The Oxford American Literary Project announces The Oxford American Jeff Baskin Writers Fellowship. Designed to support the writing of a debut book of creative nonfiction, the fellowship offers the winner a $10,000 living stipend, housing, and an editorial apprenticeship with the Oxford American toward a nine-month residency in the thriving creative community of Central Arkansas. Award-winning writers and OA contributors Brian Blanchfield, Bronwen Dickey, and Ada Limón will judge.

All writers who have not yet published a book of creative nonfiction are eligible. Submissions are now open and the deadline is midnight EST, March 30, 2017. Complete applications will include blind copies of the following: a 300-500 word book proposal, a 300-500 word statement of interest in magazine editorial work, a creative nonfiction writing sample of no more than 12,000 words excerpted from the proposed project, and a curriculum vitae. The award will be announced the first week of May 2017.

For more on eligibility, guidelines, FAQ, and the submission portal, visit www.oxfordamerican.org/fellowship or write to the editors at info@oxfordamerican.org.

About the Oxford American

Over the past 25 years, the Oxford American, a quarterly magazine dedicated to documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South, has helped launch and sustain the careers of many significant writers of literary journalism, memoir, reportage, criticism, and the lyric essay. Since 1992, the magazine has published original nonfiction work by such powerhouses as Z.Z. Packer, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Alex Mar, Leslie Jamison, Kiese Laymon, John T. Edge, Jesmyn Ward, Barry Hannah, Wendell Berry, Michelle García, Roy Blount Jr., Stephanie Elizondo Griest, John Updike, and many others, while also routinely publishing emerging writers. The Oxford American, along with its contributors, has received numerous awards, including the 2016 National Magazine Award in General Excellence.

About Jeff Baskin

A librarian by trade, Jeff Baskin was a lifelong and generous literary citizen. His imaginative approach to his work and his programming innovations brought reading and writing to countless in the North Little Rock community. In 2010, he initiated the Laman Writers Fellowship, an annual award that honored Arkansas writers. Past fellows included Grif Stockley, Kevin Brockmeier, Mara Leveritt, Davis McCombs, and Hope Coulter. He passed away in 2014 from pancreatic cancer, leaving a tremendous legacy behind.