Wesleyan University Press Receives Grant from the Literary Arts Emergency Fund

On Sept. 16, the Literary Arts Emergency Fund awarded Wesleyan University Press with a $25,000 grant to help with its financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Literary Arts Emergency Fund is administered by the Academy of American Poets, the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses, and the National Book Foundation. Wesleyan is among 282 nonprofit literary arts organizations, magazines, and presses across the nation that are receiving part of the $3,530,000 million in emergency funding.

“We are delighted and grateful to receive this support from the Literary Arts Emergency Fund. So much in the world is difficult right now, and literature, books, and reading can help,” said Suzanna Tamminen ’90, director and editor-in-chief of Wesleyan University Press. “The act of reading is also a kind of active listening. We are given new perspectives, and we are drawn into a moment that connects us to the past and the future in transformative ways. Reading brings us into dialogue and into community, even when we are remote.”

Wesleyan University Press publishes books of poetry as well as scholarly books in dance, music, and literary studies. The Press has garnered national and international accolades for its work, including six Pulitzer Prizes, three National Book Awards, three Griffin Poetry Prizes, and an Anisfield-Wolf Award, among many others.