The Speculative Literature Foundation announced on Facebook that Madhvi Ramani is the winner of the inaugural Diverse Writers Grant and Diverse Worlds Grant. Her successful application included her short story “Zafir, the Saudi Superhero.”

Evidently, both grants were made to the same person.

The Diverse Writer Grant is intended to support new and emerging writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups, including writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, working-class writers, and those whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing and/or publishing process.

The Diverse Worlds Grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background.

Each grant is worth $500.

The application period for the 2015 grant will open May 1.

The press release follows the jump

Update 12/08/2014: The SLF issued its press release on December 8, which has been added below.

 SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION

PO Box 1693

Dubuque, IA 52004-1693

[email protected] – http://www.speclit.org/

For Immediate Release:

SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL DIVERSITY GRANTS WINNER

The Speculative Literature Foundation is delighted to announce Madhvi Ramani as the winner of its inaugural Diverse Writers Grant, and its inaugural Diverse Worlds Grant.

Ramani, a fan of Roald Dahl, Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison, cheese on toast, magical objects, and second-hand book stores, grew up in London, where she studied English Literature and Creative Writing. Currently, she lives in Berlin, where she’s working on a middle-grade novel about a girl who swaps bodies with a pop star.

Often, Ramani’s fiction involves themes of identity and gender, which can be seen in her writing sample entry for the Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds grants.

Grant Administrator Malon Edwards said of Ramani’s entry, “Zafir, the Saudi Superhero”:  “The voice of the child narrator, Zafir, is so genuine, and so heartbreakingly sad. This is a well-written story that had me captivated from beginning to end.”

The $500 Diverse Writers Grant is intended to support new and emerging writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups, such as writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, working-class writers, and those whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing / publishing process.

The $500 Diverse Worlds Grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background.

Honorable Mentions for the 2014 Diverse Writers Grant go to Carmen Maria Machado, Denise Ganley, Itoro Udofia, and Jonina Stump for their entertaining and thought-provoking submissions, which made the selection of the winner a difficult but enjoyable process.

Honorable Mentions for the 2014 Diverse Worlds Grant go to Carmen Maria Machado, Denise Ganley, Jonina Stump, and Margaret Kingsbury, also for their entertaining and thought-provoking submissions.

The Speculative Literature Foundation would like to thank Ellen Wright (Senior Publicist, Hachette Book Group) and Faye Bi (Associate Publicist, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), who ran a marathon to raise funds to support these two diversity grants for three years.

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PR Contact: Malon Edwards [email protected]

The Speculative Literature Foundation is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the interests of readers, writers, editors and publishers in the speculative literature community.

“Speculative literature” is a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard and soft science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern mythmaking — any literature containing a fabulist or speculative element.