Hub City Writers Project Receives Grant Funding

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $25 million in grants as part of the NEA’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.

Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant to the Hub City Writers Project, one of three Southern publishers to receive Art Works funding and the recipient of the largest grant to South Carolina. The Art Works category is the NEA’s largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

“It is energizing to see the impact that the arts are making throughout the United States. These NEA-supported projects, such as this one to Hub City, are good examples of how the arts build stronger and more vibrant communities, improve well-being, prepare our children to succeed, and increase the quality of our lives,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “At the National Endowment for the Arts, we believe that all people should have access to the joy, opportunities and connections the arts bring.”

“We could not be more thrilled to receive this grant from the NEA,” said Anne Waters, Hub City Operations Manager. “It is particularly gratifying because it affirms Hub City Writers Project’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, while maintaining the highest standards of excellence.”

Betsy Teter, Editor and Development Director said, “Getting NEA funding is a prestigious accomplishment, one that signals we are now among the most elite group of U.S. literary publishers and at the top of our field in this region of the country. I’m excited for us, and I’m excited for our authors whose books will receive national arts funding in 2018.”

The NEA Art Works grants to Hub City Writers Project will support the production and promotion of Hub City Press’s 2018 titles. These include three debut novels, Leesa Cross-Smith’s Whiskey & Ribbons, Thomas McConnell’s The Wooden King, and Kathyrn Schwille’s What Luck, This Life, as well as New Southern Voices Poetry Prize winner Lindsey Alexander’s debut collection Rodeo in Reverse. The grant will also help fund author tours and advertising across the country.

To join the conversation about this announcement, please use #NEA2018. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts.gov. For more information on Hub City, visit www.hubcity.org.