Major Foundations Launch $50 Million Literary Arts Fund to Boost American Literary Culture

Six of America's most prominent foundations — the Ford, Hawthorne, Lannan, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, Andrew W. Mellon, and Poetry foundations — announced a landmark $50 million Literary Arts Fund in October 2025. The fund will support hundreds of nonprofit literary service organizations and publishers working to broaden and expand American literary culture.

The initiative comes at a critical time for the literary arts, as many small publishers and literary nonprofits face financial pressures from changing reading habits and reduced government funding. The fund will provide grants for operations, programming, and capacity building.

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"Literature is the foundation of a democratic society," said one of the fund's organizers. "This investment ensures that diverse voices continue to be heard and that the infrastructure supporting American literature remains strong for generations to come."