The Creative and Critical Writings grant provides support to critical writings on the arts and culture, theatrical writings, children and youth literature, graphic novels, short stories, poetry, in addition to the online publishing platform. The final product should be in the Arabic language.

Grants Detail

The program provides annual grants ranging from a few thousand U.S. dollars up to a maximum of 20,000 U.S. dollars for individuals and teams and 35,000 U.S dollars for institutions and collectives.

When the grant from AFAC exceeds $10,000 yet only covers a portion of the project’s overall budget, the grantee is obliged to raise 70% of the remaining budget in order to be awarded the grant. The latter grant will not pass through, if the grantee is unable to procure 70% of the remaining project budget within 90 days.

In the event that the grantee does not sign the grant contract within 60 days upon receipt thereof, there will be a cancellation of the grant. The author must complete projects within 2 years of signing the contract, during which grantees are expected to submit the necessary financial and narrative reports.

Moreover, AFAC does not offer mobility grants. Travel costs can be covered by the AFAC grant only when they are part of the implementation of a project.

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Eligible Candidates

AFAC is open to receiving project applications from all Arab individuals working in the fields specified above. Project applications are accepted irrespective of age, years of experience, country of residence, ethnicity, gender, or religion.

Applications in this category can be also submitted by relevant Arab or non-Arab institutions (publishing houses, online literary platforms, …) as long as the final product is in Arabic.

Eligible Expenses

The AFAC grant covers project-related expenses (including writer’s fees up to 30% of the total grant amount). In the case of institutions, up to 30% of the grant amount) can be allocated for certain running costs. AFAC and the jury reserve the right to determine whether the proposed running costs items are relevant or not. The percentage of allocation to writers’ fees and institutional running costs has been exceptionally raised in 2020 and 2021 to account for the challenges brought about by the spread of COVID-19.

How to Apply

Apply through online applications forms available on the official website in Arabic only.

The applicant will receive a confirmation email once the online application has been received. Applicants should follow up on the full completion and delivery of requested material as AFAC will not contact applicants if any part of their application is incomplete.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

To apply, please log in with your username and password. Once you log in, visit the program page you are interested in applying to and click on apply. Choose the program you wish to apply to and click on the apply button. In case you don’t have an existing account, please create one here.

Preview the Creative and Critical Writings Grant – Application for Individuals and Teams

Preview the Creative and Critical Writings Grant – Application for Institutions and Collectives

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Supporting Material

• It is mandatory to submit samples of previous works/projects (up to three maximum) unless the project you are applying with is your first work.
• For all projects, please include a detailed budget.
• You can upload the supporting files/samples of the current submitted project and/or previous work smaller than 10 MB directly to the application.
• Include the supporting files/samples of the current submitted project and/or previous exceeding 10 MB as links to files on sharing websites (such as Dropbox, Vimeo, YouTube…). Only when supporting files/samples of previous work cannot be shared through online links does AFAC accept to receive them by physical mail.

For theatrical writing:

The final output should be a theatrical text published as a book. The following supporting materials are required:

• • Curriculum vitae of the applicant
  • One or two chapters from the play

For critical writings:

The author must submit the project, and the final output must be a book. The following supporting materials are necessary:

• •  Curriculum vitae of the applicant
  • The work methodology
  • One or two chapters from the book
  • The book references

Children and Youth Literature:

The author must submit the project. The following documents are necessary:

• • A resume of the original story and its author
  • samples from the applicant’s previous work if available
  • Also, a chapter from the adapted text

The program will also support the publishing of original children and youth literature, in which case the manuscript(s) to be published are required.

Graphic Novel:

The author must submit the project and the final output should be a published book. The following supporting materials are necessary:

• • A synopsis of the book
  • One or two chapters from the novel, including text and illustrations from the novel
  • Curriculum vitae of the applicant

Publishing of Short Stories and Poetry

Submit the project by the publishing house or the author. The full manuscript(s) to be published is compulsory.

Online Publishing or support to literary online platform:

You must submit the project by the platform, with a description of its previous work and of the new proposed project, including details about the content and the editorial line. The Curriculum vitae of the editorial committee is necessary.

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Evaluation and Selection Process

AFAC will conduct an administrative check to ensure that applications are complete and adhere to the guidelines. Only applications that pass the administrative check will be processed. An independent readers’ committee will then assess the received proposals and select the applications. The independent jurors’ committee will assess the preselected applications and choose the projects to be granted. Please see Evaluation Process for more details.