Established in 1984, the Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award introduces emerging writers to the New York City literary community. The prestigious award, which aims to provide promising writers a network for professional advancement, has helped to launch the careers of Sue Monk Kidd (The Invention of Wings, The Secret Life of Bees), David Mura (Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei), Craig Santos Perez (from unincorporated territory [åmot]), Mona Simpson (Case), Lidia Yuknavitch (Thrust), and others. Since Poets & Writers began the Writers Exchange in 1984, 114 writers from forty-four states or jurisdictions have been selected to participate. The award is generously supported by Maureen Mahon Egen, a member of the Poets & Writers Emeritus Board.
North and South Dakota Selected for Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award
Writers from the states of North and South Dakota are invited to apply for the 2025 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. One fiction writer and one poet will be selected. Winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to meet with top literary professionals, including editors, agents, publishers, and prominent writers. This year’s judges are Kali Fajardo-Anstine for fiction and Chet'la Sebree for poetry. Entries must be submitted by March 1, 2025.
Read the Guidelines and submit an entry form
Meet the 2025 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award Judges
Kali Fajardo-Anstine (left) and Chet'la Sebree (right).
Credits: Bear Gutierrez, Shannon Woodloe
Kali Fajardo-Anstine is the nationally bestselling author of the novel Woman of Light (One World, 2022) and the widely acclaimed short story collection Sabrina & Corina, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of an American Book Award. She is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and the 2021 recipient of the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was the 2022–2024 Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University. Fajardo-Anstine is from Denver, Colorado.
Chet'la Sebree is the author of Field Study (FSG Originals, June 2021), winner of the 2020 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. She is also the author of Mistress, selected by Cathy Park Hong as the winner of the 2018 New Issues Poetry Prize and nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry. Her next collection of poetry, Blue Opening, is forthcoming from Tin House in 2025. She is an assistant professor of English at George Washington University and teaching in Randolph College’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program.
Native American Writers Emerald ᏃᏈᏏ GoingSnake and Kira Hayen Win 2024 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award
Emerald ᏃᏈᏏ GoingSnake (left) and Kira Hayen (right).
Credits: Sunny Lu, Shola C. Sogunro
Poet Emerald ᏃᏈᏏ GoingSnake and fiction writer Kira Hayen are the winners of the 2024 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. The judges were Jake Skeets for poetry and Kelli Jo Ford for fiction. In September, the two winners will travel to New York City to meet with agents, editors, authors, and other publishing professionals. In addition, the winners will each receive a $500 honorarium and present a reading for the public, hosted by Poets & Writers; and be invited to participate in a one-month residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Banner, Wyoming.
Of GoingSnake’s winning submission, In Memory, Skeets said:
“These poems are an embodiment, each break and beat is something felt—like a dance or two birds swinging in the air. The poems position Native poetry in conversation with the wider US poetry landscape in what feels like perfect timing as we turn to language to help strengthen our communities.”
Ford said of Hayen’s winning submission, Seeds:
“This story astounds in form and function, turning traditional Hasinai stories into fully formed contemporary characters, complete with worry, pain, and love. It, too, is a teaching story, asking us to consider what is the privilege of living on a warming planet full of plastics destined to outlast us all. The answer is as moving as it is surprising. I’m desperate to read more from this incredible writer.”
Read an excerpt from Emerald ᏃᏈᏏ GoingSnake’s manuscript, 2024 winner in poetry. (PDF)
Read an excerpt from Kira Hayen's manuscript, 2024 winner in fiction. (PDF)
Past Winners
- Paige Ackerson-Kiely, Vermont
- Constance Alexander, Kentucky
- Nolde Alexius, Louisiana
- Doug Anderson, Massachusetts
- Kimo Armitage, Hawai‘i
- Elaine Beale, California (*)
- Sandra Beasley, Washington, D.C.
- Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, California (*)
- Sean Bernard, California (*)
- Chana Bloch, California
- Magda Bogin, New York
- Jonathan Bolt, West Virginia
- Anthony C. Brusate, Kentucky
- B. J. Buckley, Montana
- Claudia Burbank, New Jersey
- John Caddy, Minnesota
- John Campbell, Oregon
- Karen Chamberlain, Utah
- Bryn Chancellor, Alabama
- Michael Chitwood, North Carolina
- Sanda Moore Coleman, Kansas
- Larry Colker, California (*)
- Carolyn Coman, Massachusetts
- Lydia A. Cyrus, West Virginia
- Laura Joyce Davis, California (*)
- Daniel Degnan, New Jersey
- Joan Dempsey, Maine
- Courtney Denelle, Rhode Island
- Janet Desaulniers, Illinois
- Denise Duhamel, Pennsylvania
- Kim Edwards, Ohio
- John Engman, Minnesota
- Brian Evans-Jones, Maine
- David Ehmcke, Iowa
- Blas Falconer, Tennessee
- Roger Fanning, Washington
- José Faus, Kansas
- Sascha Feinstein, Indiana
- Bryan Allen Fierro, Alaska
- David Galef, Mississippi
- Dorothy Gannon, Vermont
- Kate Gaskin, Nebraska
- Elizabeth Graver, Massachusetts
- Kate Green, Minnesota
- Emerald ᏃᏈᏏ GoingSnake, Giduwa and Mvskoke nations (Oklahoma)
- Simon Han, Oklahoma
- Jean Hanson, Wyoming
- Charlotte Holmes, Pennsylvania
- Kira Hayen, Caddo Nation (Oklahoma)
- Joshua Idaszak, Arkansas
- Anushah Jiwani, Arkansas
- Matthew Kailey, Colorado
- Laura Kasischke, Michigan
- Sue Monk Kidd, South Carolina
- Miriam Kuznets, Texas
- Gene Kwak, Nebraska
- Mary La Chapelle, Minnesota
- Robert Lacy, Minnesota
- Dylan Landis, California (*)
- Joseph Langdon, Nevada
- Jeanne Leiby, Florida
- Lisa Lewis, Texas
- Steven L'Italien, Arizona
- Quitman Marshall, South Carolina
- Deirdra McAfee, Virginia
- Shena McAuliffe, Missouri
- Jeanne McDonald, Tennessee
- Mollye Miller, Maryland
- Harry Moore, Alabama
- Jim Moore, Minnesota
- Lee Ann Mortenson, Utah
- Delisa Mulkey, Georgia
- David Mura, Minnesota
- Patrick Murtagh, Montana
- Rhonda Nelson, Florida
- Brent Newsom, Oklahoma
- Fae Myenne Ng, California
- Elizabeth Oness, Wisconsin
- Jill Osier, Alaska
- Craig Santos Perez, California (*)
- David Peterman, Ohio
- Paul Pfeiffer, Indiana
- Rosemary Powers, Nevada
- C. L. Rawlins, Wyoming
- Jesus “Chuy” Renteria, Iowa
- David Reynolds, Michigan
- Brad Richard, Louisiana
- Andrés Rodriguez, Missouri
- Ruth Roston, Minnesota
- Angela Rydell, Wisconsin
- Diza Sauers, Arizona
- Nancy Schoenberger, New York
- Adam Schwartz, Maryland
- Rebecca Seiferle, New Mexico
- Barbara Selfridge, California
- David Dean Shavit, Illinois
- Pamela Shephard, New Mexico
- Aleda Shirley, Mississippi
- Mona Simpson, New York
- Gregory Blake Smith, Minnesota
- Matthew Stadler, Washington
- Norman Stock, New York
- Susan Straight, California
- Craig Taylor, California
- Willett Thomas, Washington, D.C.
- Alicia Upano, Hawai‘i
- Reetika Vaziriani, Virginia
- Jodie Noel Vinson, Rhode Island
- Jane Wampler, Colorado
- Lauren K. Watel, Georgia
- David Weaver, North Carolina
- Susan Welch, Minnesota
- Allison Benis White, California (*)
- Lidia Yuknavitch, Oregon
(*) Winners of the California Writers Exchange, which was offered periodically from 2004 to 2013, with support from the James Irvine Foundation.
Read more about past WEX Award Winners. (PDF)
Read an essay by past winner Brian Evans-Jones. (PDF)
Watch a video of past winner Sandra Beasley speaking about the award.