PEN/Bare Life Review Grants
The PEN/Bare Life Review Grants from PEN America support immigrant and refugee writers working on literary manuscripts about migration, identity, and belonging.
Funder: PEN America
Due Dates (Anticipated): July 2026 (Full application, online) | April 2027 (Incarcerated writers window opens) | May 2027 (Incarcerated writers window closes)
Funding Amounts: Two grants of $5,000 each, awarded annually to support literary works in progress.
Summary: Supports outstanding unpublished literary works in progress by immigrant and refugee writers, focusing on migration, identity, and belonging.
Description
The PEN/Bare Life Review Grants, presented by PEN America in partnership with The Bare Life Review, recognize and support literary works in progress by immigrant and refugee writers. The grants celebrate the value of migration literature and aim to amplify the voices and stories of those navigating displacement, identity, and belonging. Each year, two writers are awarded $5,000 each to help complete a manuscript in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry that explores the complexities of migration. The program is intended to foster new literary work that might otherwise remain unheard, underscoring the importance of world literature in chronicling the migrant and diasporic experience.
