NEA Big Read 2027-28 Applications Open: Community Reading Matching Grants of $5,000 to $30,000, Phase 1 Due January 12, 2027
Washington — The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Arts Midwest, announced that applications are now open for the 2027-28 NEA Big Read, the national community reading program offering matching grants of $5,000 to $30,000. This cycle's theme is "Read Like a Champion: Celebrating Great American Sports Stories." Phase 1 eligibility reviews are due January 12, 2027, with full proposals due January 26, 2027, and funded programs will take place between September 2027 and June 2028.
The cycle's library offers 18 books spanning poetry, fiction, nonfiction and graphic literature, set everywhere from playing fields and ice rinks to basketball courts, open water, boxing rings and bowling alleys, exploring competition and teamwork, perseverance and resilience, self-discovery and well-being, and the ways sports bring communities together. Grantees design a community-wide reading program around a single chosen book and provide the required nonfederal cost share; funding supports book purchases and programming.
Eligible applicants located in the United States, U.S. territories or Native Nations include nonprofit arts organizations, universities, libraries, service organizations, museums, school districts and tribal governments; first-time applicants and organizations of all community sizes and budget levels are welcome. Beyond book discussions, programming may include a kick-off event, author visits, lectures, panel discussions, film screenings, art exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, poetry slams, writing workshops and community storytelling, lasting from a week to several months. Applications are submitted through the SmartSimple grants portal, with full guidelines on the Arts Midwest Big Read pages.
The NEA Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, has brought communities together around a shared book since 2006. Libraries, schools and cultural organizations in Chinese American communities are equally eligible and can use the program to build reading and cultural events for residents of all ages.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国国会图书馆主阅览室（资料图）。图片：Carol M. Highsmith，美国国会图书馆 Highsmith 档案，公共领域（Wikimedia Commons）。Photo: Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress (file photo). Credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress Highsmith Archive, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
