Member Newsletter

Speculative Literature Foundation Newsletter - No. 22

SLF Newsletter No. 22 July 2006
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In this issue:
Fountain Award Winner
Travel Grant Applications Open
Mentorship Program Applications Open
New Staff Member
SLF/Strange Horizons Benefit Readings
&nb sp;SLF Small Press Co-op Table at WisCon
Website Additions
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* Fountain Award Winner

The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) is pleased to
announce the results of the third annual Fountain
Award,which carries a cash prize of $1000. The winning
story is "Girl Reporter" by Stephanie Harrell, published
in ONE STORY. Nine other stories received honorable
mentions. Full details are available on the SLF web site:
http://speculativeliterature.org/Awards/SLFFountainAward/
2005.php.
The Fountain Award is given to speculative short stories
of exceptional literary quality. The Award is judged by a
select jury, and is chosen from work nominated by
magazine and anthology editors for the year in question.
The judges for the award this year (for stories published
in 2005) were Gwenda Bond, Carol Emshwiller, Jeffrey
Ford, James Patrick Kelly, and Mary Anne Mohanraj.
Questions about this year's awards may be directed to
Karen Meisner, Awards Administrator -
FountainAward@speculativeliterature.org
----------------
PR Contact: Ashley Gronek press@speculativeliterature.org

* Travel Grant Applications

Applications are invited for the 2006 SLF Travel Research
Grant until the 30th September 2006.
SLF travel grants are awarded to assist writers (fiction,
poetry, drama, creative non-fiction) in their research.
They are not currently available for academic research,
though we hope to offer such funds in the future. We are
currently offering one $600 travel grant annually, to be
used to cover airfare, lodging, and/or other travel
expenses.
Our travel grants will be awarded by a committee of SLF
staff members on the basis of interest and merit. Factors
considered will include:
* a one-page written description of the project in
question, including details on the travel location and an
estimated completion date (no more than 500 words)
* a writing sample in the proposed genre (up to 10 pages
of poetry, 10 pages of drama, or 5000 words of fiction or
creative nonfiction)
* a bibliography of previously-publis hed work by the
author (no more than one page, typed); applicants need
not have previous publications to apply.
If awarded the grant, the recipient agrees to write a
brief report of their research experience (500-1000
words) for our files, and for possible public
dissemination on our website.
PLEASE NOTE: This grant, as with all SLF grants, is
intended to help writers working with speculative
literature. If you're not sure what areas that term
encompasses, we recommend referencing our FAQ (question
#2).
Travel Grant Application Procedures
1. Send the three items listed above to our travel grant
administrators, Colin Harvey and Tiffany Jonas, as
attached .doc files, to travel@speculativeliterature.org.
Include a brief cover letter with your name and contact
info (e-mail, phone in case of emergency). If you have
questions, direct them to that same addre ss.
2. You may apply for travel to take place at any point in
the following year (from September to the following
September).
3. Travel may take place from any country to any country,
or internally within a country; the grants are
unrestricted. Funds will be disbursed in U.S. currency
(but can be sent through PayPal if that is more
convenient for international recipients).
4. Travel grant applications will be considered from July
1st to September 30th, annually. Applications received
outside that period will be discarded unread.
5. The grant recipient will be announced by October 15th,
annually. All applicants will be notified of the status
of their application by that date.

* Mentorship Program

The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) announces the
second session of its mentorship program. The program
will take place August 1 through October 31, 2006.
Participants will be able to gain valuable advice in the
areas of business and craft from accomplished
professional writers willing to share their experience.
The mentors will not be critiquing mentee work, but will
be talking about the nuts and bolts of writing.
This session's mentors include Leah Cutter, Nnedi
Okorafor-Mbachu, Jenn Reese, Ben Rosenbaum, and John
Scalzi.
***
Leah R Cutter is the author of three historical fantasy
novels as well as several fantasy, science fiction and
horror short stories.
Her most recent novel is The Jaguar and the Wolf (Roc
2005). She's lived all over the world, including Hungary
and Taiwan, and now resides in Seattle, WA with her cat
and many books. She supports herself and her writing
habit by doing technical writing for a California-based
software company. Her website appears at
http://www.leahcutter.com.
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu 's first novel, Zahrah the
Windseeker, was published in 2005 by Houghton Mifflin. It
will be published in Nigeria in 2007 by Kachifo Ltd. Her
second novel, Ejii the Shadow Speaker, will be published
by Hyperion Books for Children in 2007.
Her short story, The Chaos Magician's Mega Chemistry Set
will be published in Space and Time Magazine's 100th
issue in 2006. Nnedi is currently finishing her PhD in
English at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is
also a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and
Fantasy Writers' Workshop (2001).
Jenn Reese lives in Los Angeles, where she studies
martial arts, plays strategy games, and sits in traffic.
She's a 1999 Clarion workshop survivor and her stories
have appeared in Polyphony, Flytrap, and v arious DAW
anthologies, as well as online at Strange Horizons and
Lone Star Stories. Her first novel, Jade Tiger, is
forthcoming from Juno Books. Her website appears at
www.jennreese.com.
Ben Rosenbaum has been a finalist for the Nebula, Hugo,
and Sturgeon awards. His stories have appeared in
Asimov's, F&t;SF, Harper's, Nature, McSweeney's, YBSF,
YBFH, and other publications.
John Scalzi is the author of 10 books, including the
Hugo-nominated Old Man's War and its sequel The Ghost
Brigades, the astronomy handbook The Rough Guide to the
Universe , and the best-selling Book of the Dumb humor
series. His work has also appeared in various newspapers
and magazines, including the Washington Post , the
Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dayton
Daily News, Jungle magazine, the Official US PlayStation
Magazine and others. Scalzi Consulting, his
writing/edi ting shop, consults for online and financial
institutions such as AOL, Network Solutions, US Trust
andOppenheimer Funds. He enjoys pie.
***
We are accepting a maximum number of 25 applicants, as
each of the five mentors will receive five mentees. If
you are accepted, we'll ask you for a $15-$30 fee for
participation in the three month program. The fee (as
with all our fees) is sliding-scale; pay what you can
afford. Fees go directly to supporting other SLF
programs, such as our travel and older writers' grants.
To apply, please send a one-page bio and personal
statement that includes an assessment of your writing
experience and what you would like to get from a
mentorship as an attached Word .doc or .rtf (Rich Text
Format) file to mentorship@speclit.org. This will serve
as your introduction to your mentor and the group, if you
are selected for the program. Also, in dicate if you have
a preference for a particular mentor (preferences are not
guaranteed, however). There is no fee for application to
the program.
Applications are due by midnight, July 25th, 2006.
For more information, visit our mentorship website at
http://
www.speculativeliterature.org/Programs/Mentorship.php or
email PR contact Ashley Gronek at
press@speculativeliterature.org
Thank you!

* New Staff Member

We are pleased to announce that Rebecca Rowe has joined the
SLF staff as Associate Editor of the Newsletter. Rebecca is a
freelance writer whose work includes poetry and fiction. Her
first SF novel, Forbidden Cargo, is due for publication in
August 2006.

* SLF/SH Benefit Readings

Mary Anne reports that the benefit open poetry readings held
in San Francisco and Chicago had a good turnout and raised
$600 for the SLF and Strange Horizons, who jointly sponsored
them.

* Small Press Co-op at WisCon

Although sales figures are not available, Erzebet Yellowboy,
who organized our table, reports that it got quite a bit of
attention. Her small press did very well and she assumes that
others must have as well.

* Site Additions

Resources: Readers: Magazines:

Ballista: www.mucusart.co.uk/ballista.htm
ISSN 1750-6646
Eds. Paul Neads & Andrew Myers; issued every April & October
52pp+ / approx 10 stories per issue
UK GBP£3.50 / £10.00 3 issue subscription; Europe £4.50 / £13.00;
Rest of World: £5.50 / £16.00
Mucusart Publications, 6 Chiffon Way, Trinity, Gtr Manchester M3 6AB
UK
Short story supernatural fiction: horror, paranormal, psychological,
occult, macabre - even SF, dark fantasy & the downright bizarre will
be considered. Open submissions, max 4000 words to the editors via
paul@mucusart.co.uk or post. Author's payment £5.00 + complimentary
copy. Further details at www.mucusart.co.uk/ballista.htm
Issue 1 features work from the UK & USA, including contributions
from H.Ann Dyess, John Light, Rosie Lugosi & Dermot Glennon amongst
others

Greatest Uncommon Denominator: http://gudmagazine.com
Editorial Staff: Mike Coombes, Sal Coraccio, Kaolin I. Fire, Sue
Miller. A magazine of fiction, information, poetry and art, which
can be purchased as a PDF file or an actual magazine. One can also
buy individual parts of the magazine separately.

The Lorelai Signal: http://www.loreleisignal.com/LoreleiSignal.html
Ed. Carol Hightshoe. "The Lorelei Signal is a web based
magazine dedicated to featuring strong female characters
in Fantasy short stories."

Storyteller Magazine:
http://www.storytellermagazine.com/guidelines.htm
Canada's short story magazine. Publishes all genres of
fiction, including horror, science fiction and fantasy.

Wicked Hollow: The Journal of Dark Literature:
http://www.blindside.net/WickedHollow/
E-zine publishing "character-driven, atmospheric, emotive
short stories."

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Newsletter information:

Suggestions, comments, and information to be included
in the Newsletter may be sent to Editor David Lunde at
news@speculativeliterature.org. If you do not wish to
continue receiving the newsletter, write to the same
address with "unsubscribe" in the subject line-be sure
to include your name.

The SLF Newsletter is a private publication of the
Speculative Literature Foundation. Unless otherwise
indicated, permission to reprint, repost, or quote is
expressly denied. Unless explicitly signed by the
Director, views contained within do not necessarily
reflect the official views of the Foundation.

David Lunde, Senior Editor
Rebecca Rowe, Associate Editor