Writers in the Southeast region of the U.S. can get funding through a new grant program from South Arts.
The regional arts nonprofit supports art and artists in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The Literary Arts Grant program opens up to $5,000 funding opportunities to writers, independent publishers and small presses for project-based funding.
“From Maya Angelou to William Faulkner, and Natasha Trethewey to Zora Neale Hurston, our region has been home to some of the most influential literary voices in history,” said Susie Surkamer, South Arts CEO, in a news release. “Our goal is to continue that tradition by directly supporting emerging voices in the field and bolstering opportunities for their community to thrive.”
The new grant program comes after South Arts leadership expanded the Southern Prize and State Fellowship awards to include literary arts alongside the visual arts grants.
“For me it was sort of a Hail Mary because I knew there were so many talented artists but it's just in my nature to keep trying no matter what,” said this year’s Kentucky visual arts fellow, photographer Robyn Moore. “I felt like I had the work this year. I had sort of enough work to put together a portfolio that I thought was competitive.”
This year, the literary arts category will focus on works of poetry.
Applications for the Southern Prize and State Fellowship are also now open. Fellowship winners will receive $5,000. Fellows who go on to win the Southern Prize winners will receive an additional $25,000, and one finalist will receive $10,000.
Musicians are also eligible.
The Jazz Road Tours offers musicians up to $15,000 to take their jazz performances on the road to communities across the country.
Funds are set to go towards covering tour expenses which can include performance fees, travel and meals. Two-thousand five hundred dollars can be used to cover non-musician personnel like tour and social media managers or childcare.
Applications are open through Dec. 2 for the Literary Arts Grant program, the Southern Prize and State Fellowship and Jazz Road Tour.
