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Writing and Translation Grants in the US

Currently 4 active writing and translation grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in the US. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Every entry is funded, no exposure-only calls. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.

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Open calls

  1. Letras Boricuas Fellowship 2026 (5th and final cohort)

    Flamboyan Arts Fund, in partnership with the Mellon Foundation · Puerto Rico and its diaspora (remote; writers with sustained ties to Puerto Rico) · Deadline: 22 May 2026 · Award: $25,000 unrestricted award to each of 24 fellows. No application fee.

    Fifth and final cohort of the Letras Boricuas Fellowship, awarding unrestricted support to writers with deep, sustained ties to Puerto Rico and its diaspora. ELIGIBILITY: emerging and established writers across fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, spoken word and playwriting, who demonstrate a sustained connection to Puerto Rico and its diaspora. Apply via the Flamboyan Arts Fund portal.

  2. Whiting Foundation: Nonfiction Grant for Works-in-Progress 2026

    Whiting Foundation · Canada, UK, or US (project must be under contract with a publisher in one of these three countries) · Deadline: 31 May 2026 · Award: $40,000 to each of ten writers ($400,000 total).

    Annual grant from the Whiting Foundation supporting writers completing deeply researched, imaginatively composed book-length nonfiction for a general adult readership. Ten grants of $40,000 each, intended for the mid-process stage of multiyear projects after substantial progress but before the final work is complete. Eligible categories include history, cultural or political reportage, biography, memoir, science, philosophy, criticism, graphic nonfiction, and personal essays. Excluded: self-help, historical fiction, textbooks, books for a scholarly audience, books for young readers, and self-published projects. Hard eligibility constraint: project must be under contract with a publisher in Canada, the UK, or the US by 31 May 2026, with a fully executed contract uploaded; no extensions are granted for contracts not signed by both parties by the application deadline. Application includes the original proposal, up to 15,000 words from the draft, statement of work yet to be completed, plan for use of funds, three written responses on premise/research methods/narrative approach, signed contract, 2-4 page resume, list of prior funding for the book, and a required letter of support from the publisher (plus optional letters of recommendation). Free to apply. Grantees announced December 2026 / January 2027.

  3. PEN America Literary Grants 2027

    PEN America · United States (US-based writers) · Deadline: 15 Jun 2026 · Award: Varies by grant (e.g. PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History, PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship), generally in the $5,000 to $10,000+ range. No application fee.

    PEN America's suite of literary grants and fellowships supporting individual writers and works in progress across genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, oral history and more), each with its own focus and criteria. ELIGIBILITY: varies by grant; generally US-based writers, with several open to writers and translators at different career stages. Distinct from the PEN/Heim Translation Fund and PEN Presents. Review individual grant criteria and apply via the PEN America literary grants page.

  4. Kate Medina Fellowship for Literary Narrative Nonfiction 2026 (NYPL)

    New York Public Library, in partnership with Random House · New York City, USA (on-site research at the NYPL Schwarzman Building) · Deadline: 15 Jun 2026 · Award: $30,000 stipend for four continuous months of research (September 2026 to March 2027). No application fee.

    Fellowship from the New York Public Library and Random House for writers of literary narrative nonfiction whose projects engage NYPL's archival and special collections. ELIGIBILITY: writers of narrative nonfiction with a project requiring on-site access to the collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in New York. Apply via the NYPL fellowships page.