The Kenyon Review celebration of its 75th anniversary will be enhanced this year by a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
The NEA Art Works grant will support KR Credos, a special essay series that will appear in the print and online journals throughout the anniversary year, as well as support general production costs.
KR Credos are a nod to a 1950s essay series published in the Kenyon Review that invited prominent literary critics to discuss the role of criticism. That series was called My Credo: A Symposium of Critics. The new essay series is intended to showcase the art and craft of writing as seen through the lens of accomplished and emerging fiction writers and poets. Alongside the new essays, readers will find a selection of “Classic Credos” from the 1950s published online each month at Kenyonreview.org.
NEA support is both symbolically and practically important to the Kenyon Review and recognizes the journal’s stature on the national literary scene, said David Lynn ’76, editor of the Kenyon Review and professor of English. “This newest grant allows us to reach out to some of the most distinguished and dynamic authors of our time, along with splendidly exciting newer writers, to offer personal credos of their art and their aspirations.
“I think readers will be astonished by the variety and deep wisdom offered by these remarkable authors.”
The grant, recently announced by NEA Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa, is one of 895 distributed to nonprofit organizations from among 1,528 applications. The Art Works grants are intended to support the creation of art meeting the highest standards of excellence.
“The National Endowment of the Arts is proud to support these exciting and diverse arts projects that will take place throughout the United States,” Shigekawa said. “These projects all contribute to vibrant communities and memorable experiences for the public to engage with the arts.”
The Kenyon Review is a distinguished, international literary journal that publishes in print quarterly and hosts a distinctive online journal at Kenyonreview.org.