Creative Writing Scholarships and Awards

Contact the Creative Writing Director or administrative associate for more information on scholarships.

To view and apply for all Humanities & Sciences related scholarships please visit the UM Scholarship Portal.

Graduate Scholarship and Awards

A.B. Gutherie Memorial Fund

The A.B. Guthrie Memorial Fund, named after the novelist, screenwriter and literary historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1950 for his novel The Way West, provides a $750 scholarship to an outstanding graduate student in the MFA program. 

Bertha Morton Fellowships and Scholarships

These are campus-wide awards of $3,000 - $5000, chosen by the University Graduate Council each spring from program nominations. The criteria for nomination include: honors and awards; professional credentials; research and academic achievements; creative activities (especially publication of creative work). Must be an enrolled graduate student at the University of Montana.

For more information, visit the Graduate School website

Greta Wrolstad Travel Award

The Greta Wrolstad Travel Award (approximately $2900) was established in memory of Greta Wrolstad, a poet who attended the University of Montana. The award is granted to an outstanding poet enrolled in the MFA program for support of travel to a writing workshop, conference, or residency in the U.S. or abroad, as well as research for a creative project. Applications are solicited by the Director of Creative Writing in February. Only enrolled MFA students may apply.

More about the Greta Wrolstad Travel Award

Goedicke/Robinson Scholarship

Named after Patricia Goedicke, Professor of Poetry 1981-2006, and her husband and fellow writer, Leonard Robinson, this (approximately $3000) scholarship is awarded to a deserving graduate student in poetry. 

Husted-Jones Scholarship for Creative Writing

The Husted-Jones Scholarship for Creative Writing (approximately $2100) is for a deserving graduate student in the MFA program. 

Richard Hugo Memorial Scholarship

The Richard Hugo Memorial Scholarship honors the memory and work of poet Richard Hugo, whose character and personality shaped the Creative Writing Program at UM. This $5000 scholarship is for graduate students in poetry. No application is necessary.

Timothy O'Leary and Michelle Cardinal Scholarship in Prose

The Timothy O'Leary and Michelle Cardinal Scholarship in Prose was established to support incoming graduate students accepted into the Master of Fine Arts Program in prose. No application is necessary for this $5000 scholarship.

Truman Capote Scholarships

Established by the Truman Capote Literary Trust, the Truman Capote Scholarships are awarded annually to the top student accepted into the Master of Fine Arts Program in fiction or nonfiction. A generous stipend and tuition waiver are offered for two years with no teaching requirement.  This scholarship is awarded by Creative Writing faculty consensus; the program does not accept applications for the Capote Scholarship.

Undergraduate Scholarships and Awards

Alice Passano Hancock Davidson Scholarship

The purpose of the Alice Passano Hancock Davidson Scholarship is to provide an annual award of approximately $500 to a Creative Writing student with financial need who is in the upper 25 percent of their class academically.

 

Fishtrap Summer Conference Scholarship

Fishtrap and The Oval will provide one scholarship to an undergraduate creative writing student to attend the Fishtrap Summer Conference each year. Meals are included. Students are responsible for their own travel and lodging.

More about the Fishtrap Summer Conference scholarship.

James Crumley Memorial Scholarship

The James Crumley Memorial Scholarship (approximately $1000) is awarded to a talented and deserving undergraduate student in Creative Writing.

Opus Scholarship

Two scholarships of $1000 are awarded to talented undergraduate Creative Writing students. 

The Welch Scholarship

This approximately $1,000 scholarship honors James Welch, an award-winning novelist, poet and nonfiction writer born and raised on the Blackfeet reservation. He graduated from UM in 1964, then studied under Richard Hugo in the MFA program. The scholarship is awarded to students in Creative Writing, with priority given to undergraduates who are of Native American descent from Montana. 

Scholarships available to both Undergraduate and Graduate

Margaret Beebe Memorial Scholarship

This $400 scholarship is awarded to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate in Creative Writing. 

Merriam-Frontier Award

Established by H.G. Merriam, Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing 1919-1954, the H.G. Merriam-Frontier Award recognizes distinguished achievement in student writing. Open to both graduate and undergraduate students, entries are called for early in the fall semester and judged by a committee of local writers. The student selected for the Merriam-Frontier Award receives $2500 and gives a reading spring semester from their winning manuscript.

More about the Merriam-Frontier Award

Nettie Weber Creative Writing Award

A $400-$500 award is given to graduate or undergraduate students to offset the expense of attending a summer writing conference or conducting research for a creative project. Applications are solicited in March. Only enrolled students may apply.