McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers

McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers is sponsored by The McKnight Foundation (administered by Loft Literary Center). Awards exceptional Minnesota writers through unrestricted grants to provide time and resources to develop new work.

McKnight | The Loft Literary Center McKnight Fellowships for Writers Congrats to the 2026 McKnight Fellows! 2026 Award is closed for applications 2026 McKnight Fellowships for Writers Administered by the Loft One $25,000 fellowship is awarded each year in children’s literature, including poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. This year’s award is offered to a writer for children younger than 8 years old.

Four $25,000 fellowships are offered in alternating years to writers of creative prose and poetry/spoken word. The 2026 year cycle is in poetry and spoken word. Please contact program manager of awards, Cristeta Boarini at [email protected] with any questions.

Deadline to apply was November 30, 2025. The 2026 Fellows were announced on June 30, 2026. Congratulations 2026 McKnight Fellows!

The Loft Literary Center is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 McKnight Fellowships for Writers, Loft Awards in Poetry/Spoken Word and Loft Award in Children's Literature (Younger Children). Since 1982, the Loft has partnered with the McKnight Foundation to offer substantial fellowships to Minnesota writers.

The fellowships are judged by prominent American authors and editors, and the winners, all from Minnesota, are awarded $25,000 each. The judges this year were Cornelius Eady in poetry/spoken word and Helena Ku Rhee in children’s literature. The Loft received 27 qualified applications in children’s literature and 85 qualified applications in poetry/spoken word.

This year’s recipients are children’s writer Marcie Rendon (Minneapolis), spoken word artist Donte Collins (Minneapolis), and poets Yahya Frederickson (Moorhead), Kara Olson (Minneapolis), and chaun webster (Minneapolis). The honorable mentions in children’s literature are Keenan Jones (Plymouth), Colleen Muske (Stillwater), Phyllis Root (Minneapolis), and Sarah Warren (Minneapolis).

The honorable mentions in poetry/spoken word are Kyle Tran Myhre (Minneapolis), Ollie Schminkey (St. Paul), Ryan Vine (Duluth), and Carolyn Williams-Noren (Minneapolis). Read the full linked press release.

Congratulations 2026 Fellows! McKnight Fellowships for Writers Administered by the Loft Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists and culture bearers thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s arts and culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists and culture bearers has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982.

The McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently, the foundation contributes about $2.

8 million per year to its statewide fellowships. For more information, visit mcknight. org/ artistfellowships .

The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts and culture in Minnesota, neuroscience, and global food systems.

McKnight Fellowships for Writers Through the Years The McKnight Foundation has partnered with the Loft since 1982 to administer some version of the McKnight Fellowships for Writers. Here is a list of the judges and fellows throughout those years.

Fellows: Robert Bly, Marisha Chamberlain, Michael Moos, William Meissner Judges: [Maura Stanton, Harold Jaffe, Al Young], Linda Pastan, William Stafford Fellows: Patricia Hampl, Susan Allen Toth, Susan Welch, Robert Williams Judges: [Maura Stanton, Harold Jaffe, Al Young], Elizabeth Hardwick, Robley Wilson, Jr. Fellows: John Engman, Kate Green, Sheryl Noethe, Susan Marie Swanson Judges: Joy Harjo, Gwen Head, Carolyn Forche, Kenneth Koch Fellows: Emilio DeGrazia, Ellen Hawley, Lynn Levine, Stephen Rosen Judges: Dianne Benedict, James Alan McPherson, Alice Adams, Tobias Wolff Fellows: Philip Dacey, Howard Mohr, David Mura, Catherine Stearns Judges: Maggie Anderson, Ted Kooser, Donald Hall Fellows: Sam Avery, Ruth Hammond, Robert Lacy, Brenda Graves Judges: Elizabeth Arthur, Tomas Rivera, James Atlas Fellows: David Brunet, Margaret Hasse, Jim Moore, Warren Woessner Judges: Faye Kicknosway, Nicholas Christopher, June Jordan Fellows: Jill Breckenridge, Rick Christman, Steven Polansky, Will Weaver Judges: Moira Crone, Scott Russell Sanders, Rudolfo Anaya Fellows: Michael Dennis Browne, Roseann Lloyd, Sheila Packa, John Reinhard Judges: Marilyn Waniek, Judith Minty, Michael Harper Fellows: Paulette Bates Alden, Julie Landsman, John Minczeski, Lynna Williams Judges: David Long, Susan Mernit, Penelope Gilliatt Fellows: John Caddy, Louis Jenkins, Barton Sutter, Cary Waterman Judges: Christianne Balk, Ronald Wallace, Clarence Major Fellows: Jonis Agee, Robert Cowgill, Vicky Lettman, James Thornton Judges: Patricia Henley, Joyce Kornblatt, Clark Blaise Fellows: Candace Black, Florence Dacey, Kathy Houser, Patricia Kirkpatrick Judges: Naomi Shihab Nye, John Engels Fellows: Sandra Benitez, Michael Chauss, Anne Farrer Scott, Frank Wilderson, III Judges: Ishmael Reed, Mary Lee Settle Awards of Distinction: Poetry Joe Paddock, Cary Waterman Fellows: Beverly Acuff Momoi, Sheila O'Connor, David Pink, Francine Sterle Judges: Alberto Rios, Marilyn Hacker Fellows: Ron Banet, Christian Davis, Tricia Baatz, Peter Wykes Judges: Stanley Crouch, Josephine Humphreys Awards of Distinction: Prose Joseph Maiolo, Bill Meissner Fellows: Jerry Hansen, Judith Hougen, Teresa Whitman, Morgan Grayce Willow Judges: Nellie Wong, Haki Madhubuti Fellows: Peter Bobbe, Daniel Gabriel, Judith Katz, Carol Masters Judges: Sherley Anne Williams, Richard Elman Awards of Distinction: Poetry Deborah Keenan, Roseann Lloyd Fellows: Alvin Greenberg, Yarrow Morgan, Kathleen Patrick Judges: Dabney Stuart, Irena Kepfisz Fellows: Evangeline Braaten, Emily Carter, P.

S. Davies, Jack El-Hai, Harold Grey Judges: Eugene B. Redmond, Valerie Miner Awards of Distinction: Prose Fellows: Melanie Cockrell, Maureen Gibbon, Kathleen Heideman Judges: Garrett Hongo, Dborah Pintonelli Fellows: David Bengston, Jim Goralski, Martha Roth, Gregory Blake Smith, Brian West Judges: Bradford Morrow, Shay Youngblood Awards of Distinction: Poetry David Mura, Monica Ochtrup Fellows: Edward Micus, Leslie Adrienne Miller, J.

P.

White Judges: Martin Espada, Marilyn Waniek Fellows: Pat Francisco, Michael Hatem, Elizabeth Mische John, Kathy Lewis, Nancy Meyer Judges: Lewis Buzbee, Alison Moore Awards of Distinction: Prose Sandra Benitez, Mary Rockcastle Fellows: Michael Bonacci, Ana Ortiz de Montellano, Edith Rylander Judges: Beth Brant, Ken McClane Fellows: Karen Me Kyung Muckenhirn, Barrie Borich, Mary Petrie, Jessica Roeder, Mark Ryan Judges: Abraham Rodriguez, Jr., Ron Rindo Awards of Distinction: Poetry Patricia Barone, Alvin Greenberg Fellows: Elizabeth Mische, Thom Tammaro, Katharine Whitcomb-Nelson Judges: Jane Hirshfield, Michael Warr Fellows: E.

J.

Levy, Lynda McDonnell, Emily Meier, Lawrence Sutin, Richard Solly Judges: John Mort, Debra Spark Awards of Distinction: Prose Alan Davis, Margaret Miles Fellows: Glenn Freeman, River Karner, Marilyn Magee Judges: Dorianne Laux and Adrian Louis Fellows: Carolyn Colburn, Lorna Landvik, Alison McGhee, Sheila Packa, Debra Quaal Judges: Michael Datcher and Sarah Schulman Awards of Distinction: Poetry $10,000 Loft Award in Poetry Fellows: Janet Holmes, Rick Robbins Judges: Bruce Bennett and Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge $10,000 Loft Award in Creative Prose Fellows: Eileen Hunter, Sarah Stonich, Beth Weatherby Judges: Chitra Divakaruni and John Haines $20,000 Loft Awards of Distinction: Prose Fellows: Barrie Borich and Pat Francisco $10,000 Loft Award in Poetry Fellows: Stephanie Weller Hanson, Amy Jo Swing Judges: Amy Gerstler and Jaime Manrique $10,000 Loft Award in Creative Prose Fellows: Kate DiCamillo, William Krueger, David Mura Judges: David Low and Beth Nugent $20,000 Loft Awards of Distinction: Poetry Leslie Adrienne Miller and John Reinhard $10,000 Loft Award in Poetry Fellows: Carlen Arnett and John O’Brien Judges: Carl Phillips and Stephanie Strickland $10,000 Loft Award in Creative Prose Fellows: Maureen Gibbon, Marc Nieson, Mary Winstead Judges: Francisco Goldman and Judith Kitchen $20,000 Loft Awards of Distinction: Creative Prose Diane Glancy and Lorna Landvik $10,000 Loft Award in Poetry Fellows: Kate Lynn Hibbard and Jennifer Willoughby Judges: E.

Ethelbert Miller and Cathy Song Honorable Mentions: Roger Sheffer and Richard Solly $10,000 Loft Award in Creative Prose Fellows: Gary Eldon Peter, Beverly Baranowski Rollwagen, Julie Schumacher Judges: Paul Lisicky and A. J.

Verdelle Honorable Mentions: Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew and Lisa Zhang Warton $20,000 Loft Awards of Distinction: Poetry Robert Hedin and Richard Robbins Honorable Mentions: Glenn Freeman and Jude Nutter $25,000 Loft Awards in Creative Prose Fellows: Judith Katz, Mary Rose O’Reilley, Martha Roth, John Salter Honorable Mentions: Dale Gregory Anderson, Michael Kiesow Moore, Judith Niemi $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature Honorable Mentions: Marion Dane Bauer, Lindsay Lee Johnson, Phyllis Root $25,000 Loft Awards in Poetry Fellows: Stephen Burt, Ray Gonzalez, Jim Moore, Joyce Sutphen Honorable Mentions: John Colburn, Robert C.

Grunst, G. E.

Patterson, Joanna Rawson $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children Fellow: Susan Marie Swanson Honorable Mentions: Mary Casanova, Marsha Wilson Chall, Wendy McCormick, Phyllis Root $25,000 Loft Awards in Creative Prose Fellows: JoAnn Bren Guernsey, Kevin McColley, Steven Polansky, Linda Lightsey Rice Honorable Mentions: Maureen Aitken, Dale Gregory Anderson, Kevin Langton, Anthony Schmitz $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children Honorable Mentions: Catherine Clark, John Coy, Marsha Qualey $25,000 Loft Awards in Poetry Fellows: Mark Conway, Dana Curtis, Dobby Gibson, Susan McLean Honorable Mentions: Cullen Bailey Burns, David Mura, Kevin O’Rourke $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children $25,000 Loft Awards in Creative Prose Fellows: Margaret Todd Maitland, Valerie Miner, Dara Moskowitz, Jane Jeong Trenka Honorable Mentions: Sandra Benítez, Heid Erdrich, Cheri Johnson, Julie Landsman, Mary Carroll Moore, Katy Reed, Suzanne Rivecca, Kipp Wessel, Bonnie Smith-Yackel $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children Honorable Mentions: Mary Lou Brooks, Sharon Chmielarz, Pete Hautman, Laura Purdie Salas, Will Weaver $25,000 Loft Award in Poetry Fellows: Margaret Hasse, Patricia Kirkpatrick, Yuko Taniguchi, Katrina Vandenberg Honorable Mentions: Cullen Bailey Burns, Mary Logue, Linda Back McKay, Marilynn Walton, Kathleen Weihe $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children Honorable Mentions: Dara Dokas, Betsy Thomas $25,000 Loft Award in Creative Prose Fellows: Anne Campisi, Cheri Johnson, Bonnie Rough, John Salter Honorable Mentions: Barrie Jean Borich, Pamela Carter Joern, John Medeiros, Joel Hernandez Turnipseed $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children Honorable Mentions: Rebecca Fjelland Davis, Carol Dines $25,000 Loft Awards in Poetry and Spoken Word Fellows: Ed Bok Lee, David Mura, Jude Nutter, Larry Schug $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children Fellow: Marsha Wilson Chall Honorable Mentions: Lindsay Lee Johnson, Lauren Stringer, Gwenyth Swain $25,000 Loft Awards in Creative Prose Fellows: J.

C.

Hallman, John Jodzio, John Reimringer, Wang Ping Honorable Mentions: Jack El-Hai, Laura Flynn, Rebecca Kanner, Morgan Grayce Willow $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children Fellow: Trisha Speed Shaskan Honorable Mentions: Mary Casanova, Catherine Clark, Nancy Crocker, Phyllis Root $25,000 Loft Awards in Poetry and Spoken Word Fellows: Kirsten Dierking, Susan Carol Hauser, Michael Larson, Elisabeth Workman Honorable Mentions: Sean Hill, Tim Nolan, Mike Rollin, Christine Sikorski $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children Honorable Mentions: Linda Glaser, Lynne Jonell, Laura Purdie Salas, Constance Van Hoven $25,000 Loft Awards in Creative Prose Fellows: John Colburn, Jessica Roeder, Ethan Rutherford, Dominic Saucedo Honorable Mentions: Alicia Conroy, Nick Healy, N.

M. Kelby, Sarah Stonich $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children Honorable Mentions: Pete Hautman, Tunie Munson-Benson, Lisa M. Bolt Simons, Joan M.

Wolf $25,000 Loft Awards in Poetry Fellows: Mark Conway, Amy McCann, Jude Nutter, Matt Rasmussen Honorable Mentions: Dore Keisselbach, Brian Laidlaw, Ethna McKiernan, Anna George Meek $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children Honorable Mentions: Marsha Wilson Chall, Terri DeGezelle, Michael Hall, Janet Lawson $25,000 Loft Awards in Creative Prose Fellows: Matthew Batt, Eric Braun, Susan Koefed, Kao Kalia Yang Honorable Mentions: Pallavi Dixit, Katie Hae Leo, Jonathan Odell, Yuko Taniguchi $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children Honorable Mentions: William Alexander, Brian Farrey-Latz, Lynne Jonell $25,000 Loft Awards in Poetry Fellows: Danez Smith, Sierra DeMulder, Sun Yung Shin, Carolyn Williams-Noren Honorable Mentions: Rita Moe, Kristin Naca, and Tracy Youngblom $25,000 Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Younger Children Fellow: Molly Beth Griffin Honorable Mentions: Michael Hall , David LaRochelle , and Janet Lawson $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Creative Prose Fellows: Shannon Gibney, Susan Power, Susanne Aspley, Josh Ostergaard Honorable mentions: Danielle Sosin, Nancy Scott Hanway, Tami Mohamed Brown, Eric Vrooman $25,000 McKnight Fellowship if Writing, Older Children’s Literature Honorable mentions: Megan Atwood, Laura Salas, Lynne Jonnell $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Poetry and Spoken Word Fellows: Khary Jackson, Kristin Naca, David Mura, Anders Carlson-Wee Honorable mentions: Hieu Minh Nguyen, Jude Nutter, Katharine Rauke, and Leslie Adrienne Miller.

$25,000 McKnight Fellowship if Writing, Older Children’s Literature Fellow: Constance Van Hoven Honorable mentions: Aimee Bissonette, Dara Dokas, Stephanie Watson, and Stephen Shaskan $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Creative Prose Fellows: Erin Kate Ryan, Susan Follett, Heid E. Erdrich, and Taiyon J.

Coleman Honorable mentions: Rebecca Kanner, Lori Saroya, Tami Mohamed Brown, and Juliet Patterson $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Older Children’s Literature Honorable mentions: Elizabeth Karre, Alison Behnke, Megan Atwood, and Jane O'Reilly $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Spoken Word Fellow: Donte Collins (St.

Paul) Honorable mentions: Keno Evol (Minneapolis), Jeffrey Skemp (Minneapolis), April Gibson (Edina), and Tatyana (Peuo) Tuy (Edina).

$25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Poetry Fellows: Hieu Minh Nguyen (Minneapolis), Chris Santiago (Bloomington), Lara Mimosa Montes (Brooklyn Center) Honorable Mentions: Michael Torres (Mankato), Juliet Patterson (Minneapolis), Su Hwang (Minneapolis), and Miriam Karraker (Minneapolis) $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Books for Young Children Fellow: Yvonne Pearson (Minneapolis) Honorable mentions: Megan Maynor (Minneapolis), Peter Pearson (Minneapolis), Barbara DaCosta (Minneapolis), and Elizabeth Karre (Saint Paul) $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Creative Prose Fellows: John Jodzio, Bronson Lemer, Emily Strasser, T.

E.

Wilderson Honorable mentions: Elizabeth Horneber, Pallavi Dixit, Chris McCormick, Michael Torres $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Older Children’s Literature Honorable mentions: Swathi Avasthi, Loretta Ellsworth, Lisa Simons, Artika Tyner $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Spoken Word Honorables: Tish Jones, Jeffrey Skemp, and Rebecca Nichloson $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Poetry Fellows: Michael Torres, Jacob Lindberg, and Claire Wahmanholm Honorables: Valerie Deus, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, and Preeti Kaur Rajpal $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Picture Books Honorables: Phyllis Root, Matt Lilley, and Kao Kalia Yang $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Creative Prose Fellows: Angela Pelster, Abbey Mei Otis, Carson Faust, and Heather Quinn Honorable mentions: Sun Yung Shin, Sheila O'Connor, Elizabeth Horneber, and Emma Torzs $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Older Children’s Literature Judge: Erin Entrada Kelly Honorable mentions: Heather Bouman, Margi Preus, Swati Avasthi, and Sarah Ahiers $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Spoken Word Fellow: Khary (K.

W.) Jackson Honorables: Jeffrey Skemp, Miss Mari, and Tatyana (Peuo) Tuy $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Poetry Fellows: Douglas Kearney, Preeti Kaur Rajpaul, Chavonn Williams Shen Honorables: Katharine Rauk, Chelsea DesAutels, Halee Kirkwood, and Marlin M.

Jenkins $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Picture Books Honorables: Barbara DaCosta, Martin Cozza, Stephen Shaskan, and Art Coulson $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, Prose Fellows: Naomi Cohn, Gen Del Raye, Hilal Isler, and Kao Kalia Yang Honorables: Lesley Arimah, Zibiquah Denny, Otis Roffman, and Aurelia Wills $25,000 McKnight Fellowship in Writing, CYA Older Honorables: Brita Sandstrom, TiArra Shepherd, Catherine Thimmesh, and Laura Zimmermann 2024 Children's Literature Catherine Thimmesh (Eden Prairie) 2024 Poetry and Spoken Word Stephani Maari Booker (Minneapolis) Sonia Greenfield (Minneapolis) Aurora Masum-Javed (Saint Paul) Judge: Mahogany L.

Browne 2025 Children's Literature Kathryn Savage (Minneapolis) Sun Yung Shin (Minneapolis) 2026 Children's Literature Marice Rendon (Minneapolis) Donte Collins (Minneapolis) Yahya Frederickson (Moorhead) chaun webster (Minneapolis)