Álvarez Wins SLF’s 2019 Gulliver Travel Grant

María Isabel Álvarez is the winner of the 2019 Gulliver Travel Grant, awarded by the Speculative Literature Foundation. Álvarez is a Guatemalan-American writer whose work has appeared in a number of publications and been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and she is currently working on a novel.

The $1,000 grant will support Álvarez’s writing, which, she says, tends to “take place between two disparate settings. This duality offers a visceral representation of the world for immigrants, one that is powered by two cultures, two languages, and two countries.” Álvarez initially began writing in order to “give shape to the image of my home country.” The Gulliver Travel Grant is intended to assist writers of speculative fiction in research, and can be used to cover airfare, lodging, and other travel expenses.

Honorable mentions for the 2019 Gulliver Travel Grant went to Michaux Dempster, Jenni Zellner, and Claire Holroyde.

Previous grant recipients include N.K. Jemisin, and Daniel José Older; last year’s winner was Asia Nichols.

Álvarez says, “I am grateful to the Speculative Literature Foundation for encouraging writers to explore and experiment on the page as painters would a canvas. Few organizations champion speculative fiction, let alone reward writers for challenging readers’ imaginations, and I feel honored to be included among SLF’s growing list of talented writers.”

Álvarez’ website is here.

[Via Locus Online.]