Former Fiscally Sponsored Project
The National Performance Network (NPN) is no longer the fiscal sponsor for this project. We are honored to have worked with the artists and will continue to follow their artistic practice and accomplishments.The Mae Fellowship
The Mae Fellowship is the first in a portfolio of projects to establish a generational legacy in the honor of Lula Mary (Lula Mae) Leonard Young. The Fellowship annually identifies female and nonbinary writers across the country to provide financial support, a community, guest speakers, and access to world-class mentors in an effort to help complete their first books. Thus far, guests to the Mae Fellowship have included Tiffany Haddish, Sister Helen Prejean, Clint Smith, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Yiyun Li, Jonathan Lethem, Claudia Rankine, Sarah Perry, Bryan Washington, Tom Perrotta, Julia Phillips, Lisa Ko, Idra Novey, Jia Tolentino, Marilynne Robinson, Karen Russell, Michael Arceneaux, Emily St. John Mandel, Charles Baxter, E. J. Koh, Jami Attenberg, Cathy Park Hong, Brit Bennett, Tope Folarin, Lydia Millet, Tayari Jones, Claire Messud, Kiese Laymon, Aimee Bender, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, and Sigrid Nunez. The Fellowship began in 2020 and has so far supported 20 writers across the country.