Welcome to the Children's Lit Fellows!

books

The Children's Lit Fellows are up to 12 serious children's or YA writers who receive a year-long course of advanced instruction that is customized, affordable, comprehensive, and professionally useful.

Fellows work from home - anywhere in the world - in the Spring and Fall, mentored on-on-one by members of our outstanding faculty and, twice a year, come together as a cohort, once in July during the Summer Conference and a second time in January for a special Publishing and Editing Conference.

During their year , Fellows complete one publishable YA or middle grade manuscript, or for chapter and picture book writers, three to five submission-ready manuscripts.

The program may be taken for graduate credit or non-credit. The credit option provides an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Children's Literature from SUNY Stony Brook Southampton's MFA in Creative Writing. We welcome international participants.

Application Deadline is November 15

View Our Children's Lit Manifesto

Latest News

Please click on any of the links below to read news articles about the Children's Lit Fellows Program

2017 Fellow Isabelle Marinov's Picture Book Acquired by Enchanted Lion

Children's Lit Fellowship Grows Up

Course Offers Help for Would-Be E.B. Whites, Judy Blooms

2015 Fellow Lauren LeBlanc W ins SCBWI's Work-in-Progress Award

2015 Fellow Erika Lewis Unveils New Novel

Children's Lit Program Charges into its Third Year

" I signed with my #1 Choice Dream Agent, and I attribute that 100% to the Children's Lit Fellows program. Thank you!"
- Jake Rideout, 2014 Fellow

Read More of Our Testimonials

Frequently Asked Questions

About Stony Brook Southampton

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Five good reasons to apply as a Fellow:

It's flexible

You're busy. We get it. An MFA program, while it'd be nice, is not practical. Who can take two or three years off to enroll as a full-time student when you already have a full-time life? Fellows work primarily from home, for a single year, in one-on-one tutorials with their faculty mentors. They travel to meet as a cohort only twice during that time.

It's comprehensive

You leave the Fellowship with a completed, book-length manuscript, or a manuscript and series concept, or three picture books—in hand and submission-ready. Not only that, you have the opportunity to present your work to leaders in the publishing world at the culminating Publishing and Editing Conference. There, it's just the twelve of you, mingling with agents, editors and reviewers from the likes of HarperCollins, ICM, Little Brown, Scholastic and School Library Journal.

It's affordable

You get the kind of quality mentorship, access and support that MFA programs provide, but at a fraction of the price. For the non-credit option, the entire year-long program costs around $9,500, or roughly $2,300 per semester.

It's customized

You are one of a maximum of twelve Fellows, and your mentors are hand-picked to best fit you and your manuscript. The entire experience is tailored to support your unique story.

It's connected

You've heard of the Hamptons? Well, so have they. Our stunning location has long been a refuge for writers, painters, actors, and other professionals of stature in the arts. We attract top talent from New York City, only 80 miles away, and our own community to give you only the highest caliber faculty, and the biggest names in publishing. Once admitted, you join a culture that is both challenging and collegial. It can be a shock to find yourself sitting next to the author you've long admired, an author who knows your name and treats you as the serious writer that you are. Get used to it! This program's designed to bring you into close collaboration with all our faculty and guest editors, agents and authors.

VIDEO

Learn more about the Children's Lit Fellows

Maryrose Wood at Southampton Writers Speak

Writers Speak Children's Literature Panel, Part I

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