“How to Be a Literary Editor” Scholarship Application

Students who fill out this form will be offered a full scholarship for the “How to Be a Literary Editor” course, if they qualify for financial aid.

We are a nonprofit with aim to reach all students. In order to open our staff to students from low-income communities, we offer to waive the $75 enrollment fee for students who qualify for financial aid.

You may apply for the scholarship by filling out the form below or by emailing david@polyphonylit.org.

"How to Be a Literary Editor"

This course teaches high school and college students how to edit poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Our editorial method, developed over 15 years of teaching our own staff the craft of editing, offers a standard approach for tackling each submission and gives an overview of the specific editing vocabulary useful for giving meaningful feedback.

Students who complete the course will be prepared to join the staff of their school literary magazine, ace an internship at a real-world lit magazine, and/or join Polyphony Lit.  The course also includes a guide for literary magazine interns published by the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses [clmp] which will introduce students to the administrative and business aspects of producing a literary magazine.

Features of this course:

• On-demand & self-paced (Start right now!)
• 3-5 hours to complete
• 3 expert instructors lead mini-lectures and close readings in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction
• A panel of talented high school Executive Editors workshop pieces in each genre
• A final assignment with personal feedback

Students who pass the mini-quizzes and complete the final assignment will receive a Certificate of Completion and an invitation to join the Polyphony Lit editorial staff.

For High School Literary Magazine Advisers: If your school is interested in using the workshop to train your high school editorial staff, please contact us for more information and a discount on volume purchases.

Scholarship Qualifications

• High school student or equivalent.
• Financial need: public school students who qualify for free/reduced lunch; private school students receiving financial aid; students whose family financial situation has been affected by the pandemic.
• Has access to computer/device and Wifi to take the online workshop.
• Plans to complete the online workshop, which takes 3-5 hours, by June 2022.