NEA Literature Fellowships: Prose, FY 2026

Opportunity snapshot. This Grants.gov announcement — NEA Literature Fellowships: Prose, FY 2026 — is cataloged under number 2025NEA03LFCW and tied to CFDA assistance listing 45.024, posted by National Endowment for the Arts. Grants.gov currently shows the opportunity as closed, first posted on December 16, 2024 and last updated on January 30, 2025. The funding category is Discretionary, delivered as a grant.

Award economics. The award range on file is $25,000 -- $50,000. The agency has projected $1.8 million in total estimated funding for this announcement. It expects to issue 35 awards. If the agency funds the expected 35 awards from the $1.8 million estimated pool, the average award works out to roughly $50,000. Cost sharing is not required, so applicants do not need to commit matching funds to be competitive on this opportunity. Federal award ranges are often upper bounds; actual allocations reflect program appropriations, the strength of the applicant pool, and the evaluation committee's scoring.

Deadline and action path. This opportunity closed on March 12, 2025. Future funding cycles may be published under the same CFDA number, so monitoring the parent program page is the most reliable way to catch re-announcements. Every Grants.gov submission requires an active SAM.gov registration and a Unique Entity ID. Review the Eligibility section below carefully — federal eligibility categories (nonprofit, state or local government, tribal, individual, educational institution, small business) have distinct registration and reporting requirements. Pre-application outreach to the listed agency contact is permitted and often welcomed — it helps clarify scope and scoring priorities.