Storyknife is grateful to the individuals who support fellowships. A fellowship is not just an opportunity for a writer to have designated time and space to devote to their craft, it is an affirmation of the importance of their work.

The Aglauti Fellowship sponsored by Pearl Brower, Marilyn Romano, and Rhonda Sleighter

In Iñupiaq, Aglauti means “to write it down,” “to record it,” “to write for him/her.” The Aglauti Fellowship will be awarded to an Alaska Native or Indigenous writer. Preference will be given to writers working on bi-lingual or multi-lingual texts (not translation) or in the field of children’s or young adult literature. We’d like to encourage the next generation of writers, inspire, encourage, support women writers; it’s all about a ripple effect.

This fellowship includes $1000 in travel funds to be reimbursed at the end of the writer’s residency.

Alaska Native Art and Culture Writing Fellowship sponsored by the CIRI Foundation (ending 2025)

The Alaska Native Art and Culture Writing Fellowship will be awarded each year to a woman writer whose work focuses on Alaska Native art & culture. Preference will be given to an Alaska Native woman writer who is living in Alaska. At the completion of the project, the selected writer will submit a “Share Your Story” post about the project to The CIRI Foundation’s website. This fellowship includes a $1,000 travel stipend for a four-week residency or a $500 travel stipend for a two-week residency.

Barbara G. Peters Fellowship for Crime or Historical Fiction

The Barbara G. Peters Fellowship will be awarded each year to a writer of crime fiction or historical fiction. This fellowship includes up to $1000 in travel funds to be reimbursed at the end of the fellow’s residency. Barbara G. Peters founded the globally renowned Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1989, and in the years since has become a supporter and mentor of crime fiction authors the world over. She and her husband, Robert Rosenwald, founded Poisoned Pen Press, a publishing house which was acquired by and merged into Soucebooks in 2018. Barbara has been recognized by Mystery Writers of America, Malice Domestic, and twice by Bouchercon for extraordinary service to the mystery genre.

Evangeline Atwood Fellowship sponsored by the Atwood Foundation

This fellowship is named for Maud “Evangeline” Rasmuson Atwood who was born in Alaska in 1906. Steeped deeply in journalism and Alaska history, Evangeline Atwood was a civic organizer and philanthropist, organizing such community groups as the Cook Inlet Historical Society and the Anchorage Chapter of the League of the Women Voters. She was a past president of the Anchorage Women’s Club, the Alaska Federation of Women’s Clubs, and the Alaska Statehood Association. She was a writer interested in history, and was inducted into the Alaska Press Club’s 49er Hall of Fame and was named Historian of the Year in 1975 by the Alaska Historical Society.

This fellowship include a travel stipend of up to $1000 to be reimbursed at the end of the residency.

Fireweed Fellowship sponsored by John and Rika Mouw

The Fireweed fellowship will be awarded each year to an Alaska Native or Indigenous woman writer under the age of 45. The sponsors, John and Rika Mouw, have chosen to lift the voice of an Indigenous woman writer in a world where First People’s voices continue to be drowned out by an ongoing history of colonization, and further so, for Indigenous women, in the largely patriarchal society in which we live. Indigenous women have been the traditional and ongoing protectors of water and land for future generations. Indigenous women hold a special wisdom and truth. They are our inspiration in their strength, determination and tenacity. They are the ones who need time to focus on their talents. They are the ones who balance family, protection of place, demands of daily life and who have protected and held the connection of past, present and future. They are the ones we need to listen to. 

This fellowship includes a travel stipend of up to $1000 to be reimbursed at the end of the residency.

Joan Perry Barnes Fellowship in Crime Fiction sponsored by Dana Stabenow

Dana Stabenow’s mother, Joan Perry Barnes, was a voracious reader. There were always books around the house and on the boat, usually cheap paperbacks which was all anyone could afford back then. She let Dana read anything she wanted to, and because she read a lot of mysteries, Dana did, too.  Dana sponsored a Storyknife fellowship in crime fiction in her name because while she would have read everything written by all Storyknife fellows, she would have reached for the mysteries first.

The Joan Perry Barnes Fellowship will be awarded each year to a woman writer who pursues crime fiction.

Katahdin Fellowship for Maine Writers sponsored by Patrice Krant

The Katahdin Fellowship will be awarded each year to one woman writer from the state of Maine. Sponsor Patrice Krant is a 1978 University of Maine graduate who has retired to Alaska, but part of her heart will always reside in Maine. This gift is her way of sharing her adopted home with women writers from Maine, and she knows that the cross-pollination of these two magical places will be fruitful for both communities.

This fellowship includes a travel stipend of up to $1000 to be reimbursed at the end of the residency.

Kenai Lake Fellowship sponsored by Jacqueline Carr.

This fellowship supports a short story writer or personal essayist. In recognition of the power of these shorter forms, Jacqueline Carr sponsors this fellowship in honor of this work. The Fellowship provides a $1,000 stipend which may be used to cover travel expenses, lost income, child care, or other necessities.

Mary Ellen State Storyknife Fellowship for Popular Fiction sponsored by Paula Martin (ending 2025)

Mary Ellen State loved to read. She was never without a paperback novel ready to fill a quiet moment. She was widowed when her first daughter was only six months old.  Her second marriage ended in separation, and later divorce, seven years later, after she had two more children.  At the time, being a single woman with children was uncommon.  She managed. Work and childcare were juggled. Dishes and cleaning, painting and mowing were managed. And through her suburban existence, fiction gave her a route to stretch her boundaries.

Fiction gave her more lives to live, more places to visit, more problems to solve, all without added responsibilities.  Her favorite genre was mystery: Agatha Christie at the ready in a pocketbook. Or she’d delve into a romance, living relationships that she’d never have. When the kids were small, she had to wait for the latest NY Times bestseller fiction, like Mario Puzo’s ‘The Godfather’, to make it into paperback, but she stayed as current as she could. Her children picked up her reading habit, giving them a path to expand their horizons, to connect to different parts of the world, to appreciate different peoples, while still managing their home fronts.

The Mary Ellen State Storyknife Fellow in Popular Fiction should write to entertain, to set readers in new places, in new situations, in new relationships, to give the reader an escape into the pages of a book.

This fellowship includes $250 in travel funds to be reimbursed at the end of the writer’s residency.

The Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellowship

The Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellowship is intended to support the four-week residency of an emerging woman writer who will be a first-time resident at Storyknife. For the purposes of this Fellowship, “emerging writers” are defined as those who are as yet unpublished to those just completing full length manuscripts. Competitive candidates have usually begun to publish their work in literary journals. Women writers who have published a standard trade edition of their work do not qualify for this Fellowship. Writers may be considered if they have a book under contract or have published chapbooks.  Women writers working in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry (or other literary disciplines including playwriting, translation, graphic narrative) and who are permanent residents of the U.S. will be considered. U.S. citizenship is not required.

The Fellowship provides a $1,500 stipend which may be used to cover travel expenses, lost income, child care, or other necessities. 

Travel Scholarships

At this time we have four travel scholarship opportunities given to the residents who have the highest travel costs and greatest need.

• Snow Goose Travel Fund sponsored by Astrid and Greg Bear
• Golden-Crowned Sparrow Travel Fund for Alaska Writers sponsored by Dana Stabenow
• Condor Travel Fund sponsored by Charlaine Schulz
• Philip A. Block Travel Fund sponsored by Barbara Block
• Soroptimist International of Anchorage Travel Fund for a Alaska Native or Indigenous woman writer
• Arliss Sturgulewski Travel Fund sponsored by the Sturgulewski Family, $1,500 stipend which may be used to cover travel expenses, lost income, child care, or other necessities, given to a creative nonfiction writer or journalist.
• The Lucille Wilson Memorial Travel Award sponsored by Diane Wilson, $500 stipend which may be used to cover travel expenses for an Indigenous woman writer.

If you are interested in sponsoring a fellowship, please reach out Erin Hollowell for more information.

Fellowship Recipients

2025

The Aglauti Fellowship – Alisha Drabek
Alaska Native Art and Culture Writing Fellowship – Abigail Chabitnoy and Vera Starbard
Barbara G. Peters Fellowship – Caprice Gray
Evangeline Atwood Fellowship – Shannon Kelly Donahue
Fireweed Fellowship – Mary Leauna Christensen
Joan Perry Barnes Fellowship – Alisa Alering
Katahdin Fellowship – Ning Sullivan
Kenai Lake – Latria Graham
Mary Ellen State Fellowship – Stephanie Brown
Condor Travel Fund – Vanessa Mártir
Lucille Wilson Travel Fund – Kalilinoe Detwiler
Arliss Sturgulewski Travel Fund – Raksha Vasudevan
Philip A. Block Travel Fund – Clementine Bordeaux
Snow Goose Travel Fund – Renae Watchman
Soroptimist International of Anchorage Travel Fund – Lindsey Toya-Tosa

2024

The Aglauti Fellowship – Chael Moore
Alaska Native Art and Culture Writing Fellowship – Anna Hoover and Marleah Makpiaq LaBelle
Barbara G. Peters Fellowship – Katrina Carrasco
Fireweed Fellowship – Rena Priest
Joan Perry Barnes Fellowship – Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Katahdin Fellowship – Holly Zadra
Mary Ellen State Fellowship – Emi Macuaga
Golden-Crowned Sparrow Travel Fund – Rachel Blume
Philip A. Block Travel Fund – Alisha Acquaye
Snow Goose Travel Fund – Doreen Oliver
Soroptimist International of Anchorage Travel Fund – Sierra Rosetta

2023

Alaska Native Art and Culture Writing Fellowship: Tanya Lukin Linklater and Laureli Ivanoff
Fireweed Fellowship – Taté Walker
Joan Perry Barnes Fellowship – Mandy Miller and Brittany Retherford
Katahdin Fellowship – Julia Bouwsma
Mary Ellen State Fellowship – Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
Golden-Crowned Sparrow Travel Fund – Brittany Retherford
Snow Goose Travel Fund – Tania Pleitez

2022

Fireweed Fellowship – Lily Tuzroyluke
Joan Perry Barnes Fellowship – Gwen Florio
Katahdin Fellowship – Anne O’Regan
Mary Ellen State Fellowship – Maya Beck
Golden-Crowned Sparrow Travel Fund – Alegria Rowena
Snow Goose Travel Fund – Monica Macansantos

2021

Fireweed Fellowship – Annie Wenstrup
Katahdin Fellowship – Stephanie Cotsirilos
Snow Goose Travel Fund – Aurora Masum-Javed

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