The NEA announced that Edgar Kunz, Stegner Fellow in Poetry, is to receive an individual creative writing fellowship

Dec. 13, 2016 — Today, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that Edgar Kunz, a second-year Stegner Fellow in Poetry, is one of 37 writers to receive an FY 2017 individual creative writing fellowship of $25,000.

“The NEA has an excellent record of supporting writers who have gone on to have impressive literary careers,” said NEA Director of Literature Amy Stolls. “With their talent and diverse backgrounds, this year’s Creative Writing Fellows, including Edgar Kunz, will add to our country’s rich literary history.”

“What an honor it is to be recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Kunz. “Immeasurable thanks to the Wallace Stegner Fellowship program, whose support has allowed me to work full-time on my craft. I’m stunned and brimming with gratitude.”

Kunz was selected from more than 1,800 eligible applicants. Through its creative writing fellowships program, the National Endowment for the Arts gives writers the time and space to create, revise, conduct research, and connect with readers. Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process on their artistic excellence. Fellowships alternate between poetry and prose each year and in FY 2017 fellowships are in poetry. The full list of FY 2017 Creative Writing Fellows is available here.

Many American recipients of the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and Fiction were recipients of NEA creative writing fellowships early in their careers. For more information on NEA Creative Writing Fellowships, visit the NEA’s Writers’ Corner.