Christina Baker Kline Scholarships

The Christina Baker Kline Scholarships for Maine Writers covers the cost of both a one-year membership to the MWPA (at the Find Maine Writers level) and registration fees for two MWPA writing workshops during the year. The scholarships are awarded on a mixture of need and merit. This year, applications will be accepted until September 30.

The MWPA is proud to offer these scholarships thanks to the generosity of critically acclaimed author Christina Baker Kline, who grew up in Maine and now lives in Southwest Harbor and NYC. Christina is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels (four of which are set at least in part in Maine), including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, and the author and/or editor of five nonfiction books. She is published in more than 40 countries; her books are taught in universities, colleges, and high schools.

Baker Kline will also conference with the scholarship recipients, offering feedback on up to 25 pages of their manuscripts and talking with them about the business of writing.

If you have any questions, please contact MWPA Executive Director Gibson Fay-LeBlanc at director@mainewriters.org or 207-228-8264.

• The scholarships are open to all Maine residents.

• The scholarships are open to writers in all genre.

• There is no fee to apply.

• All prospective scholars must submit an application, which includes a statement of need and work sample—see details at the link below.

• Please make sure to follow the submission instructions carefully. Incomplete or late applications cannot be considered.

• Baker Kline Scholars may attend any one-day or two-part workshops hosted by the MWPA during their one-year scholarship. Multi-part workshops (such as ten-week masterclass and the spring or fall writing retreats) are not covered by this scholarship. Special one-day conferences and events (such as the Maine Crime Wave and PITCH) are not covered by this scholarship.

• Applying for a scholarship does NOT reserve a spot in a particular workshop; if a scholarship applicant wants to ensure a spot in a workshop regardless of whether or not they are awarded a scholarship, they are encouraged to register and pay for the workshop in tandem with their scholarship application; if a scholarship is awarded, the registration fee will be refunded.

• Previous scholarship winners may apply for a second consecutive one-year scholarship, but after two consecutive years are asked to wait one year before applying again.

Submissions are open for the Fall of 2023 through September 30.

Christina Baker Kline

A #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, Christina Baker Kline is published in 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as the New York Times and the NYT Book Review, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, Psychology Today, and Slate.

Kline was born in Cambridge, England, and raised there as well as in the American South and Maine. She is a graduate of Yale, Cambridge, and the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing. She has taught fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, English literature, literary theory, and women’s studies at Yale, NYU, and the University of Virginia, and served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University for four years. She is a recipient of several Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Fellowships and Writer-in-Residence Fellowships at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Kline lives in New York City and Southwest Harbor, Maine with her husband, David Kline. They are the parents of three sons, Hayden, Will, and Eli. Read More.

Scholarship Reporting

All scholars are asked to submit a brief report within two weeks after attending a workshop. The report should describe how the scholar benefited from the experience, and particularly how it helped to advance the fellow’s writing, career, or literary aspirations. *Excerpts from these reports may be used by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance when publicizing the scholarships

Donate

If you would like to contribute to this fund and support Maine writers, please make a tax-deductible donation by clicking the button below and note that you wish to support the Baker Kline Scholarship.