Speculative Literature Foundation
Resources for Help in Writing, Publishing or Studying
Mar 11, 2007
There is a wealth of resources available to help writers of speculative fiction* develop their craft. However, while there are a plethora of writing courses such as Clarion, Clarion West, Odyssey, Borderlands (for horror writers) and Write in Crete, all with the intention of developing the novice writers ability through intensive writing and critiquing of their fiction, and organizations, there are mentorship programmes run by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the Horror Writers Assosciation (HWA ), and a great deal of information at their websites, at times, the amount of information and training available to the dedicated novice writer is almost overwhelming.
In 2003, Mary Anne Mohanraj, formerly editor of Strange Horizons, decided to set up the Speculative Literature Foundation to (in the words of the SLF’s mission statement) promote literary quality in speculative fiction by encouraging promising new writers, assisting established writers, facilitating the work of quality magazines and small presses in the genre, and developing a greater public appreciation of speculative fiction.
Mary Anne has said, “While I was in grad school, I realized most of my creative writing classmates were applying to local, state, and national grants, and getting them -- and that none of my speculative-fiction-writing friends were even applying to them. I wanted to break down some of the barriers that kept genre writers from getting that kind of artistic support, and to help genre readers become aware of some of the great speculative fiction being published in mainstream venues, such as some of that which has been nominated for the Fountain Award.”
The SLF is based on voluntary contributions, whether it be donations to enable grants, or ‘staff’ giving their time.
What does the SLF do?
It endows grants & awards such as:
- The Older Writer’s Grant
- The Gulliver Travel Grant
- The Fountain Award for Excellence in Writing
It provides an umbrella for small organizations to claim fiscal sponsorship at a rate considerably below that available from profit-driven organizations.
The SLF acts as a clearing-house of information providing databases of resources for readers, writers, publishers, editors and academics
It matches donors who have laptops, cameras, etc with writers who need such items.
The organization offers a mentorship programme to beginning writers (which is not a workshop!)
Finally, it provides a web directory of hundreds of addresses for more detailed information.
In short, if it’s not at the SLF website itself, the likelihood is that there will be a pointer to what you need.
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* For the purposes of this article, speculative fiction is defined as the umbrella term encompassing science fiction, fantasy, horror and slipstream, or any combination of these sub-genres.
