Effective April 15, 2010:

A Room of Her Own’s Sixth Gift of Freedom competition (original deadline October 11, 2010) will be placed on hiatus due to ongoing funding shortages. Our many AROHO supporters are currently joining forces to raise the requisite funds for the Sixth Gift of Freedom, and the competition will be reinstated when that funding is secured. Applications already submitted for the Sixth Gift of Freedom competition will be returned or destroyed according to applicant’s request. All application fees will be returned.

Our current GOF recipient will be unaffected by this hiatus, and AROHO will continue to offer all other programs, including the biannual $1000 Orlando prizes in the genres of Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Sudden Fiction, and Short Fiction, and the annual $1000 To the Lighthouse Poetry Publication Prize.

We will host our Retreat for Women Writers,featuring Marilynne Robinson, as scheduled, August 8-14, 2011. The Retreat’s application for regular attendance and scholarship opportunities will be available on the website June 1, 2010.

AROHO remains steadfast in our commitment to women artists. Thus far, we have channeled over $650,000 to connect, support, challenge, and champion creative women, and A Room of Her Own continues to be America’s preeminent nonprofit institution working on behalf of creative women.

FAQs

When will the Gift of Freedom hiatus be over? 
We’d love to have an exact date, but the reality is that we’re not sure when the hiatus will be over. We are sure that finding funding for the GOF is our chief priority. Another thing we’re sure of is that these difficult economic times require a redoubled commitment on the part of those who love and support the arts. AROHO was founded with the express purpose of providing women the opportunity to make art and to bring that art into the larger world. And while we are continuing all our other programs, it saddens us to have to put the Gift Of Freedom on hold for even a day. If you like what we’re doing, if you believe in our mission, please join with us in support of the GOF. Donate today. Tell a friend. Spread the word.

I’ve spent hours working on this application already.  Is it all for nothing? 
We know that delaying the application period for the Gift of Freedom might mean delaying a woman’s dream. It might also mean that same woman will be better prepared, fully ready when we begin accepting applications again. The GOF application is widely known as not just a mere set of questions and answers but as a life-changing and clarifying tool for every woman who gives herself over to it. For that reason, we are leaving the application up on our website, and we encourage everyone to download it. Our current GOF recipient, Barb Johnson, told us recently,

“When I first came across the Gift of Freedom, it was between application years. What was great about that was, the application is available all year long. Anyone can download it at any time. What that meant for me was that I had almost two full years to think about the questions, to really evaluate my writing life. I had all that time to think about it and hundreds of hours to write and rewrite. That application forced me to consider my own seriousness about the business of writing. What have you done in support of your writing, one of the questions asks. I could’ve answered with a quick list of items and been done with it, a perfectly serviceable answer. But at every turn, this application challenged me to dig more deeply, to be more honest, to find and provide a larger answer. This single question made rethink how I was structuring my life. What choices I had made, could make, should make in support of my writing. And what things might hold me back. What things might undermine my success. On and on, I followed this question out into the world, deep into myself. This is not an application that seeks or supports puffery. It seeks only to challenge the woman to discover what is true for her and to tell that truth. There’s no waste here. No hour invested nor answer framed is wasted. By the time I was sealing the envelope and sending in my application, I was ready. Deeply, thoroughly ready. 

It makes me think of a line from the Cavafy poem, ‘Ithaka’. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for…Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn’t have set out. This is the GOF application, a journey not a destination. And oh, the things you’ll see along the way…”

If you'd like to get started on your future now, you can download the GOF Application template at any time.

I've already sent you my completed application. What will happen to my packet, and will I receive a refund for my application fee?
We will be in touch with those women who have already applied and will return or destroy their applications according to their request. All fees will be refunded.