AFAC Creative and Critical Writings Grant 2022

Application for AFAC Creative and Critical Writings Grant 2022 is ongoing!

The Creative and Critical Writings grant provides support to critical writings on the arts and culture, theatrical writings, children and youth literature (including both the adaptation of classical Arabic and international literature as well as original stories), graphic novels, short stories, poetry, in addition to the online publishing platform. The final product should be in Arabic language.

Launched in 2018, Creative and Critical Writings is a new grants program that builds on AFAC previous support for literature through the Literature Grant (2007-2013) and the AFAC Novel Writing Program (2014-2016), but which expands into areas that are in need of support.

The program provides annual grants ranging from a few thousand U.S. dollars up to a maximum of 20,000 U.S. dollars for individuals and teams and 35,000 U.S dollars for institutions and collectives.

When the grant from AFAC exceeds ten thousand dollars yet only covers a portion of the project’s overall budget, the grantee is obliged to raise 70% of the remaining budget in order to be awarded the grant. In the event that the grantee is unable to procure 70% of the remaining project budget within 90 days of receiving the grant, the latter will be canceled.

In the event that the grantee does not sign the grant contract within 60 days upon receipt thereof, the grant will be canceled. Projects must be completed within 2 years of signing the contract, during which grantees are expected to submit the necessary financial and narrative reports.

No grantee will be awarded more than two deadline extensions during the grant period; such extensions should be justified by the grantee and approved by AFAC.

AFAC does not offer mobility grants. Travel costs can be covered by the AFAC grant only when they are part of the implementation of a project.

AFAC Creative and Critical Writings Grant- Eligible Candidates

AFAC is open to receiving project applications from all Arab individuals working in the fields specified above. Project applications are accepted irrespective of age, years of experience, country of residence, ethnicity, gender, or religion.

Applications in this category can be also submitted by relevant Arab or non-Arab institutions (publishing houses, online literary platforms, …) as long as the final product is in Arabic.

Ineligible Candidates

AFAC will not consider applications submitted by:

Members of the Board of Trustees, their business partners or family members.
AFAC staff members, their business partners or family members.
Members of the current year’s readers and jurors’ committees.
Recipients of two consecutive grants unless two years had passed since the last grant (e.g. If a grantee had received two grants in 2016 and 2017, s/he can apply again in 2020).
Applicants who have a current open grant.
Each applicant (individual or institution) is entitled to only one application per grant cycle.
If an applicant has an application that is in process, s/he cannot submit another application in any category until the result of the current application in process is announced.

Eligible Expenses

The AFAC grant covers project-related expenses (including writer’s fees up to 30% of the total grant amount). In the case of institutions, up to 30% of the grant amount) can be allocated for certain running costs.

AFAC and the jury reserve the right to determine whether the proposed running costs items are relevant or not. The percentage of allocation to writers’ fees and institutional running costs has been exceptionally raised in 2020 and 2021 to account for the challenges brought about by the spread of COVID-19.

Place and Duration

AFAC will not provide support retroactively, i.e. to projects already completed. For projects that have already started, AFAC will cover the expenses that will occur only after the signature of the contract if the project is selected.

Projects may be implemented anywhere as long as they are created by Arab writers or – as in the case of non-Arab institutions – relevant to the Arab region.

The project’s time frame should not exceed 24 months.

How to Apply for AFAC Creative and Critical Writings Grant

Applications are only accepted through our online applications forms available on our website in Arabic only. Applications submitted via regular mail or e-mail will not be accepted.

The applicant will receive a confirmation email once the online application has been received. Applicants are advised to follow up on the full completion and delivery of requested material as AFAC will not contact applicants if any part of their application is incomplete.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

To apply, please login with your username and password. Once you login, visit the program page you are interested in applying to and click on apply. Choose the program you wish to apply to and click on the apply button. In case you don’t have an existing account, please create one here.

APPLY HERE

Supporting Material

It is mandatory to submit supporting material/samples for the project you are applying with.
Applications lacking in supporting material will not be considered for evaluation nor will the applicant be contacted to send the missing material.
It is mandatory to submit samples of previous works/projects (up to three maximum) unless the project you are applying with is your first work.
For theatrical writing, the project must be submitted by the playwright, and the final output should be a theatrical text published as a book. The following supporting materials are required:
– Curriculum vitae of the applicant
– One or two chapters from the play
For critical writings, including literary criticism, fine and visual art criticism, film criticism and other cultural and artistic subjects, the project must be submitted by the author, and the final output must be a book. The following supporting materials are required:
– Curriculum vitae of the applicant
– The work methodology
– One or two chapters from the book
– The book references
Children and Youth Literature: includes the adaptation of classical Arabic and international literature for youth, where the project must be submitted by the author. A resume of the original story and its author, samples from the applicant previous work if available and a chapter from the adapted text are required. The program will also support the publishing of original children and youth literature, in which case the manuscript(s) to be published are required.
Graphic Novel: the project must be submitted by the author and the final output should be a published book. The following supporting materials are required:
– A synopsis of the book
– One or two chapters from the novel, including text and illustrations from the novel
– Curriculum vitae of the applicant
Publishing of Short Stories and Poetry; the project must be submitted by the publishing house or the author. The full manuscript(s) to be published is required.
Online Publishing or support to literary online platform: the project must be submitted by the platform, with a description of its previous work and of the new proposed project, including details about the content and the editorial line. Curriculum vitae of the editorial committee is required.
Supporting files/samples of current submitted project and/or previous work smaller than 10 MB can be uploaded directly to the application.
Supporting files/samples of current submitted project and/or previous exceeding 10 MB should be included as links to files on sharing websites (such as Dropbox, Vimeo, YouTube…). Only when supporting files/samples of previous work cannot be shared through online links does AFAC accept to receive them by physical mail.
For further inquiries regarding supporting material, contact AFAC grants management team.
For all projects, include a detailed budget.

Evaluation and Selection Process

Following the submission deadline, AFAC will conduct an administrative check to ensure that applications are complete and adhere to the guidelines. Only applications that pass the administrative check will be processed.

An independent readers’ committee will then assess the received proposals and select the applications to be sent to the independent jurors’ committee which will assess the preselected applications and choose the projects to be granted.

Please see Evaluation Process for more details.

An automatic email will be sent to the applicants whose projects did not pass the preselection phase.

AFAC is not obliged to cover the total amount of the requested grant.

Grants Announcement

The grant winners will be announced and published on the AFAC website and social media platforms after the jury meetings conclude. An automatic email will be sent to applicants whose projects were not selected to receive grants.

Grant Contract

As soon as the grant winners are announced, AFAC will draft a grant contract to be signed by the grantees. The contract will include start and end dates, grant amount, budget breakdown, financial requirements, payment schedule, general provisions, implementation and amendments, required reports, and project results.

Payment Conditions & Schedule (After receiving the Grant)

If AFAC awards a grantee US $10,000 or less, s/he will receive 70% of the grant amount as a first payment. Once the project is completed and the grantee has submitted the deliverables, narrative and financial reports, the remaining 30% will be transferred.

For grants exceeding US $10,000, grant installments will be released only after the grantee submits proof of securing 70% of the remaining total project budget. When the latter condition is fulfilled, grantees will receive 50% of the grant amount as the first payment.

When 80% of the first payment has been spent, the grantee must submit an interim narrative and financial report to AFAC. Once the report is approved, grantees will receive 35% of the grant total amount as a second payment.

With the submission of the final deliverables and reports, the remaining 15% of the grant total amount will be transferred and the grant will be closed.

Grantees should provide AFAC with ten copies of the final outputs of the project, when applicable.

APPLY HERE

Important Deadlines

Please note that the deadline for applications is 1 April 2022 at 5:00 PM (Beirut time – GMT+3).

Please note that we will not be able to respond to any inquiries communicated with us after 31 March 2022.