Lannan Foundation

The Lannan Foundation is a Santa Fe family foundation that supports cultural projects and ideas promoting cultural freedom, diversity, and creativity. Its literary work links that broad mission to the creation and circulation of English-language literature, including a sustained partnership with Dalkey Archive Press and the annual Lannan Selections series.

Purpose and Literary Program

Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Foundation focuses its funding on special cultural projects and ideas that promote and protect freedom, diversity, and creativity. Within that wider program, its literary work supports the creation and presentation of exceptional English-language literature while seeking to develop a wider audience for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The stated aim therefore encompasses both the making of literary work and its encounter with readers.

Partnership with Dalkey Archive Press

Since 1990, the Foundation has supported projects by Dalkey Archive Press in several forms. Its assistance has included monetary support for authors, audience-development programs, and direct funding for publication. The partnership thus reaches beyond the production of individual books: it also supports authors and efforts to bring their work to a broader public.

The Lannan Selections

Established in 2000, the Lannan Selections series gives institutional form to the Foundation and the Press’s shared commitment to literary creativity. The Foundation supports publication of the books each year, while working closely with the Press to extend their reach and help them achieve a permanent place in literature. Authors published in the series include Ishmael Reed, Stanley Elkin, Ann Quin, Nicholas Mosley, William Eastlake, and David Antin. The series connects the Foundation’s cultural mission to a recurring publishing program: selecting literary work, supporting its publication, and seeking readers for it over time.