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.
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)
Meet the 2024 Judges
Jake Skeets and Kelli Jo Ford are the judges of the 2024 Writers Exchange Award.
(Credits: Deanna Dent; Adam Ewing)
Kelli Jo Ford is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Her novel-in-stories debut, Crooked Hallelujah, was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the Story Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Dublin Literary Award, and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. She is the recipient of honors and awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, the Paris Review’s Plimpton Prize, a Creative Capital Award, and a Native Arts & Cultures Foundation Artist Fellowship. She teaches writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Jake Skeets is the author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, winner of the National Poetry Series, American Book Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and Whiting Award. His poetry and prose have appeared widely in journals and magazines including Poetry, the New York Times Magazine, and the Paris Review. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. His honors include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Arts Projects, a Mellon Projecting All Voices Fellowship, and the 2023-2024 Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. He is from the Navajo Nation and teaches at the University of Oklahoma.
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
- Simon Han, Oklahoma
- Jean Hanson, Wyoming
- Charlotte Holmes, Pennsylvania
- 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.