The Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award is for authors over the age of fifty who have not been traditionally published in the children’s literature field.
The grant was established by Newbery Award winner and Newbery Honor Book recipient Karen Cushman and her husband, Philip Cushman, in conjunction with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
The award is open to unpublished children’s book authors or author/illustrators over the age of fifty, and one winner will be chosen from the pool of those who have submitted material for the SCBWI Work-In-Progress Grants.
Deadline: Submitted in conjunction with the Work-In-Progress e-mail submission from March 1-31, 2020.
Award: $500 and free tuition to any SCBWI conference anywhere in the world. (Conference tuition includes tuition to the general conference, and does not include transportation, hotel, and expenses.)
Guidelines:
1. You must be a current member.
2. The award is open to unpublished writers and writer/illustrators fifty years of age and older.
3. Applicants send an additional e-mail with the same Work-in-Progress grant submission they have already submitted to: wipgrant@scbwi.org. Send your Cushman submission with “Cushman” in the subject line and your full name in the body of the e-mail. (You will be sending two e-mails to the same address with the same attachment but different subject lines)
4. The applicant cannot have been published or have a project under contract in the children’s book field.
5. All Work-In-Progress Grant guidelines apply.
7. The final judging will be by a committee including Karen Cushman and Lin Oliver.
Questions? Contact Grant Coordinator Sarah Diamond. sarahdiamond@scbwi.org
Previous Winners:
2019: Jennifer Rawlings for Empty
2018: Holly Smith for Stray Blue Star and Elizabeth Lund for Finding Memory
2017: No grant awarded
2016: Stephen Baker for Prayers to Broken Stone
2015: JC Kato for Finding Moon Rabbit
2014: Jennifer Sommer for Octopus Capers
2013: Edie Parsons for Mercury Sea
SCBWI reserves the right not to confer this award in any given year.
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