Today, the Literary Arts Fund announced the inaugural winners of a new major literary prize: The Stylus Award, which recognizes nonprofits making essential contributions in the literary world.
This award is designed to highlight the many literary organizations that keep the industry honest and lovable. In accordance with this mission, the awardees were culled from writers’ nominations; to make their shortlist, the Literary Arts Fund queried dozens of authors across the U.S. about the groups that have fueled their writing.
This year’s three big winners represent respectively a small publisher, a prestigious literary magazine, and a beloved community. They are Graywolf Press, One Story, and The Porch Writers’ Collective.
Each of these nonprofits will receive an unrestricted cash award of $250,000 to further their work. In a season of slashed budgets and disappeared arts funding, this is welcome news.
As One Story founders wrote in a collective email sent this afternoon, “this is a transformational moment” for the magazine.
As a nonprofit dedicated to supporting short story authors—providing them publication, education, and mentorship—we see this award as an affirmation of our mission and the profound impact of the literary arts field on writers’ creative lives. It is also a catalyst for a broader investment in One Story’s next chapter: raising the strength, resources, and capacity that will allow us to do our best work and think beyond immediate needs toward a more ambitious, long-term vision.
Give it up for the literary orgs that make great writing—and great writing community—possible.
