Amazon.com has awarded two new grants, giving $25,000 to Hedgebrook, the writer’s colony on Whidbey Island, northwest of Seattle, and $44,000 to the nonprofit magazine dedicated to literature in translation, Words Without Borders.
This is now the second year in a row that Hedgebrook’s Writers-in-Residence program has received the grant, and the fourth (and largest) grant Words Withour Borders has gotten from Amazon. Hedgebrook’s program awards residencies to 40 women writers from all over the world each year. For Words Without Borders, the grant money will cover translator and author fees for work that appears in all 12 issues of the magazine.
Amazon began its current program of offering grants to nonprofit writing and publishing groups in 2009. A spokesperson would not divulge the amount of money it gives out every year. Guidelines on Amazon.com say the grants are open to any “nonprofit group that fosters the creation, discussion, and publication of great books” and that the company is “looking to support innovative groups with a proven track record of success; an ability to work effectively with us to execute on the organization's goals, including appropriate public outreach; and an established presence and voice in the publishing community.” Amazon does not assist all the organizations that seek its support, nor does it respond individually to each request.
Other recipients of Amazon.com’s grants have included the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Archipelago Books, Copper Canyon Press, Lambda Literary Foundation, Milkweed Editions, Open Letter, and Small Press Distribution.
