The Whiting Foundation announced the 10 winners of its annual Whiting Awards, given to writers “based on early accomplishment and the promise of great work to come.”
The $50,000 prizes recognize authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
Four fiction authors received prizes this year. Sidik Fofana was named a winner; his debut novel, Stories From the Tenants Downstairs, was published last August by Scribner. Carribean Fragoza, author of Eat the Mouth That Feeds You, took home one of the prizes, along with Marcia Douglas (The Marvellous Equations of the Dread). R. Kikuo Johnson, the author and illustrator of books including Night Fisher, became the first graphic novelist to win one of the awards.
The nonfiction writers named winners of the awards were Linda Kinstler, author of Come to This Court & Cry: How the Holocaust Ends, and Stephania Taladrid, a contributing writer for the New Yorker.
Poets Tommye Blount (Fantasia for the Man in Blue) and Ama Codjo (Bluest Nude) were among this year’s winners, as was playwright Mia Chung (Catch as Catch Can). Emma Wippermann was named a winner and recognized for her poetry and plays.
The Whiting Awards were established in 1985. Previous winners have included Colson Whitehead, Yiyun Li, Ling Ma, ZZ Packer, and Daniel Alarcón.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
