The genre for the 2025 cycle is Poetry.

South Arts’ Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality literary work being created in the American South. The State Fellowships for Literary Arts are awarded to artists with a commitment to artistic excellence as evidenced by the quality of their work.

The Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts will be awarded to writers of one creative literary arts genre each year.

Who May Apply/Awards/Selection

The program is open to individual artists who meet all eligibility criteria and live in the South Arts region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Please refer to the eligibility and guidelines section below for full details on who may apply for the Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts.

Applicants are required to submit (through South Arts’ online application portal-currently SlideRoom): an application, a writing sample, an artist’s statement and Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) as outlined in the Guidelines. Writers at all stages of their career are eligible to apply; successful applications show evidence of outstanding talent and commitment to the creation of new work.

The State Fellowship for Literary Arts is awarded to artists whose work reflects the best of the literary arts in the South. A national panel will select one awardee per state, for a group of nine State Fellows based on artistic excellence that reflects the diversity of artistic expression of the region, each of whom will receive a $5,000 award. The nine awarded State Fellows will compete for the Southern Prize for Literary Arts. Each of the nine state fellowship recipients will be required to attend the awards ceremony. The $25,000 Southern Prize will be awarded to the literary artist whose work demonstrates the highest artistic excellence, and a finalist will be awarded a $10,000 Prize. Additionally, both Southern Prize awardees will receive a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences.

The cohort of nine State Fellows is selected through a two-tiered selection process by a national panel. A separately appointed national panel will select the Southern Prize winner and finalist. Panelists will make their selections based on artistic excellence as reflected in the application package (writing sample and artist’s statement) that reflects and represents the diversity of artistic expression of the region.

South Arts is committed to practices and funding that create greater cultural equity, represent the diversity of artistic expression of our region, are inclusive of diverse voices and artistic expression, and are accessible to everyone.

Timeline and Other Information

• Applications accepted beginning October 15, 2024

• Application Deadline: Submission at or before 11:59 p.m. ET, January 15, 2025

• Informational Webinar: TBD

• Award Notification: on or before April 2025

• Please note that the fellowship awards announcement may be earlier or later than the date listed above.

• Applicants who are not awarded a fellowship will receive notification via email (email of record within the SlideRoom application portal) in advance of the fellowship awards announcement.

South Arts reserves the right not to

• Consider incomplete or improperly submitted applications.

• Inform applicants of incomplete or improperly submitted applications.

• Panelists will not provide comment on any applications.

• Applicants who move from the South Arts region after they submit their application are encouraged to notify South Arts and will not be eligible to receive a fellowship.

• Southern Prize for Literary Arts Awards Ceremony: TBD