What we're supporting

Our purpose is to boost thinking and conversation around care in its many permutations. By that we mean care as a force in all sorts of human activity—medicine, justice, education, environmental practice, friendship, and even whether there’s a public park down the street—the canvas is quite large. 

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What we're looking for

In fiction, nonfiction, journalism, poetry, and other forms, we’re looking for writing that notices where care is or isn’t in relationships among friends, family, co-workers, or strangers; or between patients and caregivers, or teachers and parents, or human systems and the humans they serve, or humans and the planet. What happens when care is there? What happens when it's not--in the classroom, courtroom, the world at large. This means, we want to support work that goes beyond the traditional narrative of a single illness/treatment. While that tradition is valuable and can be operative in your work, we’re looking for writing that also employs a wider lens. Meet our fellows. 

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Deadline

Applications open September 20, 2026

Deadline: January 10, 2026. 

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The fellowship

Two weeks at Shannaghe, a solo experience, in Belfast, Maine, plus stipend. Arrange your
residency dates with Shannaghe. In 2027, the Fellow will receive a $550 stipend. You might also consider regular admissions, which is need-blind and has no thematic emphasis.  

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The process

• Complete the application for the Fellowship using the form below.

• Provide samples of your work as part of the application. This may be published or unpublished work. 

• Pay the $25 nonrefundable application fee. We accept payments via Venmo and credit card through this site (scroll WAY down). 

• What kind of samples do we need? For writing: 10 pages of poetry or of prose (for prose,
  12-point font minimum, double-spaced, numbered pages), for drama or other forms, 10
  pages, in Word or PDF.  Published work is fine. But please do not identify work by where it has been published. Name your attached file  TITLE OF THE WORK and then its GENRE (such as Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry. etc).  For example: I'm Trying to Teach_nonfiction or The Owl in the Yard_poetry. Be sure to include that title on the first page of your manuscript--that's how we'll track it.  And, on the subject of tracking, make sure to number your pages!​

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Eligibility

You must be 18. 

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Judging

First round: Shannaghe’s board and friends of the board. Final round will be judged by an independent judge--still to be chosen. Keep an eye out. 

 

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