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Each year during the 3-year pilot period of the Spark Award, we will be accepting applications only from specific disciplines: 2025 is focused on literary and media artists, and interdisciplinary artists who work includes media or literary arts as the primary form of expression.
How would your work be perceived by a panel of performing arts professionals? Literary art professionals? Consider the audiences your work usually draws, the feedback you’ve received over the years and what you have produced in the most recent years.
This year, the application will prompt applicants to select one primary discipline category and one sub-category and then provide a one-sentence description of their artistic practice. Applicants also have the option to select an additional sub-category. These category selections will inform the expertise of the panelists who will be reviewing your application. For instance, if you select ‘Literary’ as your primary discipline, and ‘Literary-poetry’ as your sub-discipline, your application will likely be reviewed by panelists who are experts in the field of poetry. For this reason, carefully selecting your discipline categories is an important task in filling out the Spark application!
As an interdisciplinary artist working with literary and/or media arts as a primary form of expression, selecting your sub-categories carefully is particularly important as it will clarify the emphasis of your practice and the context in which you want your application to be reviewed. Your work samples should also support your narrative and CV as an interdisciplinary artist. For instance, if you plan to only submit poetry and/or prose work samples – your will be better served to apply in the ‘Literary’ primary category, rather than ‘Interdisciplinary’. If your practice integrates multiple disciplines and your work samples will support this description – like a poet who also creates experimental films to accompany the readings – you will be best served selecting ‘Interdisciplinary’ as your primary discipline.
Be sure to review the eligible and ineligible categories prior to beginning your Spark application. They are listed here under ‘View full eligibility criteria’.
Below are some examples of how applicants might complete this application task:
Media applicant example:
Primary category: Media
Sub-discipline: Media-Narrative film
Description: I write and direct horror film.
Literary applicant example:
Primary category: Literary
Sub-discipline 1: Literary – Poetry
Sub-Discipline2: Literary – Creative nonfiction
Description: I am a poet and creative nonfiction writer.
Interdisciplinary applicant examples:
Primary category: Interdisciplinary
Sub-discipline 1: Media – experimental film;
Sub-discipline 2: Literary – poetry
Description: I create experimental films to accompany my poetry.
If you are a multi/inter-disciplinary artist and find yourself wondering which year of the Spark Award program is most appropriate for you to apply, consider the evaluation stage of our process:
the Spark applications will be assessed by a panel of experts in the year’s focus disciplines and categories.
How would your work be perceived by a panel of media arts / literary arts / interdisciplinary professionals?
Consider the audience your work usually draws, the feedback you’ve received over the years and what you have produced in the most recent years.
More tips are posted on our blog here.
Read the information on the Spark Award page and preview the application in the guidelines linked on the website.
