Apply

For The Xochitl Gonzalez Scholarship

Start Your Scholarship Application

You are applying for the Xochitl Gonzalez Scholarship available for one Diasporican fiction writer of any gender to one session of our 2026 retreats. If you have any questions about this Scholarship, please visit our Scholarship page.

Also, please be sure you’ve familiarized yourself with our upcoming retreat(s) before applying and writing your personal statement. To apply, please fill out the form below.

We can’t wait to read about you and your work!

Deadline to apply: October 3rd, 2025

Response for scholarship: November 4th, 2025

If you do not receive the scholarship, you may be accepted into the retreat, though application to the scholarship does not guarantee a space at the retreat. If you would like to keep your application on file to be considered for the retreat, you may do so without reapplying–we will be in touch with you after November 4th to find out your preference. We have additional financial aid beyond this scholarship and we will reach out with details on how to apply if you are accepted into the retreat.

Final decision for retreat acceptance: December 3rd, 2025

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Full Name*

First Last

Email Address*

Phone Number*

Your Pronouns*

Where are you from?*

City State

How did you learn about Northern California Writers' Retreat?*

Which retreat(s) would you like to be considered for?*

Session 1: March 18th-22nd Author-in-Residence Christine Pride; Guest Agents Kate McKean from Howard Morhaim Literary Agency and Kiana Nguyen from Donald Maass Literary Agency

Session 2: March 25th-29th Author-in-Residence Cleyvis Natera; Guest Agents Natalie Edwards from Trellis Literary Management and Jade Wong-Baxter from Frances Goldin Literary Agency

Session 3: April 8th-12th Author-in-Residence Jo Piazza; Guest Agents Bibi Lewis from Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency and Laura Cameron from Transatlantic Agency

You may apply to any and all retreats by clicking the boxes next to the one(s) you'd like above. After October 6th we will reach out to confirm you are still interested in the retreat, as well as to confirm the sessions you'd like to attend. You will only be accepted into one session.

Personal Statement + Writing Sample*

Personal Statement: Please begin your pages with a 400-word (max) personal statement. This is your moment to tell us why you want to join us, why this retreat interests you, as well as how this scholarship would be important to your being able to attend the retreat. We want to get to know you, so please be candid! Be sure to include what you hope to gain from this experience. Writing Sample: Please upload a MAXIMUM of 5,000 words--double-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman. Because of the number of submissions we receive, we cannot read more work, even if you're about to get to the good part. You may submit published or unpublished work from a novel or short story you've written. Our goal is to see your writing talents and be sure you are a good fit for the retreat. These pages do not have to be what you decide to workshop at the retreat if accepted. The total word count for the submission should not exceed 5,400 words.

Drop files here or

Accepted file types: doc, pdf, docx, Max. file size: 5 MB, Max. files: 1.

Phone

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