The Sandra Carpenter Memorial Fund aims to lift up promising Ohio and U.S. women writers who want to explore the world and write.
About Sandra Carpenter
“There are two things you need to know about me: 1) I love to travel. 2) I love to write.” — Sandra Carpenter, 59 North
Sandra Carpenter (1964–2019) was a traveler and writer, yes, and also a mentor and an inspiration, a beloved wife, daughter, aunt, cousin, niece, sister, friend and colleague.
Our SCMF-SWF Ohio Writers Scholarship
The SCMF-SWF Ohio Writers Scholarship offers an emergent Ohio woman writer complimentary admission to the Stockholm Writers Festival, a stipend to help fund her travel and accommodations, and a one-on-one meeting with a literary agent. The Stockholm Writers Festival offers a fantastic learning and networking experience for emerging and published writers alike.
The SCMF-FPP Sandra Carpenter Prize for Creative Nonfiction
This special award recognizes an emerging American woman writer with a $750 monetary prize plus an agent consultation and partial developmental editing of her creative nonfiction manuscript entered into the First Pages Prize. The writer may be living in the U.S. or abroad.
“In honor of the coming year, I thought I would take a slightly different turn and tell you about six things that made me happy—it's my version of a gratitude list:
1. Creative time.
2. Traveling.
3. Hanging out with family and friends.
4. Putting down roots.
5. Cooking, baking and perusing food markets.
6. Writing.”
— Sandra Carpenter, 59North 2015
News
2024 SCMF-SWF Ohio Writers Scholarship Recipient Named
The Sandra Carpenter Memorial Fund is delighted to name Bess Winter the 2024 SCMF-SWF Ohio Writers Scholarship recipient. Bess will attend the Stockholm Writers Festival August 23–25, receive a cash travel stipend, and meet one-on-one with a literary agent. Bess earned a PhD in Creative Writing and Comparative Literature from the University of Cincinnati, Sandra’s alma mater.
2024 Creative Nonfiction Prize Awarded
Jiadai Lin, of Santa Fe, NM, is this year’s recipient of the Sandra Carpenter Prize for Creative Nonfiction, given in partnership with the First Pages Prize. Jiadal is a first-generation Chinese American raised in Wisconsin and New York; in 2015, she left a career as a litigator in Manhattan to pursue a writer’s life in New Mexico. Her coming-of-age memoir, now in progress, is titled Minor Rebel.