MCW Alumni Awards & Honors

Listed alphabetically by award.

5 under 35 National Book Foundation Award

2021 Nathan Harris (MFA 2020)

American Short(er) Fiction Award

2024 John McManus (MCW 2004)

Anna Rabinowitz Award, Poetry Society of America

2023 Farid Matuk (MFA 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 (MFA 2019)

Caine Prize for African Writing

2015 F.T. (Fatima) Kola, for “A Party for the Colonel” (Shortlist)

Darrel Ayers National Playwriting Award Second Prize

2018 Cecelia Raker (MFA 2020)

Edgar Award, Best First Novel

2017 Flynn Berry (MFA 2014), Under the Harrow

Fellowship, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

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

Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

2023 Iheoma Nwachukwu (MCW 2014)

Forbes 30 Under 30

2024 MCW Alum Lauren Aliza Green (MCW 2021)

Fulbright Awards

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

Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry

2023 Tawanda Mulalu (MCW 2026)

Guggenheim Fellowships

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

Hodder Fellowship, Princeton University

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

Humanitas Screenwriting Award

2024 Lara Palmqvist (MCW 2024)

International DUBLIN Literary Award Longlist

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

International Dylan Thomas Prize

2017 Fiona McFarlane (MFA 2012), The High Places

James Laughlin Award, Academy of American Poets

2010 Michael Dickman (MFA 2005), Flies

Jerome Fellowship, Playwrites Center

2023-2025 Paul Kruse (MFA 2020)

Kingsley Tufts

2023 Roger Reeves (MFA 2010)

Lambda Literary Award

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

Lannan Literary Fellowship

2010 Michael McGriff (MFA 2006)

Man Booker Prize Longlist

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

Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting Second Prize

2019 Sam Mayer (MFA 2021)

Miles Franklin Literary Award (Australia) Shortlist

2014 Fiona McFarlane (MFA 2012), The Night Guest

National Book Award Finalist

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

National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships/Grants

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

National Poetry Series

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

National Translation Award

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

Nicholl Fellowship

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

O. Henry Best Short Story

2021 Sindya Bhanoo (MFA 2019)

Oprah’s Book Club Selection

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

Outstanding UT Alumnus

2011 Abhijat Joshi (MFA 2002)

PEN Emerging Writers Award in Fiction

2011 Smith Henderson (MFA 2009), for “Number Stations”

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

2016 James Hannaham (MFA 2006), Delicious Foods

PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction

2013 Kevin Powers (MFA 2012), The Yellow Birds

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

2021 Sindya Bhanoo (MFA 2019), Seeking Fortune Elsewhere

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection Finalist

2023 Roger Reeves (MFA 2010), Best Barvarian

Poetry Society of America Award

2021 Lauren Aliza Green (MCW 2021)

Pulitzer Prize Finalist

2014 Philipp Meyer (MFA 2008), The Son

Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellowship at WICW

2024 Chessy Normile (MCW 2019)

Ruth Lilly Fellowship in Poetry

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

Shearing Fellowship (Black Mountain Institute)

2024 Monica Macansantos  (MCW 2013)

Sloan Student Discovery Prize

2023 Lara Palmqvist (MCW 2024), The Garden

United States Artists Fellowship

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

UK Guardian First Book Prize

2014 Fiona McFarlane (MFA 2012) shortlisted, The Night Guest
2012 Kevin Powers (MFA 2012) winner, The Yellow Birds

Van Lier Fellow and Jerome Fellow

2024 Minghao Tu (MCW 2020)

Voss Literary Prize (Australia)

2014 Fiona McFarlane (MFA 2012), The Night Guest

Wallace Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University

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

Whiting Award

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

Yale Drama Prize

2009 Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig (MFA 2009) Lidless