Literature Fellowships

Below is a list of all NEA Literature Fellowships awarded since 1965. You can search by year, name, or fellowship type (creative writing or translation). 

We also have sections where you can find out more information about some of the fellows. You can meet some of the fellows who received creative writing awards from 2001 to the present. You can meet some of the fellows who received translation awards from 2011 to the present.

Name Year Type Language
James Nolan 1978 Creative Writing
Herbert Liebman 1980 Creative Writing
Katha Pollitt 1984 Creative Writing
Mary Carter 1986 Creative Writing
James A. Riley 1991 Creative Writing
Wayne Karlin 1993 Creative Writing
Leonard Schwartz 1997 Creative Writing
Ralph Adamo 2003 Creative Writing
Nadia Kalman 2012 Creative Writing
Leslie Sainz 2021 Creative Writing
Roger Sauls 1970 Creative Writing
Ruth Whitman 1975 Creative Writing
W. S. Merwin 1977 Creative Writing
William Berkson 1979 Creative Writing
Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge 1981 Creative Writing
Christopher Gilbert 1986 Creative Writing
Kirk Keller 1988 Creative Writing
Stephen Benson 1990 Creative Writing
Karen Salyer McElmurray 1993 Creative Writing
Edra Ziesk 1996 Creative Writing