Yearlong Harvard Radcliffe fellowship for artists, writers, composers, filmmakers, and playwrights.

The Radcliffe Fellowship Creative Arts track is open for the 2027–2028 fellowship year at Harvard Radcliffe Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The fellowship supports artists and writers pursuing ambitious projects during a nine-month residential fellowship. Fellows receive a $78,000 stipend, an additional $5,000 for project expenses, and housing and moving stipends are available. Creative Arts applicants apply under discipline-specific categories, including film and video, visual arts, fiction, poetry, playwriting, and music composition. The deadline for Creative Arts applications is September 10, 2026, at 5 PM ET.

Radcliffe Fellowship Snapshot

What: Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship Program, Creative Arts Track
Who: Creative Arts applicants in film and video, visual arts, fiction, poetry, playwriting, and music composition who meet discipline-specific eligibility requirements.
Where: Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Award / Support: $78,000 stipend, plus an additional $5,000 to cover project expenses. Fellows may also be eligible for relocation, housing, childcare, and healthcare support as needed. Fellows receive office or studio space, full-time Harvard appointments as visiting fellows, access to Harvard Library, access to University athletic facilities, and professional development and engagement opportunities.
Application Fee: Not listed.
Residency Duration: September 2027 through May 2028.
Application Opens: The application for the 2027–2028 fellowship program is now available.
Deadline: September 10, 2026, 5 PM ET.
Official Link: https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/radcliffe-fellowship/application-information
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Get The Application Strategy

The Strategy Coach Notes for this fellowship focus on how to frame an ambitious creative project for a multidisciplinary review process. Radcliffe applications are reviewed first by field experts and then by a multidisciplinary committee. The proposal must therefore work at two levels. It needs discipline-specific rigor and broad intellectual clarity. Creative Arts applicants should show achievement, project significance, capacity for yearlong development, and openness to cross-disciplinary exchange. Join the network to access the Strategy Coach Notes.

About the Radcliffe Fellowship

The Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program gives artists, writers, scholars, scientists, journalists, and public intellectuals a full academic year to pursue major projects within an interdisciplinary setting at Harvard University. Radcliffe welcomes applications that address pressing social, scientific, and policy issues and engage audiences beyond academia. It also welcomes proposals connected to women, gender, society, the Schlesinger Library, and its 2024–2029 focus area on academic freedom and connecting across difference.

For Creative Arts applicants, the fellowship is structured as a residential year in Cambridge/Boston. Fellows are required to live in the area from September through May and participate in the fellowship community, including weekly talks, professional development workshops, and social events. The fellowship provides time, funding, space, institutional access, and a cohort environment for the development of a significant creative project.

What Is Offered

• $78,000 stipend
• $5,000 project expense fund
• Office or studio space in Byerly Hall
• Full-time Harvard appointment as a visiting fellow
• Harvard Library access
• University athletic facility access
• Professional development opportunities
• Engagement opportunities throughout the fellowship year
• Possible relocation, housing, childcare, and healthcare support

Who Should Apply to Radcliffe Fellowship

Creative Arts applicants must meet discipline-specific eligibility requirements. Film and video applicants must have a body of independent work of significant achievement. Visual arts applicants must show at least five years of professional work, several curated group shows, and at least two professional solo exhibitions. Fiction applicants need published books, a book contract, or at least three shorter published works. Poetry applicants need at least 20 poems or a book of poetry published in the last five years and must be completing a manuscript. Playwriting applicants need a significant body of independent work, typically plays produced or under option. Music composition applicants must show strong evidence of achievement as professional artists, with recent performances.

Timeline

Creative Arts Deadline: September 10, 2026, 5 PM ET
Fellowship Period: September 2027 through May 2028
Notification: Applicants will be notified by email by the end of March 2027.

Why This Radcliffe Fellowship Matters

This is one of the strongest fellowship structures available for artists with major research-driven or intellectually ambitious creative projects. The support is substantial, the institutional access is significant, and the review structure rewards artists who can communicate artistic excellence across disciplinary boundaries. For contemporary performance makers, playwrights, composers, visual artists, filmmakers, and interdisciplinary artists with a primary Creative Arts discipline, the key is to show a project that can benefit from a full academic year inside a rigorous interdisciplinary community.

Apply to the Radcliffe Fellowship

https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/radcliffe-fellowship/application-information

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