Literary Arts Fund Awards $750,000 to Three Nonprofits

The Literary Arts Fund announced on November 10, 2026, that it has awarded $750,000 to three nonprofit organizations as part of its new Stylus Prizes. Each recipient will receive $250,000 to support their ongoing work in the literary field. The winners were selected based on recommendations from writers who have engaged with these institutions. The three organizations honored are Graywolf Press in Minneapolis, Minnesota, One Story in Brooklyn, New York, and The Porch Writers’ Collective in Nashville, Tennessee. These groups were recognized for their significant contributions to helping authors create new work and for their efforts in connecting with readers. This initiative marks the first time the fund has presented these specific awards. The Literary Arts Fund was established in October 2025 to address the issue of chronic underfunding within the nonprofit literary sector. It operates through a partnership between several major philanthropic organizations, including the MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Poetry Foundation. The fund aims to provide unrestricted support to organizations that serve writers and readers across the United States. In addition to the Stylus Prizes, the fund has previously distributed $7.7 million in general operating grants to 40 different literary organizations. These earlier grants were distributed across 19 states to help stabilize the operations of publishers and writing centers. The organization also manages an innovation project grant program, which recently opened applications to support new ideas in the field. This program has allocated $1 million to help nonprofits develop creative solutions to challenges faced by writers. By providing these resources, the fund seeks to ensure that literary arts organizations can continue to foster diverse voices and maintain public access to literature. The ongoing support from these foundations highlights a broader effort to strengthen the infrastructure of the American literary community. Future initiatives from the fund are expected to continue focusing on long-term sustainability for these essential cultural institutions.