National Endowment for the Arts: Literature Fellowships in Poetry, FY2013

Creative writers who meet the publication requirements that are listed below are eligible to apply. Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States. See “How to Prepare and Submit an Application” for the documentation that is required to demonstrate eligibility. Ineligible applications will be rejected without panel review.

You may submit only one application per year. Multiple applications will be deemed ineligible. You may not apply for a Literature Fellowship (in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry) and a Translation Fellowship in the same year. (See Translation Fellowships for more information.)

You are not eligible to apply if you have received two or more Fellowships (in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, belles-lettres, or for translation) from the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition, you may not apply if you have received any Arts Endowment Literature Fellowship (in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry) or Translation Fellowship on or after October 1, 2003 (FY 2004).

Former grantees must have submitted acceptable Final Report packages by the due date(s) for all Arts Endowment award(s) previously received.

You are eligible to apply in Poetry if, between January 1, 2005, and March 1, 2012, you have had published:

• A volume of 48 or more pages of poetry; or
• Twenty or more different poems or pages of poetry in five or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications which regularly include poetry as a portion of their format. Up to 16 poems may be in a single volume of poetry of fewer than 48 pages. This volume, however, may count as only one of the required five places of publication.

To qualify, work must have been originally published between these dates, not only reprinted or reissued in another format during this period.

Grant Program Description:

The NEA Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process in which the only criteria for review are artistic excellence and artistic merit. To review the applications, the NEA assembles a different advisory panel every year, each diverse with regard to geography, race and ethnicity, and artistic points of view.

The NEA Literature Fellowships program operates on a two-year cycle with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. For FY 2013, which is covered by these guidelines, fellowships in poetry are available. Fellowships in prose will be offered in FY 2014 and guidelines will be available in the fall of 2012. You may apply only once each year.

Competition for fellowships is extremely rigorous. You should consider carefully whether your work will be competitive at the national level.

We Do Not Fund

• Individuals who previously have received two or more Literature Fellowships (in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry) or Translation Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Individuals who have received any Literature Fellowship (in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry) or Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts within the past ten years.
• News reporting.
• Scholarly writing. (Writers who are engaged in scholarly work may wish to contact the National Endowment for the Humanities.)
• Work toward academic degrees.