Last updated: April 2026
A writing grant buys you the one thing every writer says they don't have enough of: time. It can cover the rent while you finish the manuscript, the flight to do the on-the-ground research, or the childcare you need to finish a chapter without interruption. The good ones don't ask for a published book back; they just ask you to keep working.
Two things have changed sharply since I last refreshed this list. First, several grants that were once cornerstone funders are gone — the NEA Creative Writing Fellowships were cancelled in 2025, the Sustainable Arts Foundation is winding down its grant programme, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award ended in 2021. Second, the grants that remain are more competitive than ever — applications are up across the board.
So this list is leaner than the version I published a few years ago, but every grant on it is currently active in 2026, with verified amounts and deadlines.
How Writing Grants Work
A grant is not a contest. There's no first-place prize. There's no ranking. The funder has a pot of money, a set of priorities, and a panel that reads applications. If your project fits and your application is strong, you get the money. If it doesn't, you don't.
Most grants pay out in a single lump sum, often $5,000 to $50,000. Some are tied to a specific project (the Whiting Nonfiction Grant funds a book in progress); others are unrestricted (the Guggenheim Fellowship doesn't tell you what to spend it on). Some are open to anyone who writes; others restrict by nationality, career stage, or identity.
What every successful grant application has in common: a clear project, evidence the writer can deliver it, and a budget that explains why the money makes the difference. Vague applications fail. Specific applications win.
Best Writing Grants for 2026
Whiting Foundation Nonfiction Grant for Works-in-Progress
- Organisation: Whiting Foundation
- Award: $40,000 (ten grants annually)
- Deadline: 31 May 2026
- Eligibility: Writers with a contract for a book-length work of nonfiction for a general adult readership; must be researched and at least one-third complete
- Apply: whiting.org/writers/creative-nonfiction-grant
Probably the most useful single grant for nonfiction writers in the US. It's specifically for the messy middle of the project, when the advance has run out and the deadline is still a year away. All ten winners get $40,000.
Whiting Awards
- Organisation: Whiting Foundation
- Award: $50,000 (ten awards annually)
- Deadline: Nominated only — no open applications
- Eligibility: Emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama; nominated by anonymous advisors
- Apply: Nomination only — see whiting.org/writers/awards/about
Worth knowing about even though you can't apply directly. The Whiting Awards have launched some of the most significant US literary careers of the last forty years. If you're publishing in serious literary venues, you may already be on someone's nomination list.
Guggenheim Fellowship
- Organisation: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
- Award: Variable — typically $40,000–$60,000+ depending on project
- Deadline: Applications open late summer 2026 for the 2027 cycle
- Eligibility: US and Canadian residents; mid-career writers with substantial publication history
- Apply: gf.org/program/how-to-apply
The Guggenheim is for writers who've already done substantial work — first or even second book usually doesn't qualify. The 2026 class included 223 fellows across 55 disciplines from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants. Apply when your record can stand up to that crowd.
PEN America Literary Grants
- Organisation: PEN America
- Award: Varies by grant ($2,000–$25,000+)
- Deadline: 2027 cycle opens 15 April 2026, closes 15 June 2026
- Eligibility: Varies by grant; many open to non-US writers
- Apply: pen.org/literary-grants
PEN runs a portfolio of grants and prizes covering fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, and children's literature. Read the eligibility for each — they're not interchangeable. The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers ($2,000 to twelve writers each year) is one of the more accessible entry points.
PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship
- Organisation: PEN America
- Award: Five-month virtual mentorship plus stipend
- Deadline: 31 January annually
- Eligibility: Early-career poets, fiction, and nonfiction writers from communities underrepresented in publishing
- Apply: pen.org
A structured mentorship rather than a cash grant, but a serious one — the placements have launched book deals and agent representation.
A Public Space Writing Fellowships
- Organisation: A Public Space magazine
- Award: $1,000 honorarium plus editorial support and publication
- Deadline: 31 March annually
- Eligibility: Emerging fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writers without a US book contract
- Apply: apublicspace.org
Three six-month fellowships go out each year. The cash is modest but the editorial relationship and the magazine credit are the real value.
Society of Authors — Authors' Foundation Grants
- Organisation: Society of Authors (UK)
- Award: Up to £6,000 (typical range £2,000–£3,500)
- Deadline: Rolling — no fixed deadline
- Eligibility: Writers commissioned by a British or Irish publisher, OR writers with a previous book published commercially in the UK or Ireland and a strong likelihood of the next being published there
- Apply: societyofauthors.org — email grants@societyofauthors.org
Open to fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Funds research, travel, or general expenses for a work in progress. Currently running a backlog — expect up to five months for a decision. Worth applying anyway: this is one of the most accessible UK grants for working writers.
Society of Authors — K Blundell Trust
- Organisation: Society of Authors (UK)
- Award: Up to £6,000
- Deadline: Rolling
- Eligibility: Writers under 40 whose work contributes to social/political understanding; British nationality required
- Apply: societyofauthors.org
Same application pool as the Authors' Foundation, with an additional age and content filter. If you fit both criteria, your application can be considered for both funds in one go.
Arts Council Ireland — Literature Bursary Award
- Organisation: Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
- Award: €2,000 to €20,000 (Round 1, 2026 — fixed amounts including €7,500 Emerging Writer awards)
- Deadline: 12 February 2026 (Round 1); a Round 2 typically follows mid-year
- Eligibility: Professional literary writers and picture-book artists at a critical stage in their work; English- and Irish-language streams
- Apply: artscouncil.ie
The most important grant for Irish writers. Two rounds per year. The Irish-language stream has fixed bands; the English-language stream has more flexibility in the requested amount. Genres include fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, children's literature, picture books, comics, and graphic novels.
Arts Council England — Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP)
- Organisation: Arts Council England
- Award: £2,000 to £12,000
- Deadline: Rolling rounds throughout 2026 — check website for next opening
- Eligibility: Independent creative practitioners based in England, including writers
- Apply: artscouncil.org.uk
Funds time and resources to develop your practice — research, mentoring, equipment, training, or simply paid time to write. Not project-specific in the way many grants are, which makes it unusually flexible.
Jack Hazard Fellowship
- Organisation: New Literary Project
- Award: $5,000
- Deadline: Spring annually (check website)
- Eligibility: US high school teachers of English / language arts who are also writers
- Apply: newliteraryproject.org
Niche but valuable if you fit. Funds the summer between school years for teachers who write seriously.
Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers
- Organisation: Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Fund
- Award: $5,000
- Deadline: Late autumn annually
- Eligibility: Creative nonfiction writers working on a desert-related project
- Apply: ellenmeloy.com
Project-specific. Genuinely competitive, but a small enough field that a strong application has a real chance.
Civitella Ranieri Fellowship
- Organisation: Civitella Ranieri Foundation
- Award: Six-week residency in Umbria, Italy, plus travel stipend
- Deadline: Annually in early spring
- Eligibility: International writers, visual artists, and composers; nominated only
- Apply: civitella.org
Residency rather than grant, but the value (a residency in a 15th-century Italian castle plus travel covered) is the equivalent of a substantial grant. Nomination-only — get on a nominator's radar by publishing in venues whose editors nominate.
South Arts Creative Practice Grants
- Organisation: South Arts
- Award: Up to $3,000
- Deadline: Rolling rounds (windows close periodically)
- Eligibility: US residents in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee
- Apply: southarts.org
Smaller award but a much narrower applicant pool than national grants. If you're in the South Arts region, this should be on your annual application calendar.
How to Write a Strong Grant Application
Most rejections aren't about the writer's talent. They're about the application not making the panel's job easy.
- Read the funder's previous awardees. What kind of work do they fund? If your project doesn't fit, you're wasting the application fee and your time.
- Open with the project, not your biography. A panel reading 400 applications wants to know what you're doing in the first paragraph. Save the credits for later.
- Make the project concrete. "A novel exploring memory" is not a project. "A 90,000-word novel set in 1990s Belfast, narrated by a former IRA volunteer reckoning with his role in a single attack, currently 30,000 words drafted" — that's a project.
- State why the money matters. "Six months of writing time" is better than "support my work." Specific outcomes — finished draft, completed research trip, finished revisions before agent submission — give panels something to back.
- Submit a sample that shows your strongest writing, not your most thematically relevant. A panel can extrapolate. They cannot rescue weak prose with strong context.
- Get a second reader before you submit. Every successful applicant I know has someone who reads their grant applications cold and tells them when something doesn't land.
If you're combining grant applications with paid client work, our guides on freelance writing, the best freelance writing sites, and freelance job ideas for writers cover the income side.
FAQ
Do writing grants need to be paid back?
No. Grants are not loans. They're awards. You receive the money, you use it according to the funder's terms (which are usually loose — finish the work), and that's it. Some grants ask for a brief report at the end of the funding period.
Are writing grants taxable?
In most countries, yes — grants are treated as income for tax purposes. In the US, the IRS treats fellowship money as taxable unless it covers tuition or required course fees. In the UK and Ireland, treatment varies; ask an accountant. Don't spend the full grant before you know what you owe.
Do I need to be a published author to apply for a writing grant?
It depends on the grant. Some, like the Guggenheim, effectively require a substantial publication history. Others, like the PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship and most early-career bursaries, are specifically aimed at writers without a book yet. Read the eligibility section before applying.
Can non-US writers apply for US grants?
A few — PEN America has international components, and grants tied to specific magazines often accept international submissions. But most US foundation grants are restricted to US citizens or residents. UK and Irish writers should focus on the Society of Authors, Arts Council Ireland, Arts Council England, and the international residencies that accept open or nominated applicants.
How long does a writing grant decision take?
Anywhere from six weeks to nine months. Big foundation grants (Whiting, Guggenheim) take six to nine months. Rolling grants (Society of Authors) currently take up to five months because of high application volume. Plan your project finances on the assumption that grant money is slow money — never wait on it for next month's rent.
If grants don't pan out, see our guides on manuscript editing software and freelance writing for the writing-while-paying-rent reality most of us actually live in.