PHIL OCHS FELLOWSHIP

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The application window for the 2024 Phil Ochs Fellowship is now closed.

Recipients are expected to be announced in January 2025.

The Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma is pleased to announce the call for proposals for the 2024 Phil Ochs Fellowship, a partnership between the Woody Guthrie Center Archives and A Still Small Voice Inc. This research fellowship awards up to $5,000 for creative, educational, or scholarly projects about the life and work of Phil Ochs and his lasting legacy and influence on popular culture, politics and music.

The Woody Guthrie Center is home to the Phil Ochs Archives, donated in Sept. 2014 by Ochs’s daughter, Meegan Lee Ochs. The collection includes a rich array of original lyrics, handwritten travel journals and notebooks, personal belongings, photographs, and sound and moving image recordings. Additionally, Phil Ochs’s siblings, Michael Ochs and Sonny Ochs, donated additional Phil Ochs–related collections to the Woody Guthrie Center in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Together, these collections comprise more than 80 linear feet of archival materials related to the life of the folk singer and topical songwriter.

The Phil Ochs Fellowship is intended to support in-person research in the Phil Ochs Archives and related archives at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Research must be completed within one calendar year of the award date, and projects must be published, produced, or otherwise completed within three years of the award date.

Previous applicants are encouraged to apply.

Projects may include:

Published writing: Article in a scholarly journal or trade publication, book project (under contract), book chapter (under contract)

Film and video: Documentary film project, television program or series, etc.

Audio projects: Radio and podcast programs or series

Exhibitions, dramatic productions, or other public-facing projects: Venues, programs, and dates to be included in proposal

Educational projects: Classroom curriculum or other educational activities and programs

Other: Other original research or creative projects will be considered

HOW TO APPLY

Application materials must be submitted through the webform below.

Submission packet must include:

Current CV or resume
Project proposal (1–3 pages)
- Project title, project type, and clear overview
- Quantifiable deliverables and detailed timeline to completion
- Current status of the project
- Overview of previous research and materials already consulted
- Other sources of funding
Budget that includes reasonable expenses for travel, lodging, meals, and other necessary costs associated with the project
- For per diem meals and incidentals see GSA per diem rates

Fellowship Award Requirements

Research must be undertaken in person at the Woody Guthrie Center archives and completed within the following calendar year after the date the fellowship is awarded.

Projects must be completed (published or produced and distributed) within three years of the award date.

Awardees will agree to participate in an in-person interview to speak about their project and their time in the archives.

Awardees will deliver regular updates on their projects through email and will provide the Woody Guthrie Archives/American Song Archives a copy/copies of the final product.

Fellowship Award Stipulations

Fellowship funding may be divided among more than one applicant. Please ensure that your project is focused, and that your budget accurately reflects the scope of the work proposed.

The Woody Guthrie Center does not hold copyrights to materials in the collections. Researchers are responsible for all permissions, licensing, and fees from the copyright holders of the materials.

No applications will be accepted that promote artists or musical compositions using original lyrics found in the archival collections.