THE LOFT LITERARY CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $100,000 in support of the Minnesota Writers Career Initiative Program. Founded in 1974, The Loft, an independent literary center, fosters a writing community, supports the artistic development of individual writers, and builds an audience for literature. Jerome Foundation has supported the Writers Career Initiative Program since 1992. It serves writers who have achieved artistic recognition for their work and who have the potential to significantly expand that recognition and audience. The program's purpose is to utilize and leverage this potential in order to advance those writers. The program is open to poets, prose writers, authors of children's literature and spoken word artists. Projects may include editorial or mentoring support for new manuscripts, career development activities such as developing public speaking skills, book tours and collaborations with other writers or artists; strategies for connecting with communities or regions important to a writer's voice or genre; and the creation of audio books, CDs and websites.