Features
Where an essayist can send work in New York City: magazines, grants and presses
A checked map of New York City routes for essayists: what magazines say about nonfiction, which grants and city regrants are open, and which presses take proposals.
What to take away
- Famous New York magazines often do not take unsolicited essays. The New Yorker says it cannot consider unsolicited nonfiction. Harper's wants a mailed query, not a manuscript. The Nation asks for pitches, not drafts.
- Several New York presses say on their own sites that they are not taking unsolicited submissions: OR Books, Seven Stories Press, Bellevue Literary Press, Restless Books and Akashic Books.
- Fordham University Press's Empire State Editions, a series on New York, takes proposals by email and aims to reply within eight weeks.
- The Whiting Nonfiction Grant pays $40,000 and takes open applications, but the book must already be under contract. The 2026 deadline has passed.
- City-funded grants for individual artists, including writers, have risen from $5,000 to up to $10,000. The remaining borough deadlines run from October 30 to November 17, 2026; Brooklyn's passed on October 11 and Staten Island opens in November.
Magazines: what each says about essays
These readings come from each outlet's own page in October 2026. Policies change, so read the page again before you send anything.
| Outlet | What it says about nonfiction | How it takes work |
|---|---|---|
| The New Yorker | Says it cannot consider unsolicited Talk of the Town stories or other nonfiction. | Fiction through Submittable, reopening November 1, 2026. Poetry through Submittable, up to six poems at a time and no more than two submissions in twelve months. |
| Harper's Magazine | Will neither consider nor return unsolicited nonfiction manuscripts. | Nonfiction queries by mail with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Ideas for the Readings section by email. Unsolicited fiction is considered. |
| The Nation | Pitch first. Do not send completed drafts. | Email a pitch to the submissions address on its page. If it pursues a pitch, it says you will hear within two weeks. Books and the Arts takes pitches on books, films, TV shows, albums, theater, architecture and art. |
| The Brooklyn Rail | No separate essay rules. Each editor runs a section. | Email the editor of the relevant section. Editors cannot answer every pitch. The Fiction section does not take unsolicited submissions. Do not mail hard copies. |
Editorial suggestion, two lessons. First, a published guideline is the first thing to read, because it can end the question. Second, the open doors are mostly pitches. The Nation says it has agreed to freelancer standards worked out with the National Writers Union, a point worth checking when you discuss terms. For how to build a pitch that an editor can say yes to, see pitching reported essays to US editors.
Editorial suggestion: if a magazine you want says it takes no unsolicited nonfiction, do not look for a side door. Build clips elsewhere first and pitch with them.
Prizes and grants for essayists
Whiting Nonfiction Grant
The Whiting Foundation's Nonfiction Grant for Works-in-Progress is $40,000, paid to an individual in one or two installments. Funds cannot go to an institution, agency, LLC or fiscal sponsor. Ten awardees are chosen each cycle through an open application judged by a panel.
The conditions are strict:
- The project must be a book-length nonfiction work for a general adult audience. The page names history, memoir and personal essays as examples.
- The book must be at a mid-stage, with substantial work done and significant work to go.
- It must be under contract with a publisher based in the US, UK or Canada by the deadline, which was May 31, 2026. Applicants may live anywhere.
- Self-published books, self-help, historical fiction, textbooks, scholarly books and books for young readers are ineligible.
Applicants are told decisions in December 2026. If you do not yet have a contract, this is a target for a later cycle, not this one. The route to a contract is covered in how to write a book proposal for an essay collection.
City regrants for individual artists
On October 2, 2026, the mayor's office announced that city-funded grants for individual artists and small nonprofits will rise from $5,000 to up to $10,000 per artist, calling it the first increase in awards for artists in nearly 20 years. Its list of eligible artists includes writers. The Department of Cultural Affairs funds local partners, and each borough partner runs its own application.
| Borough | Partner | Deadline in the announcement |
|---|---|---|
| Bronx | Bronx Council on the Arts | October 30, 2026 |
| Brooklyn | Brooklyn Arts Council | October 11, 2026 (passed) |
| Manhattan | Lower Manhattan Cultural Council | November 12, 2026 |
| Queens | New York Foundation for the Arts (Queens Arts Fund) | November 17, 2026 |
| Staten Island | Staten Island Arts | Applications open in November 2026 |
The announcement does not set eligibility rules, so read your borough partner's page.
Manhattan Arts Grants
The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's 2027 Manhattan Arts Grants close on November 12, 2026 at 6 pm EST. Three of the four programs list all arts disciplines: Creative Engagement at $1,000 to $20,000 (Manhattan Community Districts 1 to 12), UMEZ Arts Engagement at $1,000 to $20,000 (Community Districts 9 to 12 only, in Upper Manhattan), and Creative Learning, an arts education program, at $1,000 to $17,500. Creative Unrestricted is $20,000 in general operating support for performing arts only. The page does not name writers, so confirm with LMCC that a writing project fits before you apply.
City and state funding: how it reaches individuals
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) states an average annual expense budget of about $200 million. Its funding page lists grants for organizations, capital funding, subsidies for 39 city-owned cultural institutions and a link for artists. It tells nonprofits to contact their Borough President and Council member about discretionary funding.
Two DCLA programs are often misread as writer grants:
- Percent for Arthas run since 1982 and directs one percent of the budget for eligible city-funded construction toward public artwork. The page describes commissioned visual works in media such as painting, mosaic, glass, textiles and sculpture and does not say writers are eligible.
- Materials for the Artsgives free donated materials to nonprofits with arts programming, government agencies and public schools. It is not a grant; the mayor's October 2 announcement adds a monthly shopping day for current grantees of the five borough arts councils.
At state level, the New York State Council on the Arts says it funds individual artists and 501(c)(3) organizations, and that it gave direct support to 607 individual artists in fiscal year 2026. Its main page does not list literature programs, so check its funding areas for your discipline.
Book publishers: what is closed and what is open
A writer building an essay collection should know which presses are actually reading. Each statement below comes from the press's own site.
| Press | What it says |
|---|---|
| OR Books | Does not accept unsolicited manuscripts or book submissions. |
| Seven Stories Press | No longer accepting unsolicited manuscripts. |
| Bellevue Literary Press | Not accepting unsolicited submissions at this time. It plans open reading periods when staffing allows and asks writers not to send queries outside them without a direct reference. |
| Restless Books | Not accepting unsolicited manuscripts or pitches unless they come directly from an agent or a translator, and it is not reviewing new agented submissions until further notice. |
| Akashic Books | Not accepting any submissions at this time. |
| Fordham University Press, Empire State Editions | Proposals by email to the editor named on its page. Include a cover letter, a current CV and a prospectus of 5 to 10 pages. A sample chapter is optional. Do not send a full manuscript unless asked. Initial reply aimed within eight weeks. |
Empire State Editions publishes books about New York, and its cover-letter guidance asks about the book's contribution to scholarship. Editorial suggestion: it suits a researched, city-focused project more than a general personal essay collection. Columbia University Press points prospective authors to proposal guidelines on its authors page.
Editorial suggestion: for a trade essay collection, plan to write the proposal first, then look for an agent or a press that is reading. Use prepare and track your submissions to keep a log of every outlet, date and reply.
A sequence to follow
Editorial suggestion, in order:
- Read the current guideline page of each target and note the date you read it.
- Pitch the magazines that take pitches, and send finished work only where a page invites it.
- Apply for the city regrant in your borough before its deadline.
- Build a proposal for a collection, and check whether the presses on your list are open.
- If you win a contract, look for the next Whiting cycle.
