New York, NY (June 8, 2026)—The Literary Arts Fund announced today that it is now accepting applications to its 2026 innovation project grant program. This is the first grant program of its kind for the nonprofit literary arts field and the second opportunity offered by the Fund, which launched in October 2025 to bolster the literary arts as it is the least supported artistic discipline by private foundations, according to the Fund’s research.

Innovation project grants will range from $25,000 to $100,000 and provide funding to literary arts nonprofits for new, one-time, and forward-thinking projects that aim to address critical structural challenges that, if improved or solved, would ultimately strengthen literary arts nonprofits’ abilities to serve creative writers. Projects must commence some time after January 1, 2027, and conclude before or by December 31, 2027. Proposed projects, which may be collaborative, should align with this description and goal and have impact beyond the project timeline.

Nonprofit (or fiscally-sponsored) literary arts organizations or publishers that meet the Fund’s eligibility criteria may apply individually or as the lead of a collaborative project. 

The full guidelines for the Innovation Project Grant program are posted on the Literary Arts Fund’s website.  

The Fund will hold an information session about this opportunity on June 18, 2026. Registration is free. For more information, visit literaryartsfund.org and subscribe to the Fund’s newsletter.

Applications to the program must be submitted through Submittable by August 17, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. eastern time. Grants will be announced in late December 2026. 

For questions, visit the Literary Arts Fund’s FAQ page or email grants@literaryartsfund.org.

About the Literary Arts Fund

The Literary Arts Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Civic Innovation, is a concerted national effort to support the nonprofit literary arts in the United States, the most under-resourced artistic discipline in the country. Launched in 2025, the Fund aims to provide at least $50 million to bolster nonprofit publishers, presenters, and organizations that directly support creative writers and strengthen their relationship to readers. It will also raise the visibility of the nonprofit literary arts field, including through the release of data and reports. The Fund was initiated by the Mellon Foundation as a collaborative effort with the Ford Foundation, Hawthornden Foundation, Lannan Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Poetry Foundation, and an anonymous foundation. Grantmakers are invited and encouraged to join in championing literature and writers by becoming a part of the Literary Arts Funders Collaborative, a new philanthropic affinity group.