Scholarships of the City of Vienna in the Field of Literature

The City of Vienna Culture awards two funding formats in the field of literature, aimed at sustainably strengthening literary excellence in the capital. The Elias Canetti Scholarship is directed at professional authors with an already established, representative body of work and offers funding for up to three years at €18,000 per year. In parallel, 50 project grants for literature, each amounting to €1,000, are awarded annually to support the completion of individual prose, poetry, drama, or essay projects. Both funding instruments are granted as subsidies and are open to private individuals engaged in literary activities in Vienna. Thematically, culture and media belong to the funding areas, with administration and allocation carried out transparently and inclusively by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (MA 7).

The funding objectives aim to provide experienced authors with longer-term financial security and enable the completion of high-quality literary projects. For the Elias Canetti Scholarship, proof of a representative body of work and literary activity is required; for the project grant, a detailed project description suffices. The maximum project duration is 12 months, with the option to extend up to 36 months. These support offerings promote Vienna’s literary diversity and significantly contribute to authors being able to realize their creative endeavors in the fields of culture and culture & media without interruption, thereby sustainably enriching the city’s literary life.