CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
The Erzsébetváros Local Government, District VII, Budapest, for its 2026
Erzsébetváros Literary Fellowship program,
announces a call for applications
I. Eligible applicants: Authors of fiction and poetry writing in Hungarian, with a registered permanent or temporary address in Hungary, aged 35 to 64, with at least two literary books that were not self-published.
II. Purpose of the call: Non-repayable financial support for the winners of the call.
III. Conditions:
1. Authors meeting all of the following conditions are eligible to apply:
a) they have a registered permanent or temporary address in Hungary,
b) they are at least 35 and under 65 years of age,
c) they have at least two literary books in Hungarian that were not self-published.
2. Persons receiving a state fellowship at the time of assessment may not take part in the call.
3. If awarded the fellowship, the applicant author undertakes, by applying, to:
a) take part in cultural events in Erzsébetváros and elsewhere (awards ceremony, fellows’ introductory evening)
b) submit a short story (tárca) or a poem related to Erzsébetváros during the fellowship period,
c) at the end of the fellowship, submit a text of 20 000 characters for prose or 5,000 characters for poetry,
d) report at the end of the program on any new literary work written during the fellowship period,
e) acknowledge the support if works written during the fellowship are published in book form.
4. Each author may receive the fellowship only once.
If a fellow does not fulfill the obligations in point 3, they will be removed from the fellowship program and must repay the support received up to that point.
IV. Amount of support: for 6 months (May–October 2026), net per month HUF 200,000.
V. The following documents must be submitted with the application:
1. Professional CV
2. List of publications
3. Work plan and writing sample: for prose writers, 2 pages of text (12-point font, 1.5 line spacing); for poets, at least 5 and at most 7 poems. Applicants with a drama excerpt may apply with 4 pages of text.
4. Declaration on whether the applicant receives a state fellowship.
5. The applicant’s contact details (phone number, email address)
VI. How to apply:
Applications “Erzsébetvárosi irodalmi ösztöndíj” (Erzsébetváros Literary Fellowship) and in accordance with the conditions of the call
by April 30, 2026.
In person at the Mayor’s Office, 1076 Budapest, Garay u. 5., during customer service hours (Tuesday 08:00-12:00, Wednesday 08:00-12:00 and 13:00-18:00, Thursday 13:00-16:00).
By post to the following address:
Erzsébetváros Local Government, District VII, Budapest
(1073 Budapest, Erzsébet krt. 6.)
VII. Conditions for validity: submission of the professional CV and its annexes in 1 copy by the deadline.
Only applications submitted within the deadline can be supported; missing items may be supplied once, and must be submitted within 5 days of the electronic notification.
The applicant alone is responsible for the content of the application, the accuracy of the data provided and the presence of the required annexes. The Local Government may verify the accuracy of the data.
VIII. Assessment and contract:
From the applications submitted, the professional jury selects up to 5 applicants. In justified cases it may also propose a special prize winner. The special prize winner is entitled to one-off financial support of HUF 300,000 net. The fellowships are awarded on the proposal of the professional jury by the Education, Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Council of Erzsébetváros, District VII, Budapest, which decides by June 9, 2026 at the latest.
Applicants are notified of the result within 5 days of the decision electronically. There is no appeal against the decision.
The Local Government signs a support contract with the fellows; payment of the support begins after it is signed.
IX. Accounting for the support:
The winning applicant must prepare a detailed professional report , which must be submitted in writing by December 31, 2026 to the Human Services Office of the Erzsébetváros Mayor’s Office, District VII, Budapest.
For repayment of support used without entitlement, and for matters not detailed in this call, the provisions of the support contract apply.
X. Information:
Regarding the application procedure, further information is available from Katalin Prógli at the Human Services Office (Tel: 462-3399, E-mail: Progli.Katalin@erzsebetvaros.hu)