Writing + Creative Expression Fellowship | Feb-Nov 2024
This remote fellowship is a global program including structured writing, professional, spiritual, and life mentorship that aims to guide fellows to a more individualized, pleasure-filled, expansive, and sustainable wellness practice through their creative exploration of words. The timeline of 10 months gives fellows an opportunity to explore, learn, integrate, and iterate in ways that honor them and the sustainability of their practices.
This fellowship is a space currently created for women of color between the ages of 18-25, only, to participate in, and can offer college credit. Fellows should expect around 5 hours of engagement per week, including responsibilities mentorship, and time spent in their own creative processes.
Applications are now closed.
Editorial Operations
Fellows will make up the Editorial Board of the new issue-system for our Literary Anthology, and support the success of Wellspringwords: The Podcast, including sharing their voices through the show. Fellows will receive special access to our online workshops and courses, and engage in powerful and integrative monthly gatherings for creative development.
Responsibilities for fellows
Provide developmental editing on Anthology submissions as part of the Editorial Team
Support podcast through the creation of certain episodes and podcast shownotes
Co-create newsletter musings
Submit 2 written pieces to the Wellspringwords Literary Anthology throughout the fellowship
Benefits of this fellowship
Complimentary access to monthly online workshops
30% discount on Heart Translation Group Writing Course
90-min monthly creative gatherings with fellowship cohort
45-min monthly 1-1 mentorship call
2024 Wellspringwords Fellows
Price Maccarthy
Price Maccarthy is a visually impaired writer from Ghana and Nigeria with a penchant for autobiographical prose and poetry. She hopes to someday fully pen her - sometimes comical but often hard hitting - life experiences into a piece she is proud of. Apart from living for the art of chronic procrastination, Price loves good food, books that make her cry, and dark humor (no pun intended).
Shayna Shah
Shayna is a 21-year-old poet, who believes in the power of words that weave into stories. She is the author of a collection of poetry about growing up called “Forever Young''. Through her writing, she hopes to connect deeply to her own truth and the truths of others. Magic is everywhere, magic is now.
2023 Wellspringwords Fellows
Nardine Eldalil | Editorial Operations Fellow
Nardine is an 18-year-old writer originally from Cairo, Egypt but is currently a student in Fairfax, Virginia. She is a sophomore working on becoming a Communications Major with a concentration in Politics and a Criminology, Law, and Society Minor. She aspires to one day take her writing to the professional world and become a journalist!
Daniella Olonilua
Daniella is a first-generation Nigerian-American writer. Since childhood, she has held a deep reverence for the written word, especially texts by Black women/femmes across the African diaspora. When she is not performing under capitalism, you can find her reading, writing, learning, growing, and thriving.
2022 Wellspringwords Fellows
Surabhi Raj | Editorial Intern
Surabhi is currently a junior at NYU studying music, writing, and sociology. Her writing spans from songs to essays and she hopes to discover all the possibilities writing has to offer with the community at Wellspringwords by exploring her inner self and using expression as a tool for human connection. Outside of her ambitions, she loves to spend time with her loved ones and her cat while trying to navigate the world as a messy 20-something.
Nnenna Ekeleme | Community Care Intern
Ekeleme Nnenna Mary is a Nigerian writer, poet and art enthusiast. She sees art as more than a language. What it is, is being; alive and breathing. At 16, she began to paint her world with ink, bringing to life her imaginative thoughts. She has written works that represent identity, personality, experiences and her individuality. Her works include ‘I AM’, ‘Painted’, ’Sponge’, ’Dear what was’ and many others. She sees herself as a butterfly, flying beautifully in nature's light.
Darline Krystal
Darline Krystal was born in the Dominican Republic, moved to Puerto Rico at age 7, and landed in the United States in late 2013. Her writing pieces have been part of several writing magazines, and at just sixteen years old, Darline proudly considers herself a writer, poet, artist, and author of El arte de volar sin ser mariposa. Her passion for her poetry motivates her to keep writing in order to connect with the world.
Shayna Shah
Shayna is a 19-year-old poet currently living in Nairobi, Kenya. She hopes for her words to inspire, free people, and allow them to be vulnerable. She also wrote the book "Forever young", a collection of poetry about aging and growing up. Shayna is a lover of new experiences, books, cats, cafes, and forests. She hopes to connect to people from all over the world and continually explore the meaning of the beautiful and precious moment we call life.
What past fellows have to say about their fellowship experience:
“My writing fellowship experience with Nkem/Wellspringwords was amazing for my personal and professional growth as a writer. Nkem is a great mentor—she knows how to guide you to be a better writer while also giving you the space to try things out and learn on you’re own. Writing alongside her not only helped me get better at the craft, but also grow into myself as a person.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed my writing fellowship experience with Wellspringwords! It truly was a transformative journey that allowed me to grow as a writer, connect with talented beings, and receive invaluable mentorship. I am so thankful for this incredible opportunity!”
“This writing fellowship came to me at a time of creative limbo and gently pushed me to explore why I write and who I write for. The beauty of the fellowship was the community of curious and beautiful souls from Nkem to the writers who submitted for the Literary Anthology and showed up to creative gatherings and Online Immersions. Engaging with this inspiring collective spurred me to dig into the self and come out with a sense of direction. I am sad that my time with the fellowship is over, but I am also optimistic about applying the lessons I’ve learned and continuing the journey of mentorship that began when I took the leap of faith to be a Wellspringwords Writing Fellow.”
“This fellowship has been very helpful, comforting and transformational. I like how educative and in tuning It has been with our inner and outer Acceptance, definitions of myself. I’ve learnt how to trust the tide and make what May of every point in time, I’ve also learnt additional skills of making communications and building wider bases for Wellspringwords development, generating ideas and presenting them, as well as turning them into projects, and buying people into connecting with their wellspring.”
“The writing fellowship at Wellspring words has been one of the most transformational and enlightening experiences I have had in my writing. I have grown so much as a writer, I have learned to take risks with my writing and be more present and aware of what I am wanting to communicate with my words. Nkem has been the best mentor and friend and always provided a safe and nourishing space for me to share my writing. I have loved everything about it!”