Literary Arts Fund Innovation Projects Grants

Literary Arts Fund Innovation Projects Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Literary Arts Fund
Amount: US $25,000 - US $100,000
Last Updated: March 04, 2026

Summary

Overview

Literary Arts Fund Grants Overview The Literary Arts Fund will award at least $50 million in grants to the nonprofit literary arts field over the next five years, concluding in 2031. With a short timeline, the fund’s grantmaking has a strategic focus on the areas of the literary arts ecosystem where it determined it could have the greatest impact— that is: supporting independent U.S.-based literary arts nonprofits whose primary mission is directly serving adult writers of creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and hybrid works in making their artistic work and sharing it with readers outside of school and academic settings. Please review the fund’s full eligibility requirements to learn more. 2026 Innovation Project Grants Innovation project grants provide funding to literary arts nonprofits for projects that may be collaborative and that aim to address critical challenges in one or more literary arts nonprofit organizations, presses, or publications that, if improved, would directly benefit creative writers’ artistic work and ability to share it with readers and audiences. These grants are disbursed to nonprofits in a single payment and intended for use during the project period.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Literary arts nonprofits (including fiscally sponsored literary arts organizations, presses, and publications) based in the U.S. and whose primary mission directly supports creative writers and their artistic work in any one of the following ways are eligible to apply for the Literary Arts Fund’s 2026 general operating and innovation project grants:Present them at public events such as festivals, readings, open mics, spoken word performances, lectures, or conversations;Publish their work in print or digital publications such as books, chapbooks, literary journals, magazines, websites, or zines;Provide them with writing residencies, retreats, mentorships, or workshops;Build their readership and following through digital or print feature articles, interviews, reviews, online archives, or podcasts; and,Recognize their artistic achievement through awards, fellowships, or prizes.Additionally, to be eligible to apply, literary arts nonprofits must: Be post-pilot as demonstrated by having been established for three years or more, based on the year of incorporation or contracted partnership with a fiscal sponsor at the time of application;Have leadership stability as demonstrated by a current executive director who has led the nonprofit through at least one full year of operations, i.e., has served in their role for twelve consecutive months or more at the time of application; andHave financial stability as demonstrated by an annual operating budget of at least $50,000, not including in-kind/non-cash contributions. For fiscally sponsored organizations and publishers: the organization or publisher, not the fiscal sponsor, must meet this requirement. Organizations and publishers applying for an innovation project grant must first complete an eligibility quiz.The Literary Arts Fund only makes grants to nonprofits and does not fund individuals.Having received funding from foundations that support the Literary Arts Fund does not disqualify a literary arts nonprofit from applying for a grant from the Literary Arts Fund. To be eligible, nonprofits must have a primary mission of presenting, publishing, and/or otherwise supporting contemporary creative writers of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid literary forms, and meet the other eligibility requirements.If your nonprofit’s activities also include serving artists from other disciplines, but services to creative writers and their artistic work is central to the nonprofit’s mission and activities, it is eligible—again, as long as it meets the other eligibility requirements.  Nonprofit bookstores are eligible to apply.Literary arts nonprofits applying for innovation project grants may request between $25,000 and $100,000 as determined by the project budget. These grant awards may also be informed by the literary arts nonprofit’s annual operating budget(s).

Ineligibility

The Literary Arts Fund’s grantmaking strategy does not include the following:Nonprofit organizations and publishers whose primary mission is not focused on the literary arts and creative writers of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction (distinguished from journalism or scholarship), or hybrid works.Literary arts nonprofits, publishers, initiatives, and projects that are part of and funded by a college or university.Nonprofit literary organizations and publishers whose primary mission is to present, publish, or support young writers.Arts education organizations that focus on increasing K-12 students’ access to the arts and learning through the arts, in or out of school.Literacy organizations that focus on developing or strengthening youth or adult reading and writing skills and abilities.Academic, research, school, and public libraries.Trade and service organizations whose mission is focused primarily on serving other literary arts nonprofits. Literary arts nonprofits awarded a general operating grant in 2026 are ineligible to apply independently for an innovation project grant until twelve months after the general operating grant was awarded. They may, however, participate in a collaborative application for an innovation project grant in the same year they received a general operating grant. The Literary Arts Fund does not fund theatre or the dramatic arts.