{"id":292278,"date":"2025-05-05T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/?p=292278"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T18:11:15","slug":"trumps-attack-on-the-nea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/trumps-attack-on-the-nea\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Latest Attack on the NEA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear Reader,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late Friday night, Electric Literature\u2014along with at least 40 other literary arts organizations\u2014 received a notice from the National Endowment for the Arts that our 2025 grant has been terminated. The reason given was that our work does not \u201creflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.\u201d This morning, the NEA\u2019s literary arts staff announced their last day would be May 30. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a transparently autocratic effort to dismantle the nation\u2019s most important arts granting organization and to broadly undermine artistic progress. After threatening so many, it is no coincidence that Trump has turned his attacks to the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative expression is the lifeblood that vivifies a free and democratic culture. Trump is obsessed with a heritage and legacy of his own imagination. For him, literature is forward facing and therefore dangerous. Every story, even about the past, is a new story. Every story a writer tells is one Trump cannot control.<\/p>\n\n\n