NEA Awards $1.9M In Literature Grants

The National Endowment for the Arts announced its first round of funding for 2001, including nearly $2 million in grants awarded to individuals and organizations through the literature program.

Cliff Becker, director of the literature program, told PW that the program awarded $20,000 fellowships to 40 individual writers, for a total of $800,000, and also awarded 59 grants under its creativity (formerly called creation and presentation) category to a variety of nonprofit organizations (mostly small presses and literary magazines), for a total of $969,000. The program also awarded $125,000 to two organizations under its organizational capacity category.

Among the small independent presses receiving grants are Curbstone Press in Willimantic, Conn. ($65,000 for translation programs); Sarabande Books in Louisville, Ky. ($25,000 to support mid-career authors); and the Feminist Press of New York City ($40,000 to support the International Women's Writing Project). Under the organizational capacity category, P ts & Writers of New York City received the largest grant ($75,000) to support the publication of P ts & Writers magazine, its Web site and its seminars and general publishing program.

Becker was upbeat about the future of the NEA and the literature program, while awaiting the impact of the new Republican administration, a party traditionally hostile to public arts funding. "The NEA budget is $105 million and it received a $7-million increase last year, the first increase in some time. We don't know what the Bush administration's priorities are, but Texas state arts budgets increased under Bush," he said. He noted that Bill Ivey, chairman of the NEA, who has about a year and half left in his term, is a political appointee and could be asked, like all political appointees, to resign. "We don't know what the administration plans for the agency, but I wouldn't say it's doom and gloom," said Becker, pointing out that Laura Bush "is committed to books, authors and reading."