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, 118 writers from forty-six states and four jurisdictions have been selected to participate. The award is generously supported by Maureen Mahon Egen, a member of the Poets & Writers Emeritus Board
Conneticut Selected for 2026 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award
Writers from the state of Conneticut are invited to apply for the 2026 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 Ciaran Berry for poetry and Alejandro Heredia for fiction. Entries must be submitted by March 1, 2026.
Read the guidelines and submit an entry form
Meet the 2026 Judges
Ciaran Berry (left) and Alejandro Heredia (right)
(Credits: Sara McIngvale, Demi Vera.)
Ciaran Berry was born in Dublin and grew up in Connemara and Donegal. He is the author of four collections of poetry, States (2025), Liner Notes (2018), The Dead Zoo (2013), and The Sphere of Birds (2008), all published by The Gallery Press. His work has been featured in AGNI, American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, Best of Irish Poetry, The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry London, The Missouri Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, The Southern Review, and The Threepenny Review. The accolades his work has received include a Whiting Award, the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and two Pushcart Prizes. He lives with his family in West Hartford and codirects the Creative Writing Program at Trinity College.
Alejandro Heredia is a writer from the Bronx. He has received fellowships from Lambda Literary, the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York, the Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and elsewhere. He received an MFA in fiction from Hunter College. Loca (Simon & Schuster, 2025) is his debut novel.
- - -Kristine Knapp and Courtney Huse Wika Win 2025 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award
Kristine Knapp (left) and Courtney Huse Wika (right)
Credits: Tim Knapp, Jimi Marshall
The winners of the 2025 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award were Kristine Knapp for fiction and Courtney Huse Wika for poetry. The judges were Kali Farjardo-Anstine for fiction and Chet'la Sebree for poetry. In fall, 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 Knapp's winning submission, Purgatory, Farjardo-Anstine said:
“With glimmers of humor and heartfelt humanity, this submission sings with nuance and writerly insight. From an imagined purgatory where one’s only companion is an unruly chihuahua to an awkward matinee at the local theater, these pages offer a type of escape, a form of entertainment that still manages to teach us about being human. I loved these pages and can’t wait to read more from this talented writer.”
Sebree said of Huse Wika's winning submission, Pioneer Species:
“These selections from Pioneer Species nimbly yoke the natural world to the human one of grief, illness, and loss. These dexterous poems, attuned to their sonic and imagistic landscapes, navigate the precarity of existence, as the speaker drapes mortality-related dread in the lush beauty of flora and fauna also arcing toward survival.”
Read an excerpt from Kristine Knap's manuscript, 2025 winner in fiction. (PDF)
Read an excerpt from Courtney Huse Wika's manuscript, 2025 winner in poetry. (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 Ehcmke, 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
- Emerald ᏃᏈᏏ GoingSnake, Giduwa and Mvskoke nations (Oklahoma)
- Elizabeth Graver, Massachusetts
- Kate Green, Minnesota
- 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
- Kristine Knapp, South Dakota
- 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 (*)
- Courtney Huse Wika, South Dakota
- 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.