Three Emerging Writer Awards are presented each year.
The Marianne Russo Award, Scotti Merrill Award, and Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award recognize and support writers who possess exceptional talent and demonstrate potential for lasting literary careers.
Each award is tailored to a particular literary form. The Merrill Award recognizes a poet, while fiction writers may apply for either the Johnson Award (for a short story) or the Russo Award (for a novel-in-progress).
Winners receive full tuition support for our January Seminar and Writers’ Workshop Program, round-trip airfare, lodging, a $500 honorarium, and the opportunity to appear on stage during the Seminar.
Please review the criteria, complete the application form, and upload the required documents via Submittable. Due to an increased volume of applications and our thorough review process, we have implemented a $12 application fee to cover review costs.
Important Dates:
Applications will be open April 15 – June 28, 2019. Winners will be notified in the fall.
Eligibility:
Writers of any age who live in the United States and have not yet published a book with a major publisher are eligible to apply. If you are the author of a book that is self-published, published with an independent press, or had a print run of 500 or fewer copies, you may or may not be eligible. If you think your eligibility could be called into question, please provide relevant details about prior publications as part of your cover letter. We reserve the right to make all final decisions regarding eligibility.
Previous Winners
Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award
—2019—
Joe Dornich
—2018—
Dantiel Moniz
—2017—
Munib Khan
—2016—
Vincent Scarpa
—2015—
Chaney Kwak
—2014—
Liz Gordon
—2013—
Sharon Harrigan
—2012—
Sabra Wineteer
—2011—
George Kamide
—2010—
Andrew Alexander
—2009—
Martha Otis
—2008—
Mehdi Okasi
Nami Mun
Marianne Russo Award
—2019—
Ross Feeler
—2018—
Sara Allen
—2017—
Elizabeth Engelman
—2016—
Jordan Jacks
—2015—
Joshua Bodwell
—2014—
Theodore Wheeler
—2013—
Brooks Whitney Phillips
—2012—
Christy Strick
—2011—
Kim Adrian
—2010—
George Green
—2009—
Patricia Engel
—2008—
Kristen-Paige Madonia
Katherine Schaefer
Scotti Merrill Award
—2019—
Michelle Peñaloza
—2018—
Michael Lee
—2017—
Melinda Goodman
—2016—
Rob Stephens
—2015—
Jay Deshpande
—2014—
Christine Shan Shan Hou
—2013—
Scott Brennan
—2012—
Diana Khoi Nguyen
—2011—
Brynn Saito
—2010—
Will Dowd
—2009—
April Puciata
—2008—
Nancy Pearson
Jacqueline Jones LaMon