Literary Bridesmaids of the World, Unite and Take Over

I received a fellowship letter from the Summer Literary Seminars because my story "From Here" was one of the 20 finalists for fiction this year. This is the third year in a row in which I've received a fellowship offer, although I have to say that this year's fellowship discount is the most generous ever, and I'm really thinking hard. I would love to go to Kenya or Lithuania on a working writing vacation, and if I hadn't already received the fellowship for Hambidge this summer, I would have already hit the reply key and said yes.

Some insecure writer part of me wonders whether it's a scam, like those drawing contests you see in magazines—copy this illustration of a pirate and see if you quality for our artist program! In those contests, everyone is a winner, even if one's sketch looks more like a toaster than seafaring swashbuckler. I guess I just find I find it hard to believe that I placed three years in a row. I mean, there are so many great writers out there. But this is less of SLS's problem and more of my own self-confidence.

Has anyone else received a fellowship letter, or have they attended the seminar in the past? I'd love to hear others' experience. The program looks awesome, and so many great writers I know have taught/are teaching in the program (Dawn Raffel, Sam Lipsyte, Dylan Landis, Rachel Sherman) that it seems like an opportunity one should not pass up.