NEA Literature Fellowships: Prose, FY 2026

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is offering Creative Writing Fellowships to published creative writers. The fellowships provide up to $50,000 in grants to enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. The program operates on a two-year cycle, with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. For FY 2026, fellowships in prose are available. The primary criteria for review are the artistic excellence and artistic merit of the submitted writing sample. • The NEA seeks to strengthen the literary arts ecosystem by sustaining and nurturing a wide range of creative writers at various stages of their careers. • The program aims to continue to expand the portfolio of American art available to people from all backgrounds. • Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process. • The competition for fellowships is extremely rigorous, with approximately 2,000 applications received each year and fewer than 2% of applicants awarded fellowships.