Hellman-Hammett Grants
Human Rights Watch administers the Hellman/Hammett grant program for writers all around the world who have been victims of political persecution and are in financial need. The grants are financed through a gift from the estates of two American writers, Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett who were both interrogated in the 1950s about their political beliefs and affiliations; Hellman by the House Un-American Activities Committee and Hammett by Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, whose communist paranoia helped fuel nearly a decade of anti-communist "witch hunts." Hellman suffered professionally and had trouble getting work for a number of years. Her long-time companion, novelist Dashiell Hammett, spent time in jail.
The grants are awarded every spring after the nominations have been reviewed by a seven-member selection committee composed of authors, editors, and journalists who have a long-standing interest in free expression issues. Nominations are requested by December 1 of each year and should be sent to the New York office of Human Rights Watch. The nominator should try to provide: 1) biographical information about the nominee; 2) a list of the nominee's published writing; 3) a statement about the political persecution suffered; 4) a statement of need.
Hellman/Hammett grants typically range from $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000. In addition to providing much needed financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants focus attention on repression of free speech and censorship by publicizing the persecution that the grant recipients endured. In some cases the publicity is a protection against further abuse. In other cases, the writers request anonymity because of the dangerous circumstances in which they and their families are living.
Since the program began in 1990, more than 400 writers have received grants including several group grants to writers in Bosnia, Burma, Peru, and Sierra Leone. Even so, the recipients are a tiny portion of the many writers around the world whose books have been banned or who have been exiled, imprisoned, tortured, and harassed because of their work.
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