SC Humanities is pleased to announce that, with generous support from the South Carolina Arts Commission, we will open our Fast Track Literary Grant opportunity for one deadline in fall 2025. Fast Track Literary Grants are intended to support new or existing public literary programs such as (but not limited to) writers series, author talks, festivals, conferences, workshops, or writer’s residencies at schools. The deadline will be on October 15, 2025, and the maximum amount that can be requested for this round is $2,500.
Due to the termination of SC Humanities’ federal grant funding by DOGE, our various grant opportunities have been suspended since April. We are happy to be able to open a Fast Track Literary Grant deadline this fall to support excellent literary programs around the state. Currently, the Major Grant, Mini Grant, and Planning Grant opportunities are still on hiatus while SC Humanities continues to advocate for renewed federal funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities and state humanities councils in FY2026.
Fast Track Literary Grants were first offered in the fall of 2015 after the end of the annual South Carolina Book Festival. Since 2015, SC Humanities has awarded 114 Fast Track Literary Grants for a wide variety of projects, such as York County Library’s “Community Reads Program of Kindness,” “Swan Con: The Sumter Comic Arts Festival,” and the Boys and Girls Club’s “Girls Write Poetry and Performance Workshops.” Thousands of South Carolinians of all ages and backgrounds have benefitted from these programs.
SC Humanities Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Gunter said, “We’re so grateful to the South Carolina Arts Commission for their continued support of South Carolina Humanities. It’s especially meaningful this year to be able to offer these grants. We know that they will foster important programs that will lead to improved understanding of the varied lives of South Carolinians.”
SC Humanities is using an Online Grants Management System, managed by Foundant. To apply for a Fast Track Literary Grant, organizations will need to create an account and then access the online application. More information, including instructions about how to create an account, are available here: https://schumanities.org/grants/literary/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
