New York Public Library Cullman Center Fellowships 2027 | Study in United States — New York Public Library, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers

Nine months, a private office in one of the most iconic library buildings in the country, and $90,000 to spend that time finishing a book. The Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library takes just 15 people a year, and it is built for scholars and writers whose work genuinely needs a great research collection nearby.

Based inside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue, the fellowship blends serious solitude with a small, tightly connected community of fellow writers and researchers.

About the Scholarship

The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers exists to give people working on ambitious book projects the one resource that is genuinely hard to buy: uninterrupted time paired with direct access to a world-class research collection. Each year the center selects 15 fellows, drawn from academia, independent scholarship, journalism, translation, and the creative arts, including novelists, playwrights, poets, and visual artists working on book projects.

Fellows spend nine months, from September through May, working inside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the library’s landmark research branch. Each fellow gets a private office equipped with a computer, along with full access to the library’s physical and digital collections. Beyond individual research time, the center runs weekly lunches and discussions that bring the entire cohort together, creating genuine cross-pollination between, say, a historian working on a nonfiction book and a novelist deep into a work of fiction.

That mix of disciplines is intentional. The Cullman Center is explicit that it wants an interdisciplinary community rather than a group of specialists working in isolation, on the theory that regular contact with people working in completely different registers sharpens everyone’s thinking. Fellows also get opportunities to present work in progress at public programs, giving projects real audience feedback well before publication.

Because the fellowship requires research to be conducted primarily at the Schwarzman Building itself, it functions less like a portable stipend and more like a genuine residency. Applicants weighing other funded US research opportunities at a similar career stage sometimes also look at the Wilson Center Fellowship Program, which supports policy-focused research in Washington, D.C. rather than literary and scholarly projects centered on a physical library collection.

The Schwarzman Building itself is part of what makes this fellowship distinctive. Rather than a modern research center built for a program like this, fellows work inside one of the most architecturally significant public library buildings in the country, with direct access to millions of items across the library’s research collections, from rare manuscripts and historical newspapers to specialized subject archives that would otherwise require separate, time-consuming research trips to track down piece by piece.

The nine-month structure also sets a natural rhythm for the fellowship year. Fellows arrive in September alongside a cohort of 14 other writers and researchers, spend the fall and winter deep in research and drafting, and move toward finishing work by the following May, often with a clearer sense of their finished manuscript than when they started. The weekly community gatherings help keep that momentum going, offering fellows a regular check-in point even during the isolating stretches that any long writing project inevitably includes.

Scholarship Benefits

The Cullman Center’s funding is designed to remove financial pressure entirely for nine full months of dedicated work.

• A stipend of $90,000 for the nine-month fellowship period
• A private office equipped with a computer inside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
• Full access to the New York Public Library’s physical and electronic research collections
• Uninterrupted time to complete a major scholarly or creative book project
• Weekly lunches and discussions with a small, interdisciplinary fellowship cohort
• Opportunities to present work in progress and receive feedback from peers and the public
• Access to public programs and events organized by the library
• A genuine international professional network built through the fellowship year
• The chance to live and work in New York while using one of the world’s great research libraries

Eligibility Criteria

• Open to academics, independent scholars, journalists, translators, and creative writers, including novelists, playwrights, and poets
• Visual artists working on a book project are also eligible
• International applicants are welcome, provided they are fluent in English
• The proposed project must genuinely require extensive use of the Schwarzman Building’s collections
• Research must be conducted primarily on-site at the Schwarzman Building throughout the fellowship period
• Students seeking funding for research leading directly to an academic degree are not eligible
• Fellows must commit to working at the Cullman Center five days a week for the full fellowship term
• Selection is based on the quality and originality of the applicant’s writing and the project’s potential contribution to scholarship or literature

Fields of Study Covered

Because the fellowship spans both scholarly and creative work, past and current Cullman Fellows have pursued projects across a wide range of subjects, including:

• History and biography
• Literary fiction and poetry
• Playwriting and other dramatic writing
• Journalism and long-form nonfiction
• Literary translation
• Cultural and art history connected to visual book projects
• Social science research aimed at a general audience rather than purely academic publication

Required Documents

• Completed online application form
• Project proposal
• Writing sample
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Bibliography or supporting research materials, if required
• Any additional documents requested through the application portal

How to Apply (Step-by-Step)

1. Visit the official fellowship application portal for the Cullman Center.
2. Review the application guidelines and eligibility requirements carefully before starting.
3. Prepare a clear project proposal explaining the book project and why it specifically requires the Schwarzman Building’s collections.
4. Gather a writing sample that reflects the style and quality of the proposed project.
5. Complete the online application form with accurate personal and professional details.
6. Upload all required documents in the specified format, including the CV and any supporting research materials.
7. Review the full application carefully before submitting it before the September deadline.

Selection Process

The Cullman Center’s selection committee reviews applications primarily on the strength and originality of the writing sample, the clarity and ambition of the project proposal, and how directly the project depends on the library’s specific collections. Because the fellowship brings together such different kinds of writers and researchers in one small cohort, the committee also weighs how well a given project is likely to contribute to the interdisciplinary community the center is trying to build each year.

With only 15 spots available annually and applicants coming from academia, journalism, translation, and the creative arts all at once, competition is genuinely steep, and a generic or underdeveloped proposal tends to fall away quickly regardless of the applicant’s other credentials.

Tips to Improve Your Chances

• Make the connection between your project and the Schwarzman Building’s specific holdings explicit in the proposal, rather than describing a project that could be researched anywhere
• Submit a writing sample that represents your strongest, most polished work, since it carries significant weight in the review
• Keep the project proposal focused on a single clear book project rather than several loosely connected ideas
• Mention specific collections, archives, or materials at the library relevant to your project if you already know them
• Be realistic about the five-day-a-week, nine-month commitment when describing your availability, since this is a genuine residency rather than a flexible remote grant
• Have a trusted reader review your project proposal before submitting, since clarity and a strong opening paragraph matter enormously when reviewers are working through a large applicant pool

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an academic affiliation to apply?

No. The fellowship welcomes independent scholars, journalists, translators, and creative writers alongside academics, so a university affiliation is not a requirement.

Can I complete the fellowship remotely?

No. Fellows are required to conduct their research primarily at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building and commit to being on-site five days a week throughout the nine-month term.

Is the fellowship open to international applicants?

Yes, provided the applicant is fluent in English. The Cullman Center welcomes scholars and writers from around the world, not just those based in the United States.

Can graduate students apply for this fellowship?

Students seeking funding for research that leads directly to an academic degree are not eligible. The fellowship is intended for independent research and creative projects outside a formal degree program.

How many fellows are selected each year?

The Cullman Center selects 15 fellows annually, drawn from a broad mix of academic and creative disciplines.

What does the $90,000 stipend need to cover?

The stipend is intended to support the fellow for the full nine-month period, covering living expenses in New York while the fellow works full-time on their project at the library.

What kind of project proposal works best?

Reviewers respond well to proposals that name a specific finished product, whether that is a book manuscript, a collection of poems, or a completed play, along with a clear explanation of which parts of the library’s collection the project depends on and why.