Carnegie Fund for Authors awards grants to American authors who have been published by a mainstream publisher and who are in need of emergency funds. Andrew Carnegie’s original bequests indicated that awards be made specifically to published authors; it was also stipulated that these grants be awarded to deserving authors and their families who are in dire need because of a medical or other emergency.
The applicant must be an American author who has published at least one full-length work — fiction or nonfiction — that has been published by a mainstream publisher. Applicants cannot have eligibility determined by a work that they paid to have published. A work may have been published in eBook format only, or in hardcover or softcover format, or in more than one format.
An applicant must demonstrate need; the emergency may be because of illness or some other urgent need such as fire, flood, hurricane, etc. Documentation should be included with the application: a doctor’s letter or other proof of the emergency situation.