The deadline is approaching for The Wyoming Arts Council’s 2020 Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing and Journalism Fellowship. The application deadline is March 11, 2020. Applications are accepted online via Submittable at https://wyomingartscouncil.submittable.com/submit.

Now in its second year, this annual prestigious fellowship of $3,500 is a national call open to creative writers (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) and journalists (writer, photojournalist, videographer, documentary filmmaker, online or print media) who demonstrate serious inquiry and dedication to the Greater Yellowstone region through their work.

With generous funding from The Pattie and Earle Layser Memorial Fund, this fellowship seeks to intersect science, education, current events, and conservation to effectively communicate the Greater Yellowstone’s natural history and singular importance to society through creative and exceptional writing and subject communication. Established and recognized authors are being sought, but emerging and mid-career writers are also encouraged to apply.

The fellowship recipient will be expected to create or complete a relevant publishable or produced work and may be requested or encouraged to make public presentations. In addition to the financial award, the fellowship recipient may elect to also receive a one to two-week housing residency at one of several prearranged different locations within the Greater Yellowstone region. Such residency will be based on availability and will be negotiated with the fellowship recipient.

Celebrated journalist, Todd Wilkinson, the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative’s Writer in Residence and the founder and publisher of online MountainJournal.org, will serve as a juror for the second year in a row. Known for his stories and analyses about issues shaping the Greater Yellowstone, Todd’s award-winning works have been featured in publications ranging from “National Geographic” to the “Washington Post.” He is also the author of books on subjects as diverse as the life of “eco-capitalist” Ted Turner and “Grizzly 399,” a famous Greater Yellowstone bear.

Joining Todd as a juror this year is Susan Marsh. With degrees in geology and landscape architecture, and a lifelong interest in creative writing, she has combined her interests into a body of work that explores the relationship of humans to the wild. Her work has appeared in journals that include “Orion,” “North American Review,” and “Fourth Genre,” and in many anthologies. Her books include the award-winning novel, “War Creek” and non-fiction books, “A Hunger for High Country,” “Cache Creek: A Trailside Guide to Jackson Hole’s Backyard Wilderness,” and “Saving Wyoming’s Hoback,” winner of the Wallace Stegner Prize in Environmental Humanities. She writes a column “Back to Nature” for “Mountain Journal” and lives in Jackson, Wyoming.

A complete list of eligibility requirements and additional information can be found on the Wyoming Arts Council website at www.wyomingartscouncil.org. For more information, contact Taylor Craig at 307-274-6673.