On May 2, the National Endowment for the Arts terminated or rescinded grants already awarded in the 2025 fiscal year to a number of cultural institutions, including several nonprofit publishers and literary organizations. That same day, the Trump administration proposed eliminating the NEA, its sister agency the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Library and Museum Services in the national budget for the next fiscal year.

Grantees across the country received an email on Friday from the NEA stating that their awards had been terminated effective May 31. According to a crowdsourced list, publishers whose NEA grants were terminated include Alice James Books, Aunt Lute Books, BOA Editions, the Center for the Art of Translation, Deep Vellum, Four Way Books, Hub City Writers Project, Open Letter Books, Milkweed Editions, Nightboat Books, Red Hen Press, and Transit Books as well as such literary magazines as Electric Literature, McSweeney’s, n+1, the Paris Review, and Zyzzyva.

Mary Gannon, executive director of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, told PW that of the 51 CLMP member publishers awarded individual NEA grants for 2025, at least 38 have received letters saying that their grants were withdrawn or terminated. The NEA grants to all 51 publishers totaled over $1.2 million. Gannon added that several other organizations “in the Literary Arts category that had grants open from previous fiscal years also received ‘terminated’ letters.”

The letters stated that the agency “is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President,” and as a result would be “terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities.” The priorities listed in the letter include project that “celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence,” “foster AI competency,” and “make America healthy again,” as well as those that “elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions,” “support Tribal communities,” and “support the economic development of Asian American communities."

“Along with many other nonprofit arts organizations, we learned last night that our grant from the National Endowment for the Arts—$40,000 toward the publication of our books in 2025—has been terminated,” Transit Books said in a post on Bluesky. “While this news was not unexpected, its message was chilling.”

Additionally, four NEA literary arts employees have said their last day with the agency will be May 30, per a joint letter circulated by LitNet, a coalition of literary organizations. In the letter, NEA literary arts director Amy Stolls, literary arts specialists Katy Day-Yapa and Jessica Flynn, and literary arts and arts education coordinator Mohamed Sheriff said, "We are processing a lot of complex emotions in this moment, as we imagine you are too in light of recent agency developments, but know that we remain unwavering in our overall support of all of you and the critical work you do.”

“It has been an honor to be part of an agency that, for almost 60 years, has also played a vital role in shaping the literary arts…" the letter continued. “While we don’t know specifically how the work of the agency will change, we know the remaining staff will do their best to support you.”

For many publishers, the writing has been on the wall for months. In February, the NEA and its sister organization, the National Endowment of the Humanities, issued new requirements that prohibited grant applicants from operating any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion or “gender ideology,” as defined by in a January 20 executive order. An effort to preliminary enjoin these new requirements was denied by a federal judge last month.

The NEA also announced, earlier this year, that it would eliminate its Challenge America grant program for “underserved groups and communities” and prioritize grant applications for projects that "celebrate and honor the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity" ahead of the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence. In early April, a number of letters from the NEH were sent to arts and culture organizations across the country ending their previously awarded grants.

President Trump’s proposal to fully eliminate the NEA, NEH, and IMLS is not unprecedented: during his first term, he tried and failed to eliminate the NEA and NEH, which were kept alive by broad bipartisan congressional support. (Ultimately, their budgets grew.) This time, however, with few Republicans in Congress willing to challenge the president, the administration may face less resistance.

This article incorrectly stated that the four NEA staffers had been laid off.