Written by Zubaan Publishers, an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi, has announced the Zubaan Publishers Research Grant for Young Researchers from the Northeast, 2023-24. The grant provides a modest fund to prepare written, multimedia, visual, and other creative content focusing on themes such as community histories, environmentalism, disability, notes on lived realities, political and social commentary, cultural production, labor and migrant relations, indigenous histories, and more.
The grant also encourages applications that focus on women’s, queer, feminist, and oral histories, particularly from historically marginalized groups within the region. The grant is now in its sixth year and hopes to encourage young writers, researchers, and artists to contribute to the diversification of knowledge production. The grant aims to encourage young writers, researchers, and artists to contribute to the diversification of knowledge production within these thematic areas, examined through the lens of gender.
The grant is open to writers, researchers, artists, and other creative professionals from the eight northeastern states and the eastern Himalayan region. However, the grant strongly encourages applications from young women, queer, trans, and non-binary people within the region. Preference will be given to candidates based locally and working actively within the community. The grant is not open to non-Indian nationals.
The grant carries an amount of Rs 100,000, less applicable taxes, and will be paid in three installments: 25 per cent on approval of the project and signature of the contract, 50 per cent on submission of the first draft and attendance of review meeting and the final instalment on completion of the study.
The final submissions will be in English, and multimedia content can be in non-English languages accompanied by English subtitles or transcripts. The grant duration is eight months, and the deadline for submission of applications is 03 January 2024.
All selected candidates will be allotted individual mentors for the grant duration of 8 months and will have access to a network/mentorship panel consisting of writers, researchers, artists, etc., who will support, guide, and provide additional perspectives to the candidates’ work. Additionally, all selected candidates will be required to attend a preliminary residential methodology workshop in late February 2024/ early March 2024, as well as a mid-term online review where they will present a draft of their work in order to get feedback from peers and resource people.
To apply, interested applicants can send their applications to contact@zubaanprojects.org with the subject line Application for Fragrance of Peace Grants 2023. The application should include a grant proposal (maximum two pages), a writing sample of roughly 500 words or a two-page spread of a graphic story or an extract from previous work similar to the form of the proposed work, a CV, and any other relevant information about the applicant. The grant proposals may be creative and do not need to be written in academic language.
Zubaan Publishers have been working with researchers, writers, photographers, artists, etc., for the past decade and more to support the feminist movement in the Northeast India region. The Fragrance of Peace project attempts to reconfigure the lens through which the Northeast and its contiguous region are viewed by, or placed in, the social, economic, and political landscape of mainland India and beyond. The grant hopes to support, build, and collaborate with the communities that are writing their own histories while charting new maps of language and vocabulary rooted in community wisdom.
The Zubaan Publishers Research Grant for Young Researchers from the Northeast, 2023-24 is an excellent opportunity for young writers, researchers, and artists to contribute to the diversification of knowledge production within the thematic areas mentioned above. The grant provides a modest fund, individual mentors, and access to a network/mentorship panel consisting of writers, researchers, artists, etc. The deadline for submission of applications is 03 January 2024, and shortlisted candidates will be informed by late January 2024. For more information, please visit www.zubaanbooks.com.
For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/zubaangrants