The PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Literary Oral History recognize literary works of nonfiction that use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. For the 2026 grant cycle, we will confer two PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Literary Oral History with cash prizes of $15,000 each.

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from April 1 through June 1. Submissions will close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on June 1.

Eligibility:

• The submitted project must be the work of a single individual, written in English.
• The project must be an unpublished work-in-progress that will not be published prior to April 1, 2026, as the grants are intended to support the completion of a manuscript.
• The project must be a work of literary nonfiction.
• Oral history must be a significant component of the project and its research.
  
  NOT eligible: Scholarly or academic writing.
  
  How to apply:
  
    Please note that the application will require the following, submitted as one PDF file, in the below order.
  All documents should be in 12pt, Times New Roman, with 1 inch margins. Each document should be single spaced with the exception of the writing sample which should be double spaced.
   
• A 1-2 page description of the work, answering: Why is this project important, and why did this author choose to undertake this project? 
• A 1-2 page statement answering: Why and how is oral history used in the project?  
• A 1-2 page statement answering: How will this grant aid in the completion of the project? (This space can additionally be used to discuss any permissions, rights, contracts, publication timelines, or other aspects of your project.)
• A CV for the author of the project, which should include information on previous or forthcoming publications.
• An outline that includes the work completed thus far and the work remaining. The outline should include the names of participants.
• 6-10 pages of unedited transcripts of the project interviews relating to the writing sample.
• A 20-40 page writing sample from the project which utilizes the submitted project interviews. This, exceptionally, should be double spaced for legibility.
  
        Please consult our FAQ page before contacting awards@pen.org with any questions.

The PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants were established in the summer of 2003 by a gift from Priscilla and Michael Henry Heim in response to the low number of literary translations currently appearing in English. Their purpose is to promote the publication and reception of translated world literature in English. 

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from April 1 through June 1, 2025. Submissions will close at 11:59 p.m. (EST, end of day) on June 1.

Eligibility: 

• Translations of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama, originally written by a single individual.
• Translations should not have previously appeared in English in print or should have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation.
• Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion.
• There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English.
• Projects may have a maximum of two translators but are limited to one original author.

NOT eligible:  Translations of works with multiple original authors, such as anthologies, translations of  literary criticism, and scholarly or otherwise technical texts.  

Note: Translations from Italian will be considered for the PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature.

Note: Translators may only submit one project per year. Projects that have been previously submitted and have not received a grant are unlikely to be reconsidered in a subsequent year. Translators who have previously been awarded grants by the Fund are ineligible to reapply for three years after the year in which they receive a grant–for example, grant recipients from 2022 are now eligible to reapply.
 

How to apply: All documents should be in 12pt, Times New Roman, single spaced, and with 1 inch margins. 

The submission form requires the following:  

• A 1-2 page statement outlining the work and describing its importance.
• A biography and bibliography of the author, including information on translations of their work into other languages.
• A CV of the translator, no longer than 3 pages.
• If the book is not in the public domain and the project is not yet under contract, please include a photocopy of the copyright notice on the original (the copyright notice is a line including the character ©, a date, and the name of the copyright holder, which appears as part of the front matter in every book), and a letter from the copyright holder stating that English-language rights to the book are available. A letter or copy of an email from the copyright holder is sufficient.
• If the translation is currently under contract with a publisher, please submit a copy of the contract.
• A translation sample is required. For prose, this should be within the range of 8-10 pages (when formatted as required, this will be approximately 3,000-5,000 words). For poetry, please include 1-2 poems per page, within an 8–10 page range.
• The same passage in the original language (and, if the work has been previously translated, the same passage in the earlier version). 

Please consult our FAQ page before directing any questions to awards@pen.org

The PEN/Bare Life Review Grants recognize literary works by immigrant and refugee writers. For the 2025 grant cycle, we will confer two PEN/Bare Life Review Grants with cash prizes of $5,000 each. 

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from April 1 through June 1, 2025. Submissions will close at 11:59 p.m. (EST, end of day) on June 1st. 

Eligibility:

• The submitted project must be the work of a single individual, written in or translated into English. In the case of translated works, the grant will be conferred to the original author.
• The project must be an unpublished work-in-progress that will not be published prior to April 1, 2026, as the grants are intended to support the completion of a manuscript.
• The project must be a work of a literary nature: fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry.
• This grant is available to foreign-born writers based in the U.S., and to writers living abroad who hold refugee/asylum seeker status.
• Writers may only submit one project per year.

NOT eligible: Scholarly or academic writing.

How to apply: Please note that the application will require the following, submitted as one PDF file, in the below order.

All documents should be in 12pt, Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins. Each document should be single-spaced with the exception of the writing sample which should be double-spaced.
 

• A 1-2 page description of the work, answering: Why is this project important, and why did this author choose to undertake this project?
• A 1-2 page statement answering: How will this grant aid in the completion of the project? (This space can additionally be used to discuss any permissions, rights, contracts, publication timelines, or other aspects of your project.)
• A CV for the author of the project, which should include information on previous or forthcoming publications.
• An outline that includes the work completed thus far and the work remaining.
• A writing sample of up to 40 pages for poetry, and 75 pages for other genres. This, exceptionally, should be double spaced for legibility.

Physical entries are accepted only from adults incarcerated in a federal or state prison, county jail, or other detention center. Submissions postmarked between April 1, 2025 and May 15, 2025 will be considered. 

Submit by sending work to:

PEN America Literary Programs

ATTN: PEN Literary Grants

120 Broadway

26th Floor North

New York, NY 10271 

Due to the volume of submissions, PEN America is unable to return submitted manuscripts.  Authors retain all rights to their work upon publication. 

• Manuscripts should be typewritten and double-spaced (except for poetry) whenever possible, or legibly handwritten on 8.5-by-11-inch paper.
• If possible, please send copies of your work, not the originals. PEN America is unable to return manuscripts after submission.
• Please follow the submission guidelines, including adding page numbers, name and/or title on each document.

These guidelines are for incarcerated writers only. If you are a writer on the outside and send a physical submission, it will be returned unread.

Please consult our FAQ page before contacting awards@pen.org with any questions.

The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists is offered annually to an author of children’s or young adult fiction for a novel-in-progress. Previously called the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, the award was developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and assist a writer at a crucial moment in their career to complete their novel. The author of the winning manuscript, selected blindly by judges unaware of nominees’ names, will receive an award of $5,000.

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from April 1 through June 1, 2025. Submissions will close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on June 1.

Eligibility: 

• Candidates must be writers of children’s or young adult fiction.
• Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated significant sales.
• The writer’s previously published book(s) must be published by a U.S. trade publisher. Self-published works are ineligible.
• The submitted work must be a novel-in-progress that will not be published prior to April 1, 2026.

NOT eligible: Graphic novels and picture books. Manuscripts written by more than one person.

How to Submit
All documents should be in 12pt, Times New Roman, double-spaced, and with 1 inch margins.
 

This application requires two PDFs. The judges will only review the second, which asks for an outline, letter of utility, and manuscript. Please make sure these materials do not contain the author's name. Other materials are for internal use. 

The online submission form requires the following:

A first PDF containing:                                            

• A 1-2 page cover letter including a 1-3 sentence summary of the project, a description of how the candidate meets the criteria for the grant, and a list of the candidate’s published novel(s) for children and/or young adults.
• 1-3 reviews of the candidate’s novel(s) from professional publications. These may be copies or links.
• A 1-2 page letter of recommendation or support from an editor or fellow writer.
   

 A second, anonymous PDF containing:    

• The candidate’s name should not appear anywhere on this PDF to ensure anonymity.
• A 2-4 page outline of the novel-in-progress being submitted. 
• A 1-2 page description of how the funds will be used to complete the project. What will the candidate be able to accomplish with this funding that they could not do otherwise? Book sales, earnings, or other relevant information may be included here. 
• A 50–75 page manuscript sample. The candidate’s name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript sample, in order to ensure anonymity for the judging process.  
   

Please consult our FAQ page before directing any questions to awards@pen.org

The U.S. Writers Aid Initiative is intended to assist fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists in addressing short-term financial emergencies. To be eligible, applicants must be professional writers based in the United States, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping address a short-term emergency situation. The fund is limited, and not every application can be supported. Grant decisions are made on a quarterly basis by a volunteer committee of literary peers in consultation with PEN America staff, using the  following guidelines to evaluate professional credentials:

• Publication of one or more books. (Writers who are only self-published or published by a press that charges for publication are not eligible.)
• Multiple essays, short stories, or poems appearing in literary anthologies or literary journals (either online or in print) in the last two years.
• A full-length play, performed in a theater by a professional theater company. Productions in academic settings qualify if the author is not a student at the time of the production.
• Production of a motion picture project or a segment of television.
• Employment as a full-time professional journalist, columnist, or critic, or a record of consistent publication on a freelance basis in a range of outlets during the last two years.
• Contracted forthcoming books, essays, short stories, poems, or articles for which the name of the publisher can be provided.
• Other qualifications that support the applicant’s professional identity as a writer.

The U.S. Writers Aid Initiative is not intended to subsidize writing-related expenses, such as residencies, sabbaticals, computers, printing, shipping, travel, or publicity services.  Applications received on or before the following quarterly deadlines will be reviewed before the last day of that month.

Application deadlines subject to change:

• January 10, 2025
• May 2, 2025
• July 1, 2025
• October 1, 2025

The next application cycle will reopen on March 1, 2025.

Writers currently enrolled in degree-granting programs are also not eligible. Writers do not have to be Members of PEN America to receive a grant, but all recipients of emergency funding will be given a complimentary one-year PEN America membership.

Please review all eligibility criteria before applying. We ask prior applicants to wait three years before reapplying to the fund and encourage applicants to be specific and thorough in presenting their case for support so that a proper evaluation of the application can be made. All complete applications will be reviewed, and all applicants will be notified of a grant decision. Not all applications will be supported, and the Committee’s decision is final. 

Questions may be addressed to writersfund@pen.org.