Currently 14 active paid writing and translation grants, fellowships and residencies. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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Rhizome and Hartwig Art Foundation are appointing a part-time Amsterdam City Fellow to build community connections and strengthen engagement with digital art and creative technology practices in the region. The City Fellowship is a new Rhizome initiative that embeds researchers and writers in institutions and cities around the world; the inaugural edition started in July 2026 in Bangalore. THE WORK: research and connect with digital art communities and practitioners in Amsterdam, participate in ongoing collaborative research, write a monthly newsletter, conduct interviews, and more. The fellow should also plan to attend Extreme Presence, a gathering on technology, consciousness and devotion in Amsterdam, 23 to 25 October 2026 (tickets provided). PARTNER: Hartwig Art Foundation fosters the production, presentation, communication and preservation of contemporary art and is currently developing the Hartwig Museum, a major new contemporary art museum in Amsterdam scheduled to open in 2028. TERMS: fellows must be based in Amsterdam; EUR 1,200 per month stipend at roughly 2 days per week, working remotely with optional use of the foundation's offices. DEADLINE: 12 October 2026, 12:00 CEST.
Pedantic Arts Residency opens applications for its Summer 2027 and Fall 2027 programmes in Pittsburgh: two four-week residency cohorts and two research grants. THE RESIDENCY houses three creatives at a time (a visual artist, an organizer and a writer) in a collective four-week programme that emphasizes exploration, exchange and community connection over production. Residents get free furnished housing in a shared apartment, a USD 2,000 stipend to cover living expenses (half on arrival, half on completion), a Pittsburgh-based guide working in their field, tickets and institutional passes, and introductions across the city's creative community. THE RESEARCH GRANT invites an individual visual artist, curator or writer for a one- to two-week independent stay to conduct Pittsburgh-related research, with a free private bedroom at the Pedantic Apartment, a USD 500 or USD 1,000 honorarium usable at the grantee's discretion, and help establishing relevant connections. ELIGIBILITY: applicants must be 18 or older and not Pittsburgh residents at the time of application; travel costs are the participant's own. Residency attendance and staying in the provided housing are required. APPLICATION: applications are free until 28 September 2026 at 23:59 EST; a USD 20 fee applies from then until the final deadline of 15 October 2026 at 23:59 EST.
The AI Philosophy Competition, organised by philosophers Zachary Goodsell and Elliott Thornley and funded by Forethought Research, aims to gauge the philosophical capabilities of AI in a way transparent to the philosophical community. Entrants submit up to three original essays on any philosophical topic; essays must be primarily AI-generated, with some human guidance allowed, and each entry must include a methodology report explaining how the essay was produced. Essays are capped at 6,000 words each and may not be previously published or under review elsewhere; entrants consent to online publication and may choose anonymity. Judging is blind to methodology and authorship and evaluates the quality and originality of the philosophical content (style is not graded); the judging committee includes David Chalmers, John Hawthorne, Herman Cappelen, Cian Dorr and other academic philosophers. PRIZES: USD 3,000 / 2,000 / 1,000 for the top three essays, plus a USD 5,000 creative methodology pool. Finalists announced early December 2026, results end of January 2027. DEADLINE: 31 October 2026.
The Open Notebook's paid fellowship for early-career science journalists is open for its 2027 round. Fellows spend twelve months working part-time and remotely with a personal mentor, reporting and writing articles about the craft of science journalism that are published at The Open Notebook, one of the field's central craft resources. Eligibility: early-career science journalists with fewer than three years of regular professional science-writing experience; applicants from anywhere in the world are welcome, and application materials are in English. TO APPLY: submit the application form (linked from the program page) by 31 October 2026, 11:59 PM US Central time; reference letters are due 7 November 2026. The fellowship year starts 9 February 2027.
The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin awards research fellowships for on-site work in its collections spanning literature, photography, film, art, performing arts, music and cultural history, supporting scholarly articles, dissertations, creative works, digital humanities projects and exhibition proposals. FELLOWSHIP TYPES: Postdoctoral Fellowships of USD 3,500 per month for one or two months, open to holders of a PhD or terminal degree (MFA, MLIS), current or former faculty, and similarly qualified researchers without institutional affiliation; Dissertation Fellowships of USD 2,500 for graduate students with doctoral dissertations in progress; and Travel Stipends of USD 2,000 open to graduate students, current or former faculty and independent researchers including journalists and artists (not combinable with other Ransom Center fellowships). International recipients in all categories receive an additional one-time USD 500 stipend toward visa and travel costs. Fellows spend most days in the Reading Room consulting the collections, with access to a shared office, during a residency period between 1 June 2027 and 31 August 2028. APPLY with a three-page proposal PDF and letters of recommendation; recommendation letters are also due by the deadline. DEADLINE: 6 November 2026, 5:00 PM CST.
The Nieman Foundation brings around two dozen journalists to Harvard each year for two semesters of study, reflection and community, one of the oldest and best-known midcareer journalism fellowships in the world. Fellows design their own course of study, audit classes across Harvard's schools and take part in Nieman's own seminars and master classes; many use the year to deepen a beat such as technology, AI accountability, science or press freedom. WHAT YOU GET: a USD 87,500 stipend paid over the nine-month academic year (2026-27 figure), plus allowances toward housing, childcare and health insurance. WHO IS ELIGIBLE: working journalists, staff or freelance, in any medium, with at least five years of full-time media experience; open to applicants from any country. Freelancers may use a recent supervising editor for one of the three required recommendation letters. Special fellowships within the program include the Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation. TO APPLY: applications for the class of 2028 open in the first week of October 2026 and require two essays (personal statement and study proposal), work samples and three recommendation letters. DEADLINE: 1 December 2026 for international applicants; 31 January 2027 for US citizens.
The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards, given jointly by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation at Harvard, are open for 2027 submissions. Two annual awards of USD 25,000 each help writers complete a book-length work of narrative nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern; books on science, technology and media accountability have won in past years. Applicants need a fully executed contract with a US-based publisher for the book in progress. There is no entry fee for the Work-in-Progress awards; note that the Lukas Book Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize run on the same portal with the same deadline but carry a USD 75 entry fee. TO APPLY: submit via the Columbia Journalism Awards Submittable portal. DEADLINE: 3 December 2026, 11:59 PM ET.
Four resident biography fellowships plus the Levy/Sloan Fellowship, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, for a biography of a figure in science or technology; separate Sherwin fellowship for nuclear-age history. Open to writers of all nationalities, with explicit preference for first-time biographers who have not yet held a biography fellowship, though mid-career and senior writers are welcome; independent writers eligible. Fellows join monthly seminars and the center's public events. Apply with CV, career narrative, project description, writing sample and two references (agents, editors and publishers are discouraged as referees). No application fee.
Grant for a single artist publication, analog or digital formats included, by freelance visual artists or artist duos; media artists are eligible. The call opened 1 October 2026. FUNDING: up to EUR 24,000 per project with at least 10% own contribution (third-party funds allowed). ELIGIBILITY: primary residence in Germany; not enrolled as a student; artists may apply to only one KUNSTFONDS programme per year. NOTE: the sibling KUNSTFONDS_Stipendium (EUR 18,000 for 6 months) is expected to open mid-December 2026 with the same deadline. DEADLINE: 15 January 2027, 24:00.
Development grants from the Nederlands Letterenfonds (Dutch Foundation for Literature) for starting and advanced Dutch literary creators - writers, illustrators and translators - to fund training, coaching, editorial support, or travel and research abroad linked to a literary project. EUR 500 to EUR 2,500 per grant. ELIGIBILITY: Dutch-language literary creators (Dutch or Flemish-speaking world); see funder's application page for full eligibility criteria. CYCLE: applications are reviewed on a ROLLING basis (the scheme has been open since February 2026 and there is no fixed deadline). No application fee.
Contemporary art magazine commissioning paid art writing and criticism, with pitches accepted on an ongoing basis (online reviews/pitches continuous; themed print issues have set deadlines, e.g. the Spring issue around 15 September 2026). A direct paid outlet for criticism on digital, new-media and AI art. ELIGIBILITY: writers at all experience levels are invited; not restricted to Canada. Mostly pitch-based, with short online reviews accepted unsolicited.
Commissioned long-form writing at the intersection of design, technology, art and culture. Editorial themes: designing with AI as cultural and infrastructural system; responsive and adaptive materials; politics of platforms and creative-infrastructure governance; post-digital hybrid making; designing for collapse and continuity; creative research as practice. In-depth pieces only, no press releases or promotional copy.
Rest of World is in the third year of its Labor x Tech program, underwritten by the Ford Foundation, commissioning reported stories on the changing nature of work at a moment of upheaval: AI tools and robotics reshaping professions at every rung of society, from self-driving cars replacing drivers to humanoid robots working alongside nurses; lay-offs across the tech industry; and the gig work model continuing to reshape traditional employment. The programme's premise is that this moment needs documenting now, in stories that help prepare society for what comes next. WHAT THEY COMMISSION: reported stories of 800 to 1,000 words from around the world on this beat, at a fee of USD 1,000 per story. WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR, based on previous years: how new technology is transforming existing industries in unique ways and creating unexpected new pockets of employment; how technology is leading to significant job gain, job loss, and government responses to those trends; whether large demographic shifts are following the adoption of new technology or the arrival of new industries; how workplace technology is changing workplace dynamics; how new industries and tools are changing workers' incomes; and the expansion of the gig work model alongside the threats of automation. EXAMPLES of the kind of story they hope to commission, all previously published by Rest of World: workers in Chinese data factories teaching humanoid robots boring tasks; entry-level tech workers describing the AI-fuelled jobpocalypse; Microsoft and Google claiming their data centres create thousands of jobs while their permit filings say otherwise; AI helping judges close cases quickly and lawyers open them quickly; tech workers fuelling a mini baby boom in Taiwan's Silicon Valley; Dubai's robotaxi ambitions coming for human drivers; and the job brokers who run the lives of the migrant workers staffing Taiwan's chip plants. ELIGIBILITY NOTE: the programme is unable to commission reporting in India or from writers based in India for this series. HOW TO PITCH: send 2 to 3 paragraphs laying out the nutgraf of the proposal and explaining how the pitch fits the editorial mission of the programme. Indicate what sources will be used, whether any pre-reporting has been completed, what reporting has already been done on the topic at other outlets, and what the story contributes to the discourse. Pitches go to laborxtech@restofworld.org. Pitching is open on a rolling basis; no closing date is stated.
La Scam's Brouillon d'un reve Sonore category funds documentary, educational or informational audio works for radio or podcast: reportage, narrative, portrait, chronicle, interview and testimony. WHAT YOU GET: a development bourse of EUR 2,500 to EUR 6,000, paid directly to the author 4 to 5 weeks after contract signing. ELIGIBILITY: explicitly no age, residence or nationality restrictions, and open to non-members, though the application process and repertoire are in French. RULES: one application per year across all Brouillon d'un reve categories; the same project may be submitted at most twice; past laureates must wait three years before reapplying. APPLICATION: rolling, via the online form on the Scam site, with monthly consultation slots running September to July; contact brouillondunreve@scam.fr. The fund leans documentary rather than experimental radio art, but it is a solidly current cash fund for radio and podcast authorship.