National Endowment for the Arts Support for Literature

1985 – 1994

Categories of Support• Fellowships: Direct grants to poets, fiction

writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators– Ex. In 1986, $20,000 to poet Andrew Hudgins

• Literary Publishing: Publishing assistance grants for small presses and literary magazines; distribution grants for nonprofit organizations– Ex. annual support for Graywolf Press in St. Paul,

MN, a small independent press; annual support of $10,000 for the Threepenny Review in Berkeley, CA

Categories of Support (cont.)• Audience Development: Grants for writer

residencies, literary centers, and audience-development projects such as bookfairs and literary festivals– Ex. $7,000 to Fine Arts Work Center In

Provincetown, MA, to support payment for a visiting writer series

– Ex. $11,913 to the University of Houston to support traveling bookfair and author tours of Hispanic authors in the southwest

Categories of Support (cont.)• Professional Development: Grants for conferences

and membership organizations– Ex. $90,000 to the PEN American Center “to support

programs which provide services to writers” and $175,000 to Poets & Writers, Inc., to “support publications which provide practical information to creative writers”

• Special Projects: Projects that benefit the field of literature as a whole and are not eligible under other categories– Ex. $75,000 to writer’s center in Bethesda, MD, to support

literary fiction in newspapers and the distribution of radio programs featuring fiction

Summary of Findings, 1985 - 1994

• Total value of expenditures declined by 15 percent during the period. When adjusted for inflation, this is actually a 38 percent decrease in purchasing power.

• Significant reduction in the number of total grant awards from 298 to 215.

• Little variation in grant categories, however some were fairly flexible with some grants not linking clearly to the category they were assigned.

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

310

$4,200,000

$4,300,000

$4,400,000

$4,500,000

$4,600,000

$4,700,000

$4,800,000

$4,900,000

$5,000,000

$5,100,000

$5,200,000 298

215

$5,124,734

$4,400,120

NEA Literature Grants, 1985 - 1994

Number of Grants Total Expenditures

Num

ber o

f Gra

nts

Tota

l Exp

endi

ture

s

Policy Changes, 1985 - 1994• No Senior Fellowships (awards of $40,000 to

established writers) offered after 1991

• Distribution projects declined from around 6 per year to only 1 in 1994

• Increased use of cooperative agreements to fund “special projects” by 1994

• Fellowships for translators became a separate funding category in 1993

More about Grant Categories• Flexibility in the categories, e.g., a grant to Woodland

Pattern to “support the ongoing activities of this literary book center” listed under Audience Development although there is an existing Literary Centers category.

• Grants were awarded to both nonprofit organizations and individuals (i.e., $10,000 grant to Bradford Morrow, managing editor of Conjunctions, instead of to the magazine itself).

• A few inconsistencies, i.e., no translator fellowships were offered in 1987; in 1991 there were 48 fiction and 42 poetry fellowships

Today’s NEA Literature Program• Restructuring across NEA appears to have eliminated specific

categories other than direct fellowships

• The number of direct fellowships for writers has been drastically reduced, with 42 fellowships in 2011 as opposed to over 100 per year in the 80s

• Translation fellowships have doubled in number and continue to be a separate category

• Continued support for small presses, but support for literary magazines significantly reduced in comparison along with writer-in-residence programs and funding to individuals