CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIPS: Applicant Eligibility

You are eligible to apply in Poetry if you meet the following requirements:

  • You are a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
  • You have not received two or more NEA Fellowships (in poetry, prose, or translation). If you have received any fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts, you must have submitted acceptable final reports to the NEA by the due date(s).
  • You have not received any NEA Fellowships (in poetry, prose, or translation) on or after January 1, 2016 (FY 2016).
  • You did not apply at the January 18, 2024 deadline for a Translation Projects Fellowship. An individual is only eligible to apply for one literature fellowship (in creative writing or translation) in a calendar year.
  • You have had published, between January 1, 2017, and March 13, 2024:
    • A Volume of 48 or more pages of poetry; or
    • 20 or more individual poems or pages of poetry that appear in at least five (5) literary journals, anthologies, or publications which regularly include poetry as a portion of their format.
      • Up to 16 pages of poetry may be from a single volume of poetry that is fewer than 48 pages (e.g. a chapbook). This volume may count as only one of the required five places of publication.
      • For online publications, a page of poetry is considered to be 20 lines or less.
    • Work must have been published for the first time with an eligible publisher between these dates, not just reprinted or reissued in another format during this period. Eligible publishers have a competitive selection process and offer some service or services to their writers, such as editing and proofreading; formatting and design; and/or promotion, marketing, and distribution. Student-led publications and publications that primarily print work by persons who are affiliated with a particular academic institution are not eligible publishers.
    • You may use digital, audio, or online publications to establish eligibility, provided they are an eligible publisher as described above. If the online publication or website no longer exists, you must provide, upon request, sufficient evidence that your work once appeared online (e.g., screenshots of the original webpage or correspondence with the publisher confirming publication). If sufficient evidence cannot be provided, the online publication will not be eligible.

The following content cannot be used to establish eligibility:

  • Pre-publication material, such as galleys, proofs, and advance reader's copies.
  • Work that has appeared in a publication for which you are the editor, publisher, or staff.
  • Collaborative work.
  • Scholarly writing.
  • Instructional writing.
  • News Reporting.
  • Book reviews.
  • Editorials/letters to the editor.
  • Interviews.

See "How to Apply" for the documentation required to demonstrate eligibility.

IMPORTANT: Your application will be ineligible if incorrect or insufficient publication information is provided. Ineligible applications will be rejected without panel review.