Travel bursaries for poets
Poets can apply for help for interprovincial and international travel costs.
Following the success of the previous Mobility Fund, which was initially introduced in 2020 to encourage the export of South African poets to the world, the Hear My Voice team has re-launched their Mobility Fund. This time the fund does not only enable and incentivise international travel, but poets and poetry platforms can also apply to get support for interprovincial travel. The fund will contribute towards poets mobility costs to the maximum of R10 000. In the instance of digital mobility, the fund will either match or contribute towards the poets performance fee.
Hear My Voice is a non-profit organisation based in Tshwane, South Africa, that, since 2016, has supported hundreds of spoken word artists through organising local and international exchange programs, workshops, live spoken word shows, open mics and other literature programs for schools, private companies, government, libraries, festivals and other cultural institutions.
The Mobility Fund encourages poets and poetry platforms to apply for their events of digital as well as physical nature, covering part of the participation fee or related travel expenses of South African poets who have been invited to participate in an international or inter-provincial literary festival or related platform.
“We aim to contribute to building a viable and vibrant South African poetry circuit. The aim is to open four rounds of applications this year to support poets not only during one season but to offer consistent support throughout the year. ” says Ishmael Sibiya – Executive Director of Hear My Voice.
Interested applicants can find criteria and may apply here: www.hearmyvoice.co.za/submissions. Applications are open year round but will be assessed a maximum of three times a quarter per the below schedule:
January – March 2022
April – June 2022
July – September 2022
October – December 2022
The January to March iteration of the Mobility fund is made possible through part funding by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. Corporate is encourage jump on-board this wonderful initiative and support the export of South African voices.
For any questions relating to the Mobility Fund, please contact: Ishmael Sibiya: ishmael@hearmyvoice.co.za
