Support our Scholarship Fund

Help a Talented Poet or Writer – Donate Scholarship Funds

By making a donation towards our Scholarship Fund, you make it possible for talented and diverse writers and poets to attend our Summer Workshops, regardless of their ability to pay. Nearly half of our participants require some sort of financial aid in order to attend. Financial aid is granted out in the form of partial tuition waivers as well as full or partial scholarships.

You may donate to a specific scholarship, to our general scholarship fund, or you may establish a scholarship yourself, if you’d like.

Checks can be made out to The Community of Writers and mailed to PO Box 1416, Nevada City, CA 95959. Or, you can donate online.

Donate Now

Scholarship Needs

The Community of Writers welcomes scholarship fund-designated donations of any amount. We award full or partial tuition waivers as well as scholarships. As part of your gift, you may also designate an additional amount to cover a week’s housing. Smaller amounts are pooled together and awarded as tuition waivers, which reduce the amount of tuition a workshop attendee owes.

Special Named Scholarships

In addition to our General Scholarship fund, we also welcome gifts to special scholarships we have set up in memory of dear founders and friends or in order serve specific population and increase the diversity of the programs. These are not endowed scholarship funds, so we count on your generosity year after year in order to be able to provide these scholarships.


The Janice Bevilacqua Memorial Scholarship

Janice Bevilacqua was born on March 20, 1976 at which point she was diagnosed with the life-shortening illness, cystic fibrosis. Writing was instant therapy for her and so she began her first journal at the age of 6. Her poetry has appeared in Uno Kudo Volume II: Naked, and Too Much; Tales of Excess among other anthologies. She earned her BFA in Creative Writing at Brooklyn College and was a freelance writer and editor by profession. An avid lepidopterist, when not writing she could be found in a meadow in search of rare butterflies and other entomological wonders. Janice came to the Community of Writers in the summer of 1998 where she was profoundly affected by working with Galway Kinnell, Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds, Robert Hass and Marie Howe. She lived in Brooklyn and is the mother of two extraordinary humans, Jack and Juliana. Janice, like her beloved butterflies, changed her shape and flew forth in August 2015. When possible, the Janice Bevilacqua Scholarship will go to a student living with chronic illness.

Donate

The Cave Canem Scholarships

The Cave Canem Scholarships are funded by donations from friends, alumni, and staff. These scholarships assist Cave Canem Fellows who need financial aid to attend the Poetry Workshop. Please refer to scholarship requirements: Donate

The Alan Cheuse Memorial Scholarship

Alan Cheuse, National Public Radio’s longtime book commentator, was the author of five novels, five collections of short stories and novellas, the memoir Fall Out of Heaven, and A Trance After Breakfast, a collection of travel essays. For more than three decades Cheuse was a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, New Letters, The Idaho Review, and The Southern Review, among other places. He taught in the Writing Program at George Mason University and the Community of Writers. Alan first joined the staff of the Community of Writers in 1990 and returned every other year to lead workshops, offer lectures, and do everything he could to encourage younger writers. Alan Passed away in July of 2015 after attending the session in Olympic Valley. His stature as a major American author and book reviewer never overshadowed his generosity and his love of teaching. He also served on our Board of Directors. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Fiction participant. Donate

The Lucille Clifton Memorial Scholarship for Poets

Lucille Clifton was an American poet, writer, and educator from Buffalo, New York who was a regular and beloved teaching staff member of the Community of Writers. From 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland. Clifton was nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. After her death former participants and staff poets established this scholarship in her honor. The scholarship will be awarded to a first-time poet-of-color who would not be able to attend without financial assistance. Donate

The Gill Dennis Memorial Scholarship

Gill Dennis is best known for his screenplays of Walk the Line, Return to Oz, and Forever. Until his death, he was Master Filmmaker in Residence at the American Film Institute. Gill was a staunch friend to the Community of Writers for more than thirty years, a founder (along with Tom Rickman) of the Screenwriting program, and an inspiring teacher in the Fiction program, where for many years his “Finding the Story” workshop was a highly sought-after and life-changing elective. He was a highly accomplished writer and a widely read appreciator of contemporary literature, always enthusiastic, generous and encouraging. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Fiction participant. Donate

The Blair Fuller Memorial Scholarship

Blair Fuller was cofounder of the Community of Writers. He was a long time editor of The Paris Review and the author of two novels, A Far Place and Zebina’s Mountain, as well as Art in the Blood: Seven Generations of American Artists in the Fuller Family. He also taught in Stanford’s Creative Writing Program. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Fiction participant. Donate

The Hillary Gravendyk Memorial Scholarship

Hillary Gravendyk was a gifted poet, scholar, and teacher. She attended SVCW in 2010 and the scholarship was started by her “Jeffery House” housemates as a way of remembering and honoring her. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Poetry participant. For more information visit: hillarygravendykscholarship.wordpress.com/ 

The Oakley Hall Memorial Scholarship

Oakley Hall was cofounder of the Community of Writers. He was a novelist and writing teacher and mentor. For many years he was the director of the graduate writing program at UC Irvine. His wife Barbara Hall has established this scholarship in his name. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Fiction participant. Donate

The James D. Houston Memorial Scholarship

James D. Houston was an American novelist, poet and editor. He was a long-time staff member and sat on the Board of Directors for many years. He wrote nine novels and a number of non-fiction work, and was the co-author, along with his wife, Jeanne, of the memoir Farewell to Manzanar. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Fiction pr Nonfiction participant. Donate

The Maat Scholarship for Writers of Color

Funded by donations from alumni, staff, and friends of the Community of Writers, this scholarship will be awarded to Writers-of-Color in order to increase the diversity of stories and writers found at the workshops. Donate

The Macondo Scholarship for Alums of the Macondo Writers Workshp

This scholarship will be awarded to a Macondo Writers Workshop alums who need financial aid to attend the Writers Workshops. Donate

The Galway Kinnell Memorial Scholarship for Poets

Galway Kinnell, awarded the Pulitzer Prize, a MacArthur fellowship, and the American Book Award, was the founder of the poetry program at the Community of Writers. He believed passionately in the work of writing poetry, and in sharing it. His enormous vitality, his warmth, his humor, a certain ferocity in his character made his presence at the Poetry Workshop a magical gift. This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Poetry participant. Donate

The Letras Latinas Poetry Scholarship
Established in 2018, the Letras Latinas Scholarship will be awarded to a Latinx poet (or poets) who would not otherwise be able to attend the Poetry Workshop at the Community of Writers. This scholarship was named for and was established with the support of Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, which strives to enhance the visibility, appreciation and study of Latinx literature. Donate

The Christina Meldrum Memorial Scholarship

Christina Meldrum was a brilliant novelist who was an admired member of the Community of Writers Summer Writing Workshops. She first came to the Community of Writers as a participant in 2005, the returned to read from her newly published book, Madapple, for our Published Alumni reading Series in 2008. She returned to teach at the summer workshop in 2014. Those of us who came to know her appreciated her intellect, creativity, compassion, and grace.
Learn more about Christina and the Christina Meldrum Memorial Scholarship. Donate

The C.D Wright Memorial Scholarship for Poets

C. D. Wright was born and raised in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. She had been a member of the Community of Writers Poetry teaching staff for almost twenty years. Many of you will have worked with her and will remember her stunning craft lectures, some of which were gathered in Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil, and her readings from the astonishing set of books she produced in those years: Just Whistle, Tremble, Deepstep Come Shining, Steal Away, One Big Self, Rising Falling Hovering, and One With Others.  This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time Poetry participant. Donate

The John Zobel Memorial Scholarship for Fiction or Nonfiction Writers

John Hiller Zobel was an author, former attorney, accomplished athlete, scholar, and wit. He died very unexpectedly and far, far too soon, on the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina in January 2017. He was only 56. He attended the Community of Writers in 2006. This scholarship was established by the writing group he founded, the Really Cool Writing Group (RCWG).  This scholarship will be awarded to a first-time participant in Fiction or Nonfiction. Donate    Learn more about John Zobel.

The Veteran’s Poetry Scholarship

This scholarship will cover both tuition and housing and is reserved for a poet who has not attended previously, who has served in the armed forces, and who would not be able to attend without financial assistance. Please refer to scholarship requirements:  Donate

The Veteran’s Prose Scholarship

This scholarship will cover both tuition and housing and is reserved for a fiction or nonfiction writer who has not attended previously, who has served in the armed forces, and who would not be able to attend without financial assistance. Please refer to scholarship requirements:  Donate

The Al Young  Memorial Scholarship
For over 30 years, Al Young was a vital member of the Community of Writers, teaching across the programs and serving on the Board of Directors.  Al, who served as California’s Poet Laureate for three years, published more than 25 books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry,  as well as several screenplays.  This scholarship will support writers of color and will honor Al’s generous spirit and the many ways he contributed to our writerly community. View photo gallery.    Donate

Donate

For more information, contact Brett Hall Jones, Executive Director at (530) 470-8440.

The Community is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Donations are fully tax-deductible.
Tax ID: 23-7179177