July 27, 2011 — Grants of up to $1,500 are available for University of Virginia faculty members to support a personal workshop on a manuscript nearing completion with senior scholars who will read and review the work-in-progress.

The annual program, funded by the Vice Provost of Faculty Recruitment and Retention and administered by the Teaching Resource Center, is open to tenure-track or tenured faculty members, who may apply for the 2011 Book Conference Grant by Aug. 5 to the Professors as Writers Program.

Two or three grant winners will be notified later during the summer.

The book manuscript conference allows the author to invite reviewers and bring the small group together to respond to each other's comments and collectively devise strategies for improving the manuscript and getting it published. It is a closed workshop, including only invited scholars, and can be recorded for the author's benefit.

Deandra Little, assistant director of TRC, said the center awarded a couple of the grants last year, as a pilot program, and they worked well.

"It's been a productive way to help early-career faculty, in particular, get constructive feedback on their first or second books," she said. The conference can be especially helpful for professors who are working in an interdisciplinary area or whose specialty is unique in the department, she said.