Find your home with The Writers Grotto.

Grotto Fellowship

Our fellowship program is dedicated to fostering emerging writers in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is open to writers of every genre, including fiction, nonfiction, memoir, journalism, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, et cetera. Writers who have demonstrated a commitment to their craft but who are not yet widely published are eligible. We particularly encourage writers of color, ethnic minorities, those who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and other members of communities historically underrepresented by the literary community to apply.

Up to six people will be selected for a fellowship term of twelve months, beginning on January 2, 2023 and ending on December 31, 2023. Fellows are offered unlimited access to no-cost open desk space at the Grotto and are considered full members during the duration of their fellowship.

In addition to working at the Grotto, fellows will also be paired with mentors to help with their transition into the Grotto community. Mentors will work with their fellows to identify goals for their works-in-progress and opportunities to explore during their time at the Grotto. These might include project check-ins with their mentor, volunteering for Grotto committees, participating in Grotto craft groups (e.g., journalism, short fiction, book publicity), or attending Grotto events (readings, lunches, etc.). At the end of the year, fellows will be invited to do a public reading at the Grotto to present the work they’ve done during their term.

Each fellow will be invited to apply to join the Grotto as a full-time member after successful completion of their fellowship. Our fellowship application will reopen in 2023.

Questions? Please contact us at sfgrottofellowship2023 (at) gmail (dot) com. If people have questions outside of the application period, they can email info (at) sfgrotto (dot) org.
Rooted & Written co-founder Roberto Lovato speaking at the September 2019 workshop.
Rooted & Written founder Roberto Lovato speaking at the September 2019 workshop.

Rooted & Written

Rooted & Written co-founder Roberto Lovato speaking at the September 2019 workshop.
Rooted & Written is a free program designed to help emerging writers of color refine their craft under the mentorship of established writers of color, as well as build relationships in the publishing industry. Published and unpublished writers of color are encouraged to apply. We welcome poetry, fiction, nonfiction, screenplay — whatever your craft, we want to see it! If you have questions about the workshops or future events, please email [email protected].

Use Our Space

Our mezzanine space is available for sublease as well as an hourly rental. We also have occasional openings for enterprise members to rent offices in the Writers Grotto. These are businesses such as literary agents, publishing houses, content producers or media organizations that want to open a small San Francisco office and locate in our community. If your organization is interested in this possibility, please contact classes (at) writersgrotto (dot) org.
Learn more about subleasing our mezzanine space

Support Our Work

For more than 25 years, the Writers Grotto has been one of the Bay Area’s leading cultural institutions. Today, the Grotto offers invaluable support to writers and other narrative artists from a wide range of backgrounds, and who work across a wide range of genres, from poetry to journalism to film, novels, short fiction, memoir, and more.

Your tax-deductible contributions help fund Rooted & Written (our workshop series by and for writers of color), fellowships for emerging writers, our public readings and events, discounted fees for writers in financial straits, and programs like our weekly write-ins, which provide support and inspiration for the Bay Area literary community at all levels.