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Inside the Jury - Judging a Grant Competition
By Elizabeth Creith
In May of 2011 I served as one of four jurors on a granting
jury for the Ontario Arts Council. We read the entries ahead
of time, scoring them yes, no, and maybe for funding. Out of
150 entries, we funded seventeen. Along the way I learned
what it takes to get into that top ten percent.
There are two ways to win a grant:
1) Survive multiple rounds of cuts
2) Wow the jurors
First Round – the unanimous "Wow!"
Jurors unanimously supported two entries, one fiction and
one non-fiction, which were automatically funded.
The non-fiction writer wrote about his own discovery of
Einstein's forgotten work in geomagnetism. He used many of
the tools of good fiction – scene-setting, mood, storytelling
– to make what could have been a dry, scientific work into a
mystery that we wanted to solve.
The fiction writer hooked us with his protagonist, a surfer
who had survived an accident that left him outwardly in a
vegetative state, but endowed him with super heroic mental
powers. The story wasn't complex, but the elements of fantasy
and the protagonist's wry, sometimes dark humor, and
determination to get his life back, carried it.
Second Round – the obvious rejections
Seventy entries received four "no" votes and were cut without
discussion. The reasons?
1) Poor spelling, grammar, punctuation, word use.
2) Obvious lack of proofreading.
3) Poor writing skills: inability to set a scene, build
character and write dialogue.
4) Poor research: obvious factual errors
5) Poor organization: in fiction, a confusing story; in non-
fiction, poorly organized arguments.
Third Round - discussion
We discussed style, quality, competence and ability of the
author to complete the project. We dropped forty or so
entries, including some very well-written ones. We sought
exceptional work. The grant’s success was contingent upon
the authors’ successes. We wanted the best.
Fourth Round – those on the fence
Jurors attempted to win other jurors to their opinion on
specific entries. Each of the sixteen entries that came
through this round had at least one committed advocate. Two
entries each had only a single juror championing them; the
strength of that juror's argument swayed the others. (In
the end, both were funded.)
Final Round
Each juror privately rated the final list, top to bottom,
according to her or his opinion. The ratings were collated
and the overall top entries were funded.
Of 150 entries, thirteen absolutely proved their worth to me.
They were well-written and drew me in; when I reached the end,
I wanted more. Each writer presented a story they were
passionate about. Here's what wowed me.
1) Compelling characters – a half-breed troll, a quadriplegic
superhero; the character caught my interest.
2) Vivid scene-setting – a train journey through India, a bog
in Northern Ontario; the writer made me feel I was there.
3) Strong story – a boy discovers his grandfather's past is
not what he thought it was, a veteran is hired to search for
a mysterious Tarot deck; a strong, clear narrative drew me
along.
4) Outstanding dialogue – Distinctive voices, believable
speech, good handling of accent or dialect.
Many deserving entries, including seven finalists, were not
funded. The money ran out. The good news is that most grant
competitions allow repeated entries. Learn your basics, both
the technical requirements and the writer's craft. Tell a
remarkable story. Work those pages, seek critique, rewrite,
polish and proofread.
When the next deadline comes around, get in there and knock
their socks off.
BIO
Elizabeth Creith is an award-winning freelance writer. Her
publishing credits include fiction, non-fiction, memoir and
poetry, and a decade as a freelance writer/broadcaster for
CBC Radio, and she is currently working on a young-adult
novel. Elizabeth lives and writes full-time in Northern
Ontario, distracted occasionally by her husband, dog and
cat. She blogs about writing, art and life at
http://ecreith.wordpress.com.
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