Diversity Fellowship in Children’s Literature

The Highlights Foundation Diversity Fellowship in Children’s Literature is a 24-month professional development and mentorship program for People of Color and Indigenous authors or illustrators who are actively pursuing publication within the children’s publishing industry.

Please note: the application window for the Diversity Fellowship has closed. Thank you to everyone who applied–we received over 150 applications and will be reviewing them shortly. Stay tuned for May 15th when we will be announcing our Diversity Fellows!

Each Fellow will receive:

• A robust curriculum specifically intended for professional development, leading Fellows closer to publishing their work.
• A Mentor specifically selected and dedicated to one full year of one-to-one professional coaching to build the Fellow’s knowledge, skills, and aptitude in preparing their manuscript and/or art samples for submission.
• Full travel and tuition costs to attend the five workshops at the Highlights Foundation that make up this Fellowship.
• Opportunities to meet as a cohort for peer review, creative exchange, and community-building.
• Opportunities to meet industry professionals: published authors and illustrators, editors, art directors, and agents.

Program Structure:
Three immersive workshop experiences will be focused on goal-setting, with community-building activities centered around the craft of writing and illustrating for children and young adult audiences, a Mentor panel, industry insight how-to’s, work sessions, and roundtable discussions. These workshops will engage Fellows in enriched dialogue exploring the perspectives of marginalized voices and spend significant time exploring the craft of writing and illustrating as it relates to their own personal work.

Diversity Fellows will also enroll in two additional workshops of their choice from The Highlights Foundation’s 2019-2020 workshop catalog that allow Fellows the opportunity to customize their sessions to meet their specific writing and/or illustrating goals.

Download the press release (pdf)

Download program information (pdf)

Our Mentors:
Mentors will help with goal setting, manuscript feedback, and the development of submission plans, while
providing feedback and mentorship throughout the program.

Our Special Guests:

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Support our mission to increase diverse narratives in children’s literature
Did you know that only 7% of children’s books published last year were written or illustrated by people of color? Your donation helps us to provide resources, professional development, and mentorship for authors and illustrators of color who are passionate and committed to creating multicultural content that would enrich and diversify today’s children’s literature.