MCW Alumni Awards & Honors

Listed alphabetically by award.

5 under 35 National Book Foundation Award

2021 Nathan Harris (MCW 2020)

Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

2022 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), The Renunciations

American Short(er) Fiction Award

2024 John McManus (MCW 2004)

Anna Rabinowitz Award, Poetry Society of America

2023 Farid Matuk (MCW 2004)

Austin Film Festival New Voices Award

2024 Rachel Kondo (MCW 2016)

Australia Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry

2024 Gavin Yuan Gao (MCW 2025)

Best American Short Stories

2024 Taisia Kitaiskaia (MCW 2015), The Engelond

CAPE New Writers Fellowship

2020 Sam Boyer (MCW 2019)

Caine Prize for African Writing

2015 F.T. (Fatima) Kola (MCW 2017), A Party for the Colonel (Shortlist)

Cave Canem Poetry Prize

2015 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), Bestiary

Darrel Ayers National Playwriting Award Second Prize

2018 Cecelia Raker (MCW 2020)

Edgar Award, Best First Novel

2017 Flynn Berry (MCW 2014), Under the Harrow

Fellowship, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

2016 Kelly Luce (MCW 2015)
2010 Anna Maria Hong (MCW 2002)

Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

2023 Iheoma Nwachukwu (MCW 2014)

Forbes 30 Under 30

2024 Lauren Aliza Green (MCW 2021)

Fulbright Awards

2020 Jenny Browne (MCW 2007)
2014 John McManus (MCW 2004)
2013 Catherine Rogers (MCW 1994)
2012 Paz Pardo (MCW 2018)
2009 Catherine Rogers (MCW 1994)

Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry

2023 Tawanda Mulalu (MCW 2026)

Guggenheim Fellowships

2023 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010)
2023 James Hannaham (MCW 2006)
2020 Michael Dickman (MCW 2005)
2017 Carson Kreitzer (MCW 2006)
2017 Emily Rapp Black (MCW 2004)
2015 Matthew Dickman (MCW 2005)
2015 Kevin Powers (MCW 2012)
2010 Philipp Meyer (MCW 2008)

Harry Ransom Center Research Fellow

2025 Lara Palmqvist (MCW 2024)

Hodder Fellowship, Princeton University

2014 Gabriel Dean (MCW 2012)
2014 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010)
2009 Michael Dickman (MCW 2005)
2002 Marlys West (MCW 1997)

Humanitas Screenwriting Award

2024 Lara Palmqvist (MCW 2024)

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

2020 Ladan Osman (MCW 2010), Exiles of Eden
2017 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), Bestiary

International DUBLIN Literary Award Longlist

2016 Smith Henderson (MCW 2009), Fourth of July Creek

International Dylan Thomas Prize

2017 Fiona McFarlane (MCW 2012), The High Places

James Laughlin Award, Academy of American Poets

2010 Michael Dickman (MCW 2005), Flies

Jerome Fellowship, Playwrites Center

2023-2025 Paul Kruse (MCW 2020)

Jesse H. Jones Award

2024 Dominic Smith (MCW 2003), Return to Valetto

Kate Tufts Discovery Award

2018 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), Bestiary

Kingsley Tufts

2023 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010)

Lambda Literary Award

2021 Alex Ohlin (MCW 2001), We Want What We Want

Lambda Literary Award Finalist

2017 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), Bestiary
2024 Greg Marshall (MCW 2013), Leg

Lannan Literary Fellowship

2010 Michael McGriff (MCW 2006)

Locus Award for Best Anthology

2025 Desiree S. Evans (MCW 2020), The Black Girl Survives in this One

Man Booker Prize Longlist

2016 Virginia Reeves (MCW 2012), Work Like Any Other

Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship for Writers

2025 Monica Macansantos (MCW 2013)

Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award Longlist

2025 Lauren Aliza Green (MCW 2021), The World After Alice

Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting Second Prize

2019 Sam Mayer (MCW 2021)

Miles Franklin Literary Award (Australia) Shortlist

2014 Fiona McFarlane (MCW 2012), The Night Guest

National Book Award Finalist

2024 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010), Best Barbarian
2016 Karan Mahajan (MCW 2015), The Association of Small Bombs
2016 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), Bestiary
2012 Kevin Powers (MCW 2012), The Yellow Birds

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

2021 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), The Renunciations

National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships/Grants

2023 Bradley Trumpheffler (MCW 2023)
2022 Rachel Heng (MCW 2020)
2020 Greg Marshall (MCW 2013)
2014 sam sax (MCW 2016)
2014 Carolina Ebeid (MCW 2012)
2013 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010)
2013 Miriam Bird Greenberg (MCW 2008)
2013 Jenny Browne (MCW 2007)
2011 Carson Kreitzer (MCW 2006)
2009 Michael McGriff (MCW 2006)
2003 Marlys West (MCW 1997)
2002 Joseph Skibell (MCW 1996)

National Poetry Series

2022 Daniel Ruiz (MCW 2020), Reasons for the Dark to Be Afraid (Finalist)
2016 sam sax (MCW 2016), Madness
2009 Carrie Fountain (MCW 2004), Burn Lake
2005 Steve Gehrke (MCW 2002), Michelangelo’s Seizure

National Translation Award

2020 Hedgie Choi (MCW 2021)
2020 Seon Seo (MCW 2021)

Nicholl Fellowship

2023 Semifinalist: Lara Palmqvist (MCW 2024), The Garden
2022 Sam Boyer (MCW 2019)

O. Henry Best Short Story

2021 Sindya Bhanoo (MCW 2019)

Oprah’s Book Club Selection

2021 Nathan Harris (MCW 2020), The Sweetness of Water

Outstanding UT Alumnus

2011 Abhijat Joshi (MCW 2002)

PEN Emerging Writers Award in Fiction

2011 Smith Henderson (MCW 2009), Number Stations

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

2016 James Hannaham (MCW 2006), Delicious Foods

PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction

2013 Kevin Powers (MCW 2012), The Yellow Birds

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection Finalist

2025 Iheoma Nwachukwu (MCW 2014), Japa and Other Stories
2021 Sindya Bhanoo (MCW 2019), Seeking Fortune Elsewhere

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection Finalist

2023 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010), Best Barvarian

Playwrights’ Center Fellowship Runner-Up

2025 Jaymes Sanchez (MCW 2022), A Plausible History of Xicotencatl II

Poetry Society of America Award

2021 Lauren Aliza Green (MCW 2021)

Publishing Triangle Award

2017 Donika Kelly (MCW 2008), Bestiary

Pulitzer Prize Finalist

2014 Philipp Meyer (MCW 2008), The Son

Randy Shilts Award

2024 Greg Marshall (MCW 2013), Leg

Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellowship at WICW

2024 Chessy Normile (MCW 2019)

Ruth Lilly Fellowship in Poetry

2018 sam sax (MCW 2016)
2010 Miriam Bird Greenberg (MCW 2008)
2009 Malachi Black (MCW 2010)
2008 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010)
2005 Michael McGriff (MCW 2006)

Shearing Fellowship (Black Mountain Institute)

2024 Monica Macansantos  (MCW 2013)

Sillerman First Book Prize

2014 Ladan Osman (MCW 2010), The Kitchen-Dweller’s Testimony

Sloan Student Discovery Prize

2023 Lara Palmqvist (MCW 2024), The Garden

United States Artists Fellowship

2024 Farid Matuk (MCW 2004)
2011 Kirk Lynn (MCW 2004) – Jeanne & Michael Klein Fellow in Theatre Arts

UK Guardian First Book Prize

2014 Fiona McFarlane (MCW 2012), The Night Guest (Shortlist)
2012 Kevin Powers (MCW 2012), The Yellow Birds

Van Lier Fellow and Jerome Fellow

2024 Minghao Tu (MCW 2020)

Voss Literary Prize (Australia)

2014 Fiona McFarlane (MCW 2012), The Night Guest

Wallace Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University

2023 Luci Arbus-Scandiffo (MCW 2023)
2021 Jackson Holbert (MCW 2021)
2020 Shangyang Fang (MCW 2020)
2019 F. T. Kola (MCW 2017)
2018 sam sax (MCW 2016)
2017 Jacob Albert (MCW 2017)
2017 Darrow Farr (MCW 2017)
2010 Miriam Bird Greenberg (MCW 2008)
2006 Michael McGriff (MCW 2006)
2003 Bruce Snider (MCW 1996)
1994 Arthur Bradford (MCW 1998)

Washington State Book Award Finalist

2024 Dominic Smith (MCW 2003), Return to Valetto

Whiting Award

2024 Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig (MCW 2009)
2021 Ladan Osman (MCW 2010)
2015 Roger Reeves (MCW 2010)

Yale Drama Prize

2009 Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig (MCW 2009), Lidless