New fellowship gives $25,000 grants to Puerto Rican writers

FILE - Lin-Manuel Miranda arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Feb. 9, 2020. A new fellowship co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will provide $25,000 for emerging and established Puerto Rican writers. On Wednesday, the Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund announced the establishment of the Letras Boricuas Fellowship for 30 Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and elsewhere who write poetry, fiction creative nonfiction or children’s literature. The Flamboyan Arts Fund is a partnership between Flamboyan Foundation, Lin-Manuel Miranda, his family, and the Broadway musical Hamilton to preserve, amplify, and sustain the arts in Puerto Rico. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)[/caption]

NEW YORK (AP) — A new fellowship co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will provide $25,000 for emerging and established Puerto Rican writers.

On Wednesday, the Mellon Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund announced the establishment of the Letras Boricuas Fellowship for 30 Puerto Ricans, age 21 and up, in Puerto Rico and elsewhere who write poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or children’s literature. The first 15 winners will be announced in November, and all are tentatively scheduled to meet in San Juan in 2023.

Among those welcoming the news: “Hamilton” playwright and son of Puerto Ricans, Lin-Manuel Miranda. In a statement, he called the fellowship “an important means of supporting Puerto Rican artists in their journey to tell more stories. This collaboration to amplify the work and voices of these creators, both in Puerto Rico and across the U.S. diaspora, will further enrich and enhance the literary experience for all of us.”

Carlos Rodríguez Silvestre, executive director of Flamboyan Foundation Puerto Rico, said in a statement that the fellowship would help address what he calls the “existing lack of support” for Puerto Rican writers.

“At Flamboyan Foundation we can’t think of a better way to honor the rich heritage and diversity of Puerto Rican literature in the archipelago and the diaspora than creating a fellowship that lets writers do what they know how to do best,” he said.

The deadline for applications is June 20. More information can be found on www.letrasboricuas.org.