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6 Grants for Female Writers

African American woman writing books

Unless you’re a legend like J.K. Rowling, Maya Angelou, or Margaret Atwood, money doesn’t necessarily come rolling in for female writers. That said, there are different organizations that can help writers who are struggling to make ends meet - the ones listed below offer unique grants for female writers.
  1. National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW)
The NLAPW promotes professionalism in different artistic industries. They encourage women to pursue education or other goals in order to optimize their creative efforts. They have a couple different grants, one being the Grants for the Mature Women, which is for women over 35 pursuing writing, arts, or music.
  1. Awesome Foundation Grant
This foundation is a global community that strives to advance the interest of pursuing awesome things. They award $1,000 to various projects, including writing ones! They’ve awarded $3,676,000 thus far and have helped thousands of people reach their goals. With specific chapters for specific locations, the Awesome Foundation can support your writing dreams. Sounds awesome, right?
  1. Money for Women/Barbara Demin Memorial Fund
The oldest ongoing feminist granting agency, they work to encourage feminists in the arts—whether that be written or visual. The awards range from $500 to $1,500 in both the U.S. and Canada. Writers will have to adhere to certain guidelines, like using feminism as a central focus. You can find all the guidelines here.
  1. Sustainable Arts Foundation
Supporting writers and other artists with children under the age of 18, this foundation awards unrestricted cash awards. In 2018, they awarded 20 different writers and artists with $5,000 and 18 of these awardees were women. The Sustainable Arts Foundation makes sure to represent different races, and they focus on supporting women and people of color. Look into their application process here.
  1. Diverse Writers Grant
Awarded through the Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF), the Diverse Writers Grant supports underrepresented and underprivileged groups. They focus specifically on serving speculative literature—science fiction, horror, and fantasy. With two grants that are either for diverse writers or work that presents a diverse world, this is a great grant to look into.
  1. UCROSS
UCROSS gives writers and artists the opportunity to pursue their work without distractions. Their program doesn’t necessarily give money to writers per se, but they do give them a rent-free place to stay. The foundation strives to provide writers with a productive, comfortable, and respectful environment. There’s even a professional chef who makes lunch (delivered to your studio) and dinner for the dining room!

A lot of states have specific writing grants for writers who inhabit the state. Some include the Minnesota Artist Initiative Grant, the Arizona Artist Research and Development Grant, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant, and many more. You might also want to look into Funds for Writers. There are a lot of people who want to support your artistic and creative ability— we hope this list makes that clear.