Funder: Wenner-Gren Foundation
Due Dates (Anticipated): December 2026 (Invited full proposal) | October 2027 (Letter of Interest)
Funding Amounts: $80,000 for nine months; one fellowship awarded annually
Summary: Supports anthropologists writing research-grounded nonfiction books that bring anthropological knowledge to readers beyond the academy.
Key Information: Research must be completed before application; fellows devote all or nearly all working hours to writing.
Description
The Wenner-Gren Foundation’s Hunt Fellowship in Public Writing supports serious nonfiction books for general audiences. It provides focused writing time rather than funding new research. Eligible projects include trade books published by major presses and crossover books published by academic presses but written and marketed for nonacademic readers. The Foundation welcomes intellectually ambitious, accessible work grounded in substantial anthropological research.
The program aims to expand anthropology’s audiences, shape public understanding, and contribute to urgent debates about human lives, histories, societies, and futures. It also seeks to raise the professional standing of public writing within anthropology, especially for earlier-career scholars, and encourage its recognition in hiring, tenure, promotion, and other professional evaluation. There is no preference for a particular methodology, research location, or subfield.
