The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced $1.7 million in grants to enable the publication of 36 nonfiction books "that will bring important humanities scholarship into book clubs and onto bestseller lists." These are the first awards made under NEH's new Public Scholar grant program, which was created as part of the Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square initiative.
"NEH Public Scholar books will make important and exciting discoveries in fields such as history, literature, linguistics, and archaeology accessible to readers everywhere, and serve as an example of how humanities scholarship can benefit the common good," said NEH chairman William Adams.
The Public Scholar awards support books "that use deep research to open up important or appealing subjects for wider audiences by presenting significant humanities topics in a way that is accessible to general readers." The grant program offers a stipend of $4,200 per month for a period of six to 12 months (with a maximum of $50,400 for a 12-month period) to researchers, independent scholars and individuals associated with scholarly institutions. For this first round of the competition, applicants were required to have previously published a book with a university or commercial press, or articles and essays that reached a wide readership. Check here for the full list of projects.
