests.”
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it last closed on June 23, 2026.
Additional notes: Per their website, this is an intensive fellowship program, and “admission is competitive.” Muses & Melanin also offers a “beginner’s launch” professional development course.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux (FSG) Fellowship is “an annual program designed to give an emerging writer from an underrepresented community additional resources to build a life around writing—including $15,000 in funding, editorial guidance, and support from the FSG community.”
Eligibility and genre specifications: “Applicants must submit in only one category (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry).” “The applicant must not have published a book-length work in any genre, have a book under contract, or be negotiating a contract.”
Length of program: Unclear, but the fellow receives mentorship with an FSG house author
guidance from two in-house editors and meet-and-greets with representatives from different FSG departments, all remotely.
Application window: Not yet indicated for 2027, but it last closed on July 13, 2026.
Additional notes: First launched in 2021, this program supports networking beyond FSG, but the fellow’s first full-length work must be offered to FSG before submitting to other publishers.
Further reading and references:
28 Fellowships for Creative Writers in Any Career Stage by ProFellow (July 2025)
Nine Writing Mentorship Programs—And Why You Should Apply by Mary Morris (July 2024)
How to Get Accepted by a Writing Mentorship Program by Julie Artz (March 2021)
Opportunities for Underrepresented Writers by Amita Parikh (date unspecified)
Related: See my piece: 23 Diversity-Centered Events to Attend in 2023 (many of these events are still running).
