Fellowships are included in this category.
Financial aid applications must be submitted by March 3. Please note that this is a firm deadline; applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early. Notification letters will be sent by e-mail in late May.
Thanks to the generous support of Middlebury College and to an endowment fund established by past Bread Loafers and other donors, we are able to offer financial aid in three categories: fellowships, tuition scholarships, and work-study scholarships.
Financial aid is awarded in recognition of published work or literary promise; financial need has no bearing on our decisions. Awards must be used in the year they are granted.
An applicant may receive an award only once in a given genre and specific financial aid category.
Fellowships
Fellowships are awarded to applicants who have published their first or second book in English within the last four years in the genre in which they are applying. At Bread Loaf, fellows are assigned to a workshop where they generally are asked to assist the faculty member. Fellows give a public reading from their own work and are invited to submit a proposal for a one-hour class on some aspect of the craft of writing.(Proposals for craft classes are solicited after the fellowships are awarded.)
Fellowships cover tuition, room, and board at the Conference ($2,469).
To apply for a fellowship, send two fellowship applications (see the "How to Apply" Web page for the application) and two copies of your book (your most recent title, if you have published two). Please send the two sets of materials in one envelope to Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, 14 Old Chapel Road, 5525 Middlebury College, Middlebury VT, 05753 (the postmark deadline is March 3). Galleys or proofs are acceptable, but your book must be in print by the time of the Conference. Because fellows’ work is not critiqued in workshops or by faculty, there is no need to submit a manuscript in progress.
Please do not send chapbooks, self-published books, books for which you have served as co-author or editor, academic work, children’s or young adult literature, or “how to” books.
Michael and Marylee Fairbanks International Fellowship for African and Caribbean Writers The Fairbanks Fellowship supports a writer living in Africa or the Caribbean to attend the Conference. To be considered, applicants should have published their first or second book in English within the last four years in the genre in which they are applying.
The Fairbanks International Fellowship covers tuition, room, and board at the Conference; in addition, this special fellowship covers travel expenses.
The postmark deadline for the Fairbanks International Fellowship is April 2 (please note that this deadline is later than the usual Bread Loaf deadline for financial aid, which is March 3).
For more details, see the general section on fellowships above.
Tuition Scholarships
Tuition scholarships are awarded to writers who are actively publishing original work in distinguished magazines and literary periodicals, such as Poetry, Callaloo, Atlantic Monthly, New England Review, Kenyon Review, and Threepenny Review, or who have received recognition such as the “Discovery”/The Nation Award or a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Tuition scholars should not have published a book in the genre in which they are applying.
Tuition scholarships cover $1,621 and recipients pay $848.
Tuition Scholarship applicants apply by mail by sending the materials noted below to Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, 14 Old Chapel Road, 5525 Middlebury College, Middlebury VT 05753 (the postmark deadline is March 3). To apply for a tuition scholarship, send two tuition scholarship applications (see "How to Apply" Web page for the application) along with two sets of the following supporting materials: a detailed list of publications (noting the title, publication, and publication date for each piece); a sample of work published within the last three years—prose writers should send one published piece, and poets up to ten published pages; and because tuition scholars are contributors in workshops, please also include a manuscript of unpublished work in the genre in which you are applying. (See the "Manuscript Guidelines" Web page.)
Work-Study Scholarships
Work-study scholarships are awarded to applicants whose writing shows exceptional promise. At Bread Loaf, while taking part in the Conference, recipients work as waiters in the dining room and receive payment for their part-time duties. Food preparation is not involved, and previous waiter experience is not required. Nevertheless the work is physically quite demanding, and it requires that candidates be in very good physical condition. Scholarship recipients who have physical disabilities which preclude them from working as waiters will be assigned to alternative work positions.
Work-study scholarships cover $1,935. The balance in Conference fees ($534) will be mostly offset by the recipient’s salary.
Work-study scholarship applications are accepted online (see the "How to Apply" Web page for more details). All applications must be submitted online by March 3. Along with the online application, work-study scholarship candidates must submit a manuscript of unpublished work in the genre in which they are applying. (See the "Manuscript Guidelines" Web page.)
Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarships The Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarships are awarded to women whose writing shows exceptional promise.
Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarships cover tuition, room, and board at the Conference ($2,469).
While literary merit is the main consideration, the Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarships are especially intended to support women who also meet one or more of the following criteria: a first-time Bread Loaf participant; an applicant with a nontraditional literary background, who is working outside of academia with or without a writing degree; or an individual who is in particular need of financial and creative support. Candidates must be permanent residents of the United States, and writers who have published a book (a standard trade edition of their work) are not eligible for these scholarships.
Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarships are accepted online (see the "How to Apply" Web page for more details). All applications must be submitted online by March 3.
The online application includes a section where applicants for this particular scholarship write a short statement of 300 to 500 words addressing the scholarship criteria noted above. Along with filling out the online application, scholarship applicants submit a manuscript of unpublished work in the genre in which they are applying. (See the "Manuscript Guidelines" Web page.)
Middlebury College Student Scholarships
These scholarships are available for current students of Middlebury College. The scholarships are awarded based on the quality of work submitted.
Middlebury College student scholarships cover tuition, room, and board at the Conference.
Middlebury College Student Scholarships are accepted online (see the "How to Apply" Web page for more details). Along with filling out the online application, scholarship applicants submit a manuscript of unpublished work in the genre in which they are applying. (See the Manuscript Guidelines Web page.)
For this particular scholarship, we also require a completed recommendation form. Please ask a Middlebury College creative writing instructor to fill out and send in a recommendation form.
The deadline for Middlebury College Scholarship Applications is March 20 (please note that this is later than the usual March 3 deadline for financial aid applicants).