The purpose of the Changemaker Authors Cohort is to support those working towards racial and social justice to write and publish books that create durable narrative change, with professional coaching and support within a multiracial community. The Changemaker Authors Cohort supports works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and graphic storytelling that are consistent with the applicant’s direct experience of building justice. This can include books that are about communities establishing and using their power through organizing and activism, as well as those contributing to the plurality of voices in the broader artistic and cultural discourse. 

Our goal for this program is to support cohort members to make significant progress with their project at the end of each term, which can include manuscript completion or having a submittable manuscript or proposal ready. 

We are seeking applications from people working towards racial and social justice (for example: activists, organizers, popular educators) who: 

• Are not full-time writers.
• Have a book in progress or a well-developed book idea.
• Will consistently set aside time for their writing and attend online coaching appointments, cohort meetings, and a mid-year 5-day writing retreat.
• Have a history of making community change and working on social justice issues.

The Partners

The Changemaker Authors Cohort is a partnership between Narrative Initiative and the Unicorn Authors Club, and is partially resourced by the Ford Foundation. 

Narrative Initiative’s (www.narrativeinitiative.org) goal is to nourish and grow long-term progress for social justice by equipping changemakers with the necessary tools, relationships, and resources to build the power and share ideas through collections of stories. 

The Unicorn Authors Club (www.unicornauthors.club) is a magical online sanctuary where authors of color (and allies who really mean it!) finish their urgently-needed books. Alongside high-quality craft guidance, we work in community to liberate our writing process and our stories from white supremacy paradigms and develop strategies for writing through trauma, grief, and internalized oppressions. 

For questions about this application or the program, please email: changemakerauthor@narrativeinitiative.org

FAQs can be found here.