A New Deal for Writers
W.P.A. Writers Project Poster, 1940. Library of Congress
“Writers suffered enormously durng the
pandemic. The Federal Writers’
Project offers a template on how to help them- and the country.”
NM Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez and California Rep. Ted Lieu have introduced new legislation: “The 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act”. The proposed legislation intends to revive the New Deal Federal Writers’ Project by creating a grant program to employ and utilize America’s writers, particulary those writers who find themselves unemployed and underemployed due to the stresses of the pandemic.
Modeling the legislation after the New Deal’s success is a novel way to build capacity among the talented writers in the United States, provide economic relief and create an avenue, as the orginal Federal Writers’ Program did, to capture and preserve the stories that are vital to our national narrative, history, and experience.
MORE INFORMATION
21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act Press Releases and Summaries: Rep. Leger Fernandez & Rep. Lieu
L.A. Times Article: “How a COVID-era Federal Writers Project went from wilde idea to a proposed bill” by Dorany Pineda, 6 May, 2021
A new book about the original Federal Writers Project: Republic of Detours: How the New Deal Paid Broke Writers to Rediscover America, by Scott Borchert Read the review here.
Educational materials and lesson plans on Federal Writers Project
