The New India Foundation Book Fellowship, supporting nonfiction writers exploring post-1947 India, will now be awarded annually, enhancing accessibility and support for authors.
Key Points
- The New India Foundation Book Fellowship will now be awarded annually, providing more consistent support for writers.
- Applications for the NIF Book Fellowship will be open every year for approximately three months.
- The fellowship offers a monthly stipend, editorial support, mentorship, and access to a community of writers.
- The NIF aims to nurture and expand the field of nonfiction writing about post-independence India.
- Nearly 40 nonfiction books exploring various aspects of post-1947 India have been supported by the NIF Book Fellowship.
The New India Foundation (NIF) Book Fellowship, which has been awarded once every two years since its inception, will move to an annual cycle from this year.
Applications will be open every year and will have a time frame of approximately three months, the NIF said.
Benefits of the Annual NIF Book Fellowship
According to NIF governing board member Niraja Gopal Jayal, the move to an annual fellowship is a natural next step for the foundation.
"We have always believed that serious nonfiction is essential to how India understands itself and we want to make that support even more consistent, accessible, and responsive to the writers who are doing this work," she said.
The NIF book fellowship offers a substantial monthly stipend, editorial support, mentorship, and access to a community of writers and thinkers.
Expanding Nonfiction Writing in India
Another governing board member Srinath Raghavan said the sheer volume of interesting applications NIF receives in each round is indicative of the growing importance of nonfiction writing as a mode of engagement with the enormous transformations undergone by India since independence.
"An annual cycle of fellowship will allow us to nurture and expand the field as well as enrich its quality," he said.
NIF currently runs three key programmes - the NIF Book Fellowship, a Translation Fellowship, and the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize.
Over the past two decades, the NIF Book Fellowship has supported nearly 40 nonfiction books that explore various aspects of post-1947 India. These works range from political biographies and cultural histories to memoirs, each offering a distinctive interpretation of contemporary India.
