Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellowship: 2027–2028

Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellowship: 2027–2028

The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers is a fellowship program of The New York Public Library (NYPL). It supports projects that draw on the research collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in Manhattan. NYPL’s official online application portal published guidelines for the 2027–2028 fellowship cycle: applications were due September 25, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and the portal says applications cannot be accepted after that cutoff. The deadline has passed. The official guidelines reviewed here do not announce a later cycle. This page is therefore a historical reference for the 2027–2028 cycle, not an open application notice.

The portal gives a $90,000 stipend, a September 7, 2027 to May 26, 2028 award period, and notification in March 2027. Its published eligibility and application requirements are summarized below so that readers can understand what that cycle involved. NYPL’s general fellowship page still displays the earlier 2026–2027 competition, while the dedicated application guidelines describe the later 2027–2028 round. Use those cycle-specific guidelines as the primary record for the closed round. The official material reviewed for this entry does not announce a cycle after 2027–2028: the dedicated application portal gives the closed 2027–2028 terms, while NYPL’s general page still refers to the earlier 2026–2027 competition. That older notice does not establish a new application deadline. Anyone considering a future application should check NYPL again for a new call and current requirements rather than treating this archive as a live form.

Program at a glance

The table records the 2027–2028 terms in the official application guidelines. It does not mean applications remain open. The portal states that it cannot accept submissions after its listed deadline.

What the fellowship provides

A Cullman Center Fellowship combines financial support, time, a work base, and access to a major research library. The published stipend is $90,000. Each Fellow receives the use of an office with a computer and full access to the Library’s physical and electronic resources. The nine-month term is intended to support sustained work on a substantial project, rather than a short visit to consult one item or collection.

The Library’s collections cover areas including anthropology, art, geography, history, languages and literature, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, religion, sociology, sports, and urban studies. The value of access will depend on the project. Applicants should be able to explain why the particular resources at the Schwarzman Building matter to the work and how sustained access would help move it forward. A project that could be completed just as well without NYPL’s collections may be a weaker fit, even if it is important in its own field.

The Center also builds discussion into the residency. Fellows exchange ideas with one another and take part in public forums at the Library. Each Fellow gives a lunchtime talk about work in progress to the other Fellows and invited guests. The Center may ask Fellows to participate in other Library programs as well. Applicants should be comfortable explaining their work to colleagues outside their specialty and sharing some work before it is finished.

Who the program is for

For this cycle, NYPL’s guidelines welcomed academics, creative writers, and independent scholars whose projects draw on the Schwarzman Building’s research collections. Visual artists were encouraged to apply when their projects required extensive use of Library collections. Applicants working in languages other than English could apply, but had to be conversant in English and submit all application materials in English. Across these categories, the project needed to draw on the Schwarzman Building’s collections and meet the Center’s standard for top-quality writing. The cycle-specific guidelines do not enumerate journalism or translation separately, so applicants in those fields should not infer eligibility from the general description alone; the project must satisfy the published current-cycle criteria.

The portal states a more specific restriction than a general ban on degree-related work: fellowships would not be granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows or to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research. Applicants should read that wording carefully rather than assume that every project connected to a degree is treated alike. The guidelines also exclude NYPL staff members and their partners, as well as people active on the Library’s Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees, or Library Council, to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest.

The residency is a substantive condition. Fellows are expected to work at the Cullman Center five days each week, Monday through Friday, primarily at the Schwarzman Building. The portal says Fellows may not accept other major professional obligations during the term. A few prior commitments may be possible, but research trips, scholarly meetings, and speaking engagements must be limited to short periods. Anyone absent for more than two days must notify the Center’s Director or Deputy Director; the Library may prorate stipends for excessive time away. The award description lists an office and collection access, not housing, travel, or relocation support.

Choosing a project for this setting

A strong application should make the fit with NYPL concrete. Begin with the research question, book, translation, or art project itself; then identify the types of materials, collections, or research support that make the Schwarzman Building important to its completion. Explain what access would allow you to examine, compare, or create. Broadly praising the Library’s size is less useful than showing how a particular part of its holdings connects to the work.

The project should be substantial enough to use a nine-month residency but clearly bounded enough to make meaningful progress during that time. An applicant might describe the stage the project has reached, the work that remains, and what can reasonably be completed or significantly advanced in residence. Specificity helps readers understand both the ambition and the practical plan. It is sensible to distinguish what the fellowship period can accomplish from a longer-term publication or research agenda.

Writing quality is central to the Center’s stated criteria. A proposal should let a reader outside the applicant’s discipline understand the project’s subject, stakes, approach, and importance. Specialized terms may be necessary, but they should be explained. The work sample, where requested by the live application, should give the committee clear evidence of the applicant’s ability to carry out the proposed work. These are general preparation principles, not a substitute for the directions of a future application portal.

Application steps and materials for the 2027–2028 cycle

The 2027–2028 application is closed. NYPL’s official guidelines set a firm deadline of September 25, 2026, at 5 p.m. EDT and state that applications cannot be accepted after it. The following steps and checklist describe that cycle only. They are useful as an archival record, but anyone applying in a later year must check the new call because deadlines, form fields, and supporting-material rules can change.

Applications and supporting materials were submitted through the NYPL Online Application Portal. The cycle guidelines list a research proposal, curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation, and either a creative writing sample or an artwork sample as required materials. The appropriate work sample depended on the applicant’s practice. The archived guideline page does not preserve detailed form-by-form instructions or sample specifications, so applicants should not infer file formats, lengths, or portal steps from this summary. Those details must come from the instructions that were active for the closed cycle, or from a future call if NYPL announces one.

The Center required new recommendation letters and explicitly did not accept dossier letters in their place. The completed application and all supporting materials had to arrive by the same September 25 deadline. Because letters depended on other people, applicants needed to invite recommenders early enough for them to prepare and submit letters through the process described in the portal. A draft that lacked supporting material was not a complete submission under the instructions.

The project proposal needed to show how the work would draw on the research collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Prospective applicants could use NYPL’s research-collections information to identify relevant collections, then explain why those resources mattered to their specific project. The strongest practical preparation would connect a defined question or creative aim to particular kinds of materials and describe what sustained access during the award period could make possible. That advice explains the fit implied by the official criteria; it does not add a formal selection rubric beyond the published instructions.

Applicants also had to consider the residency conditions before submitting. Fellows were expected to be at the Center Monday through Friday, work primarily at the Schwarzman Building, and avoid other major professional obligations during the award period. The term was September 7, 2027 through May 26, 2028. The portal permitted only limited short absences, required notice for absences longer than two days, and warned that excessive time away could lead to a prorated stipend. Candidates needed to plan their work and personal arrangements around those terms.

NYPL said it would notify applicants in March 2027. That notification month is specific to this application round and should not be carried forward as the timetable for any later cycle. The cycle-specific application page is now useful for checking the historical requirements, while a later call must be confirmed directly with NYPL before relying on a date or checklist.

The Center may offer up to five fellowships each year in conjunction with the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), according to NYPL’s general program description. Candidates for a joint fellowship must submit separate applications to NYPL and ACLS. This page does not state an ACLS deadline because the NYPL portal guidelines cited here specify the NYPL application; anyone considering a joint application in a future round must check ACLS’s own call and deadline as well. No joint-award date should be inferred from the NYPL deadline.

Questions applicants often ask

Is the 2027–2028 fellowship open now? No. NYPL’s portal says the application deadline was September 25, 2026 at 5 p.m. EDT and that applications cannot be accepted after the deadline. The cycle is closed.

Has NYPL announced another cycle? The official guidelines reviewed for this entry describe the closed 2027–2028 competition. They do not announce a later round. Check NYPL’s Cullman Center pages for a new call before planning an application.

How much was the stipend? The 2027–2028 guidelines list $90,000 for the fellowship. They also describe an office with a computer and full access to NYPL’s physical and electronic resources. The listing does not include housing or travel support.

Who was eligible? The guidelines welcome academics, creative writers, and independent scholars; visual artists were encouraged when their projects required extensive use of Library collections. Applicants could work in languages other than English, but had to be conversant in English and submit application materials in English. Academic projects by postdoctoral fellows and graduate-school dissertation research were excluded. Conflict-of-interest exclusions applied to NYPL staff and their partners and specified Library governance participants.

What did the application require? A research proposal, curriculum vitae, new letters of recommendation, and a creative writing sample or artwork sample were required with the completed application. Dossier recommendation letters were not accepted. The portal’s cycle instructions controlled the application form and any specifications for each item.

Could Fellows work remotely or keep another major job? The published conditions called for work at the Cullman Center five days each week, primarily at the Schwarzman Building, and prohibited other major professional obligations during the term. Applicants needed to be able to meet the in-person schedule.

Could a Fellow take short trips? The guidelines allow a few prior commitments but require trips, conferences, and speaking engagements to be limited to short periods. An absence exceeding two days required notice to the Director or Deputy Director, and excessive absences could result in a prorated stipend.

When were applicants to hear back? The portal listed March 2027 for notification in this cycle. That is a past-cycle timetable, not a promise for a later application round.

Official source

The New York Public Library’s 2027–2028 eligibility and guidelines are the cycle-specific source for the deadline, award period, stipend, eligibility, residency expectations, and application materials summarized here. The NYPL Online Application Portal is the application system described by those guidelines. NYPL’s Cullman Center fellowship page provides general information about the program and its collections. The application deadline has passed; use an official future announcement for any later cycle’s dates or instructions.