Sozopol Fiction Scholarships

26 February 2010
Sozopol Fiction Scholarships
May 27 – June 1, 2010

The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation offers its third annual summer fiction-writing seminar in historic Sozopol in Bulgaria. The seminar consists of intensive daily workshops, roundtable discussions, readings and lectures by faculty and fellows.

Fiction writers from Bulgaria and fiction writers from English-speaking countries, including but not limited to the U.S. and the U.K., are invited to apply. A total number of ten applicants will be selected for participation and funding.

Programme and Faculty

Morning fiction-writing workshops will be led in Bulgarian by Alec Popov (author of the Mission: London, which was translated in many languages and has recently been filmed) and in English by Elizabeth Kostova (author of the best-selling novel The Historian and The Swan Thieves, January 2010).

Guest lectures will be provided by Alex Miller http://www.lovesong.net.au (two-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award) and Kristin Dimitrova (author of the Sabazius, winner of the national contest for the Bulgarian participation in the international Myths series, launched by Canongate Books, UK, co-scriptwriter of the movie The Goat). In addition to the core programme, Alex Miller will offer a writing workshop for the two groups.

Roundtable discussions will feature among others Francis Bickmore, senior editor at Canongate Books, one of the UK's most energetic and successful independent publishers, and distinguished Bulgarian editors, publishers, and translators.

Coverage of the 2009 Sozopol Fiction Seminar is available on:

* http://www.ekf.bg/sozopol/editions/2009
* http://fictionwritersreview.com/essays/essay-literary-life-on-the-black-sea-the-2009-sozopol-fiction-seminar
* http://www.vagabond.bg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178:fiction&catid=95:fiction


Scholarships

Five participants writing in English and five writing in Bulgarian language will receive scholarships regardless of country of residence. The scholarship covers tuition, room and board, in-country transportation, and 75% of international travel.

Applications require an online form and an original fiction sample of 10-20 pages. Please read the eligibility criteria carefully before filling in the application form. For details and to apply: http://www.ekf.bg/sozopol/apply/app/

Eligibility

All fiction writers working professionally in English or Bulgarian are eligible to apply, regardless of publication record and educational status; acceptance will be based on the quality of the writing sample, statement of purpose, and letter of reference. Applicants from English-speaking countries are not required to have knowledge of Bulgarian language, nor are Bulgarian applicants required to have knowledge of English, although either will be helpful.
Deadline

Applications and all supporting materials must be submitted by March 15, 2010.
Evaluation

Alek Popov and Kristin Dimitrova from Bulgaria will access the candidates from Bulgaria. Elizabeth Kostova and Josip Novakovich will co-judge the native English speaking applications.
Notification

All applicants will be notified of admissions by April 5, 2010, by e-mail.
Technical requirements

Please name the files you are submitting online using ONLY Latin letters, numbers, dashes and underscores! Please do NOT use commas, spaces, quotation marks, apostrophe, inverted commas and any other symbols. The allowed file formats are: .DOC, .DOCX, .RTF, .PDF.

If you have any questions, please write to Milena Deleva, Director, Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, at: mdeleva@ekf.bg

(More information HERE.)
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