A recent survey conducted by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) suggests that half of the artists living in New York State make less than twenty-five thousand dollars per year. Whether or not any of the 134 individuals who were recently awarded NYFA's annual fellowship grants fall into that category is unknown, but all of them will no doubt benefit from the unrestricted grants worth seven thousand dollars each.
The grants were given in eight categories, including film, digital/electronic arts, and interdisciplinary work. The fellows in poetry are E. J. Antonio, Edmund Berrigan, Tina Chang, Monica de la Torre, LaTasha Diggs, Marcella Durand, Alan Gilbert, Jennifer Hayashida, Lisa Jarnot, Mara Jebsen, Suji Kim, Anna Moschovakis, Willie Perdomo, Julie Sheehan, Patricia Smith, Sue Song, Paige Taggart, and Anne Tardos.
The fellows in nonfiction literature are Jo Ann Beard, Allison Cobb, Sarah Dohrmann, Ellen Graf, Sabine Heinlein, Hettie Jones, Jessica Lamb-Shapiro, Andrew Postman, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Phillip Robertson, Gabrielle Selz, Ginger Strand, Rene Vasicek, and Eben Wood.
Fellowships are awarded to writers and artists at all career levels and are intended to give them the means to continue making work despite financial restraints.