The Doris Hillis Scholarship provides one recipient with registration fees for the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild’s Facilitated Retreat. The scholarship is intended for a developing BIPOC Saskatchewan writer working on creating poetry or drama.
This scholarship is funded through the generous donation of $10,000 to the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild by Doris Hillis. The SWG has sole discretion on the amount of scholarship and recipient of the scholarship; however, the scholarship must be annually awarded for creative writing of poetry or drama.
The SWG donated the funds to the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Foundation and the scholarship is paid out from the principal amount, plus any other donations made by others to the fund, and any interest accrued. The scholarship will be awarded until the fund is exhausted.
The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild administers the adjudication of the scholarship. If there is no one eligible for the award at the Fall Facilitated Retreat, the SWG may direct that the scholarship be awarded accordingly to another recipient that meets the poetry or drama criteria or it may be awarded at the Spring Facilitated Retreat.
Award Amount
The Doris Hillis Scholarship will cover the cost of fall or spring Facilitated Retreat. The scholarship will match any changes in program fees.
Eligibility
For the purpose of this scholarship, a developing BIPOC writer will be considered as a practicing writer, who is Black, Indigenous or a Person of Colour, in the early stages of their writing and has not yet published a book or equivalent.
Recipients must currently be working on a poetry or drama writing project at the Facilitated Retreat.
Recipients must have resided in Saskatchewan for one year prior to the beginning of the retreat.
Previous recipients of the Scholarship, members of the adjudication committee, current employees or Board of the SWG are not eligible to be considered for this award.
An application process is required.
Criteria and Application Process
Applicants will submit a 1-2 page letter, outlining their response to the following criteria:
- Writing experience, including
- how long you have been writing
- Any professional development you have undertaken to date (which could include workshops, classes or degrees, immersive experiences like Sage Hill or Banff Centre, writing group membership, working with a mentor, editor or Writer-in-Residence, attending literary learning opportunities, etc.)
- Any publications, including the publications' name and genre
- Please articulate clearly and persuasively the benefit of attending the Facilitated Retreat on Scholarship
- How or whether receiving this scholarship reduces any barriers they may face in attending the Facilitated Retreat. This could include, but is not limited to, financial need.
Please submit this letter of application at the same time you are applying to the retreat.
