Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts

The Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts, administered by South Arts, recognize and support writers living in the American South who demonstrate exceptional artistic excellence. This regional program is designed to highlight and elevate the work of creative individuals contributing to the cultural vitality of the nine-state South Arts region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Each year, the program focuses on a specific literary genre; for the 2025 cycle, the eligible discipline is scriptwriting. Through this initiative, South Arts seeks to celebrate and financially empower writers whose work reflects the diversity and richness of Southern artistic expression. South Arts is a nonprofit regional arts organization founded in 1975 to strengthen the South’s arts ecosystem through cross-state collaboration and investment in artists and communities. Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts agencies, and private funders, the organization advances artistic excellence, accessibility, and regional unity. The Southern Prize and State Fellowships align with these goals by providing unrestricted monetary awards and professional development opportunities that encourage sustained creative growth and public engagement with the arts. The program operates through a two-tier national adjudication process. In the first phase, a national jury selects one State Fellow from each of the nine eligible states. These nine awardees each receive a $5,000 South Arts State Fellowship based on artistic merit and regional representation. In the second phase, a separate national jury evaluates the nine state fellows’ portfolios to determine the Southern Prize Winner and Finalist. The Southern Prize Winner receives $25,000 and the Finalist receives $10,000, along with both being awarded a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia. Each awardee’s work will also be featured in a literary anthology produced in partnership with a regional publisher, furthering their exposure to broader audiences. There are no restrictions on how the fellowship or prize funds are spent, and no matching or cost-sharing requirement is imposed. Funds may be used at the discretion of the recipients for any artistic, professional, or personal purpose, although recipients are responsible for tax reporting. South Arts expects fellows to participate in an awards ceremony planned for late summer or fall 2026, for which travel and lodging will be covered. Additional engagement such as speaking opportunities or promotional features may be offered to fellows throughout the grant period. Eligibility is limited to individual writers age 18 or older who are legal U.S. citizens or permanent residents authorized to work in the United States, with at least two years of continuous residency in one of the nine South Arts states. Applicants must be actively practicing scriptwriters, not enrolled as students, and may only submit one application per cycle. Collaborations are ineligible. Artists previously awarded a State Fellowship must wait six years before reapplying, and past Southern Prize winners or finalists must wait ten years. Proof of state residency, such as a driver’s license, voter registration, or lease documentation, is required as part of the application. Applications are submitted through South Arts’ Salesforce portal and must include an artist statement, résumé or curriculum vitae, and up to fifteen pages of original scriptwriting work created after January 2021. An application fee of $25 is required unless a waiver is requested by December 3, 2025. The portal opens on October 1, 2025, with final submissions due by December 10, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their State Fellowship status in April 2026, and Southern Prize recipients will be announced during the awards ceremony in fall 2026. All fellows must submit a one-page final report at the conclusion of the grant period.

Follow industry-standard formatting; ensure accurate residency documentation; collaborative or student works are ineligible.