McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers Grant

McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Loft
Amount: US $25,000
Last Updated: October 24, 2025

Summary

The McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers supports mid-career Minnesota writers with five annual $25,000 awards. These fellowships, administered by The Loft, alternate between creative prose and poetry/spoken word, alongside a dedicated award for children's literature. Applicants must be legal Minnesota residents and may only apply for one fellowship annually, with specific eligibility criteria ensuring diversity in creative disciplines. The program emphasizes the importance of artists and cultural bearers in fostering Minnesota's vibrant artistic community.

Overview

Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists and culture bearers thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s arts and culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists and culture bearers has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982. The McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently, the foundation contributes about $2.8 million per year to its statewide fellowships. The Loft administers the McKnight Writers Fellowships. Five $25,000 awards are presented annually to accomplished Minnesota writers and spoken word artists. Four awards alternate annually between creative prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry/spoken word. The fifth award is presented in children’s literature and alternates annually between writing for ages under eight years old and writing for children eight years and older. One $25,000 fellowship is awarded each year in children’s literature, including poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. This year’s award is offered to a writer for children younger than 8 years old. Four $25,000 fellowships are offered in alternating years to writers of creative prose and poetry/spoken word. The 2026 year cycle is in poetry and spoken word.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applicants must have been legal residents of Minnesota for at least 12 months prior to the application deadline (since November 19, 2023) and must reside in Minnesota for the duration of the fellowship.FullFull-time students in a degree granting program.If you're a student at the time of application and/or if you will be starting your program during the fellowship year are not eligible to apply.Applicants may apply for only one McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship per year. You may not apply for the Award in Creative Prose and also apply for any other McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowships, including the Award in Children’s Literature or a McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship in an alternate discipline, such as ceramics or music.Recipients of a McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship prior to 2020 must demonstrate a new body of work since their last McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship.

Ineligibility

Recipients of the McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship in any discipline in the last five years are not eligible to apply, so recipients of a 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, or 2024 McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship in any discipline are not eligible to apply. Honorable mentions are eligible. Loft and McKnight Foundation staff and board members are not eligible. Immediate family members of staff or board members of the Loft or McKnight Foundation are also not eligible. Ineligible Work in Both Awards: Student-only publicationsSelf-published books that did not go through an editorial processWork published on personal home pages or online sites that do not have an editorial process.Work in a genre outside the category in which you are applying (e.g., published poetry may not be used to meet the publication requirements for the Award in Creative Prose and writing for children younger than eight years of age may not be used to meet the publication requirements for the Award in Children's Literature/Older Children).Work that has previously won a McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers. If you are a previous winner, you must submit a manuscript different from the one for which you received the earlier award.Translations.