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Announcing the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2025 Blanchan and Doubleday Memorial Writing Award Winners

Featured News, Program News | January 10, 2025

Leigh Reagan Smith of Jackson and Max Owens of Lander are the recipients of the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2025 Frank Nelson Doubleday and Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Awards.

Leigh Reagan Smith received the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman for the entry, “The Legend of 399.” This award is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman writer. An Honorable Mention was awarded to Angela Volzke of Mills for her entry, “The Limit.” 

Smith received an MFA in photography and film from the School of Visual Arts in NYC in 1995. For almost 30 years, she worked as a cinematographer and film editor on documentaries for national PBS, National Geographic and network programming. Sharing her love of storytelling with others, Reagan Smith taught filmmaking and screenwriting at the Jackson Hole Art Association and Central Wyoming College. She now works as a staff journalist for Buckrail, a digital news outlet with over 200k monthly readers based in Jackson, Wyoming. Her website is www.soulcreativemedia.com.

Max Owens received the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature for his entry, “River’s Season.” This award is given annually for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script informed by a relationship with the natural world. An Honorable Mention was given to Autumn Hnilicka of Thermopolis for her submission, “Caught in a Prairie Rain.”

Owens is a writer based in Lander, Wyoming. Originally from Ohio, he has sought inspiration and adventure in the mountains, rivers, and cliffs of the West, where he has lived the past 13 years. He has been variously employed as a wilderness guide, cycling guide, and baker, and currently is the communications manager for the Wyoming Outdoor Council. Max’s writing has appeared in Climbing, The Gulch, Rock & Ice, and elsewhere. He earned his MFA from Western Washington University.

The Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award and the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award are made possible through the generosity of Neltje. Both awards are designed to bring attention to writers in Wyoming who have not yet received wide recognition for their work, and to support emerging writers at crucial times in their careers. The juror for this year was Dawn Wink.

For more information, visit the Arts Council website wyomingartscouncil.org or contact Rachel Clifton at  307-256-0500 or rachel.clifton@wyo.gov

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WAC Accessibility Statement

The Wyoming Arts Council believes that experiencing the arts should be accessible for all, including people with mental and/or physical disabilities, older adults, military/veterans, people living in institutions and those who lack access to the arts due to geographic isolation, cultural difference and economic hardship.

Governor Mark Gordon
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