Summer Writing Program Scholarships

The Amiri Baraka Scholarship is offered to noncredit participants in Naropa’s Summer Writing Program.  Each scholarship will cover one week of noncredit Summer Writing Program tuition and, if needed, a room in a shared apartment for seven nights.  Three or more recipients, with one-week scholarships, will be awarded. 

Students do not need to complete a Financial Aid Application (FAFSA or International Aid Application) to be considered.

Your personal essay should include your writing’s connection to the work and legacy of Amiri Baraka specifically, and the Black Arts movement in general.

• How does your work continue the Black Arts movement’s experiments in combining formal innovation and the dynamics of vernacular speech?
• How does it transcend genre?
• How does it speak for racial equality and revolutionary political commitments?

The Institute of American Indian Arts Award is given annually to one current undergraduate student enrolled at the Institute of American Indian Arts, who will be attending the Summer Writing Program. The award covers full undergraduate tuition for the three weeks of the SWP and includes housing at the shared room rate.

The Summer Writing Program Scholarship in memory of kari edwards is offered annually to one credit or noncredit student accepted into Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program. Eligible applicants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and be involved in gender activism and writing experimental works.

Non-credit tuition scholarships will be awarded in memory of Kevin Killian. Students do not need to complete a Financial Aid Application (FAFSA or International Aid Application) to be considered.

Beloved of many Kevin Killian was known for personal generosity, a politics of queer friendship, affinity, & welcome, as well as being a supremely gifted writer moving among––and enlivening–––a host of genres such a novels, poems, poet’s theater, internet reviews and more. The scholarships are intended to support writers whose work participates in this lineage of queer poetics.

The Latinx Poetics Scholarship will support a writer(s) whose work emerges from the diverse realities of Latinidad including (but not limited) to Afro-Latinx writers, undocumented writers, and writers whose work express the post-colonial complexities of language, sexuality, immigration, class, race, color and/or nation. The scholarship will support one week of non-credit tuition, and a shared apartment in Naropa housing.

The Leslie Scalapino Award will be offered each year to one MFA Creative Writing and Poetics or MFA Creative Writing student attending the Summer Writing Program who has a body of work in the field of experimental postmodern women’s poetry and poetics. Applicants must demonstrate financial need, be a United States citizen or permanent resident of the United States, and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Students who wish to be considered for the scholarship should submit the following along with their application:

1. Personal letter (500-700 words) describing
   1. Your contributions and activities within the Jack Kerouac School, Naropa University, and/or the local/national artistic community: recent accomplishments
   2. Current projects or publications of your work
   3. Your interest in experimental postmodern women’s poetry and poetics, including but not limited to Leslie Scalapino
2. A writing sample of 5 to 10 pages of your current work

The Margaret Randall Scholarship in Memory of Mark Behr is offered annually to non-credit participants in Naropa’s Summer Writing Program. Each scholarship will cover, one week of non-credit Summer Writing Program tuition and, if needed, a room in a shared apartment for seven nights.

The scholarships will be awarded to writers of extraordinary talent and promise. Students do not need to complete a Financial Aid Application (FAFSA or International Aid Application) to be considered.

To apply applicants will need to submit a personal essay, 500 to 700 words in length, addressing their recent accomplishments, current projects, or publications of their work; and 5-10 pages of poetry, prose, or translation..

Awarded to one noncredit, non-degree student for one week of the Summer Writing Program. Can include, if needed, a room in a shared apartment for seven nights.  Students do not need to complete a financial aid application (FAFSA or International Aid Application) to be considered. 

To apply applicants will need to submit a personal essay, 500 to 700 words in length, addressing their recent accomplishments, current projects, or publications of their work; and 5-10 pages of poetry, prose, or translation. Preference given to students incorporating ecology into their writing.

The Zora Neale Hurston scholarship is awarded to selected students who identify as, or who have experience working with, people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The award amount covers full tuition and housing costs for a shared room (for out-of-state recipients) for one week of the Summer Writing Program (credit or noncredit). A total of three recipients, with one-week scholarships will be awarded.  Awards are based on exceptional literary merit and promise, as well as financial need.