The Speculative Literature Foundation has awarded its 2011 Gulliver Travel Research Grant to author Ibi Zoboi. The $800 grant will be used to help Zoboi travel to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to research her YA dystopian novel set in both countries.

She was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and loves the magical aspects of the Haitian literary tradition. She has been published in Crossed Genres, Haiti Noir, and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones.

The Travel Grant judges said of Zoboi’s entry, “The sample story was provocative and haunting, and stayed with us for weeks after reading it. This, combined with the knowledgeable treatment of the subject and the compelling project idea, made it a clear winner.”

Also shortlisted were: Tiffani Angus, Lillian Cohen-Moore, Hunter Liguore, Kirsty Logan, Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Sandra McDonald, Kate Milford, Trina Phillips, and Hilary Smith.

The Gulliver Travel Research Grant is awarded to assist a writer of speculative fiction in his or her research. As in previous years, the 2011 grant of $800 is to be used to cover airfare, lodging, and/or other expenses relating to the research for a project of speculative fiction.

The full press release follows the jump.

Press Release #35

SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GULLIVER TRAVEL GRANT WINNER

SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION
PO Box 1693
Dubuque, IA 52004-1693

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

For Immediate Release: Nov 1, 2011

The Speculative Literature Foundation is delighted to announce that Ibi Zoboi is the winner of the 2011 Gulliver Travel Grant.

Zoboi will use the $800 grant to travel to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to research her YA dystopian novel set in both countries. She was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and had always loved the magical aspects of the Haitian literary tradition. She has been published in Crossed Genres, Haiti Noir, and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, among others.

The Travel Grant judges said of Zoboi’s entry, “The sample story was provocative and haunting, and stayed with us for weeks after reading it. This, combined with the knowledgeable treatment of the subject and the compelling project idea, made it a clear winner.”

Also shortlisted were: Tiffani Angus, Lillian Cohen-Moore, Hunter Liguore, Kirsty Logan, Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Sandra McDonald, Kate Milford, Trina Phillips, and Hilary Smith, for their unique and thought-provoking submissions, which made the selection of the eventual winner a difficult but enjoyable process.

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PR Contact: Corie Ralston [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.

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