Alumni Newsletter, Summer 2022

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! We are happy to share this news with you about all the successes in our alumni community. Soon you’ll be hearing about some changes in the look and content of this newsletter, which we hope will make it easier to navigate. FEATURED ACHIEVEMENTS Patricia Engel’s novel Infinite …Read More

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Announcing our 2023 Emerging Writer Award Winners

Each year, we present three prizes — the Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award, Scotti Merrill Award, and Marianne Russo Award — that recognize emerging writers who possess exceptional talent and demonstrate potential for lasting literary careers.

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2023 Teacher & Librarian Scholarships

We are thrilled to once again recognize a group of individuals who are making positive impacts on readers in their communities. We are pleased to offer these talented educators and librarians full scholarships to our annual Seminar. We hope and believe that participation in our vibrant literary community inspires fresh engagement with literature in schools and libraries around the country.

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Photo courtesy Florida Keys Public Libraries: Betty Suarez's third grade class, Reynolds Elementary School, 1965-66. Gift Lisa Suarez.

KWLS Alumni Newsletter, Spring 2022

As we settle into fall, we’re busy getting ready for the Seminar and Workshops this January. After the unexpected hiatus, we’re thrilled to be to reconnecting with our community in person to celebrate literature once more.

Meanwhile, our alumni community has been busy, too. It’s always inspiring to see what everyone has achieved–huge congratulations to all!


Photo courtesy Florida Keys Public Libraries: Betty Suarez's third grade class, Reynolds Elementary School, 1965-66. Gift Lisa Suarez.

KWLS Alumni Newsletter, Fall 2021

As we settle into fall, we’re busy getting ready for the Seminar and Workshops this January. After the unexpected hiatus, we’re thrilled to be to reconnecting with our community in person to celebrate literature once more.

Meanwhile, our alumni community has been busy, too. It’s always inspiring to see what everyone has achieved–huge congratulations to all!


2022 Emerging Writer Award Winners

Announcing our 2022 Emerging Writer Award Winners

Each year, we present three prizes — the Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award, Scotti Merrill Award, and Marianne Russo Award — that recognize emerging writers who possess exceptional talent and demonstrate potential for lasting literary careers.


2022 Teacher & Librarian Scholarship Winners

2022 Teacher & Librarian Scholarships

We are thrilled to once again recognize a group of individuals who are making positive impacts on readers in their communities. We are pleased to offer these talented educators and librarians full scholarships to our annual Seminar. We hope and believe that participation in our vibrant literary community inspires fresh engagement with literature in schools and libraries around the country.


Photo courtesy Florida Keys Public Libraries: Betty Suarez's third grade class, Reynolds Elementary School, 1965-66. Gift Lisa Suarez.

KWLS Alumni Newsletter, Spring 2021

Spring is here: mangoes are ripening on the trees, the temperature is rising, and our streets are a little calmer. Happily, we are back at work putting together the 2022 workshop & scholarship programs and look forward to seeing many of you in person again in the future.

Our alumni community has been busy; see below for some astonishing recent achievements. Many congratulations to all!


Announcing our 2021 Emerging Writer Award Winners

Each year, we present three prizes — the Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award, Scotti Merrill Award, and Marianne Russo Award — that recognize emerging writers who possess exceptional talent and demonstrate potential for lasting literary careers.


Photo courtesy Florida Keys Public Libraries: Betty Suarez's third grade class, Reynolds Elementary School, 1965-66. Gift Lisa Suarez.

KWLS Alumni Newsletter, Fall 2020

We’re delighted to share here the many accomplishments of our community of writers. The French painter Paul Cezanne once said, “We live in a rainbow of chaos.” Artists and writers—like you—take those colors and that chaos and turn them into something from which others can learn and grow. We thank you for that important and challenging work.


Accepting applications for 2021 Emerging Writer Awards

Each year, we present three awards to unpublished writers with exceptional talent. This year will be no different–at least in this respect. Even as many of our other programs are suspended due to the pandemic, we’re pleased to once again have the opportunity to support new voices in American literature through the 2021 Emerging Writer Awards.