CALL FOR CREATIVE WRITERS

 

Are you a student who has a passion for social justice and a story to tell? 

The Transforming MSU Playwriting Fellowship invites MSU students to apply for a year-long experience in which fellows learn more about playwriting as a storytelling form and how it can activate liberatory transformation at MSU.

Topics covered during writing workshops may include character, dialogue, plot, structure, theatrical conventions, power, liberation, radical imagination, frameworks for change, and more. This fellowship meets you where you are in your development as a writer and changemaker. This is a space that centers community and care and will support you in developing your voice as a writer.

In its 5th year, the Playwriting Fellowship is a collaboration between Transforming Theatre Ensemble (TTE), the Department of Theatre, and the Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion to develop and present a series of short student-written plays meant to initiate dialogue, encourage collective problem-solving, and spark radical imagination. The plays will be used in educational workshops for students, faculty, staff and administrators at MSU.

Each playwriting fellow will receive a stipend of $1,000.00.

Applications due by April 14, 2025 at noon.

Eligibility requirements:

• Applicants must be enrolled for the full 2025-26 academic year. (If you are graduating in December 2025, you are not eligible.)

• Applicants must attend writing workshops for all the following dates:

  • Writing Workshops: Thursdays, September 11-October 24, 2025, 4:30-7pm
    
    
  • Readings & Feedback: Tuesdays & Thursdays, January 20-February 3, 2026, 4:30-7pm
    
    
  • Final Showcases: April 9 & 10, 2026, 7-9pm

Additional Information:

• Playwriting fellows will be given access to various events throughout the year including performances, invited speakers, and opportunities to eat, rest, and reflect together.

• No theatre experience required. Just bring your curiosity about playwriting as a mode of storytelling and a passion for social justice.

• Both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply.

• Again, you must be a student for the full 2025-26 academic year. Students graduating in December 2025 are not eligible.

• The application includes submitting a creative writing sample. It should be 2-3 pages long. It does not have to be a play. It can be a poem, short story, or any other creative writing that you think best showcases you.

How to apply:

Click here to apply or use the QR code below.

Due date: Applications will close on Monday, April 14, 2025 at noon.

Please send questions and requests for access needs to Transforming Theatre Ensemble Artistic Director Lynn Lammers at lammersl@msu.edu