Nederlands Letterenfonds Fellowship

The Letterenfonds Fellowship is a continuation of the Writer-in-Residence programme and part of the longstanding collaboration between NIAS and the Dutch Foundation for Literature (Nederlands Letterenfonds). The programme fosters transdisciplinary exchange between writers, and scholars from the humanities, social sciences and other disciplines. The fellowship allows writers to devote themselves full-time to a writing project of their choice within a diverse community of international scholars.

For this edition, NIAS and the Dutch Foundation for Literature specifically invite applications from writers based in the Caribbean Parts of the Kingdom. The fellowship aims to strengthen the presence of literary voices from the Caribbean within the NIAS community and to encourage exchange between literature, scholarship and society across the Kingdom.

The fellowship is open to literary fiction and non-fiction writers based in the Caribbean Parts of the Kingdom (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten) who write in Papiamentu, Papiamento, English from the Islands or Dutch. Applicants should be established writers with a literary track record and a body of work that demonstrates sustained literary quality and professional practice.

The fellowship is intended for writers at a mid-career or senior stage who are comfortable working within an academic and international environment and who are eager to engage in intellectual exchange with scholars from different disciplines.

Applicants must propose a literary project that will clearly benefit from a residency at NIAS. The project should already be beyond its initial conception phase and be sufficiently developed to make productive use of the fellowship period.

Eligible candidates are expected to participate actively in the NIAS community through seminars, workshops and informal exchanges with other fellows. As English is the working language at NIAS, applicants must have a good command of English.

Applications will first be reviewed for eligibility by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. Applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be assessed by an independent ranking committee appointed by the Dutch Foundation for Literature.

The committee assesses applications primarily on: the literary quality of the applicant’s work; the quality and feasibility of the proposed project; and the extent to which the project and applicant match the environment of NIAS.

Based on the committee’s assessment, the Dutch Foundation for Literature will submit a ranked recommendation to NIAS. The final selection is made by NIAS following consultation with its Academic Advisory Board.

One fellow will be selected for the 2026–2027 fellowship.

• NIAS and the Dutch Foundation for Literature offer one five-month fellowship per academic year.
• The fellow receives a personal stipend of € 3.500,- per month.
• The fellow is provided travel reimbursement of an international return ticket.
• The fellow is provided with an office at NIAS, access to research facilities, and subsidised accommodation in Amsterdam.
• The fellow benefits from and participates in weekly academic seminars and interdisciplinary dialogue.
• A residency at the Institute constitutes a full-time commitment and fellows are expected to be present at the Institute four workdays a week from the opening of their semester until the end of their semester.

• Conditions for application can be found on the website of the the Dutch Foundation for Literature
• For questions regarding the Nederlands Letterenfonds Fellowship, please contact: Dutch Foundation for Literature – Eva Prakken e.prakken@letterenfonds.nl or NIAS – Robert Raub, Partnership Officer, partners@nias.knaw.nl

The Dutch Foundation for Literature (Nederlands Letterenfonds) is the public fund for literature in Dutch, Frisian, Papiamentu, Papiamento and Dutch Sign Language. It offers grants and subsidies to writers, translators, publishers, literary magazines and festivals. Its aim is to support high-quality literature and foster a diverse literary landscape that embraces new developments while valuing literary heritage. The Dutch Foundation for Literature actively promotes and supports the production, dissemination and international visibility of literature from the Netherlands and its languages, both at home and abroad.

The first Nederlands Letterenfonds Fellowship, then Writer-in-Residence Fellowship, was offered in 1999 as part of a collaboration between the Dutch Foundation for Literature (formerly Fonds voor de Letteren) and NIAS-KNAW. Over the years, this successful fellowship has brought many renowned writers from the Netherlands and abroad to NIAS to benefit from and contribute to this unique and diverse academic setting.