Creative Writing Fellowships

This Fellowship is Currently on Pause

Due to funding limitations, the Wyoming Arts Council has placed several grants and fellowships on temporary hiatus, including this one. The decision ensures that available resources are directed for the greatest statewide impact. Please check back for future updates regarding the reopening of this opportunity. (May 2025)

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Honoring Excellence in Wyoming Literature

Poetry • Fiction • Nonfiction

The Creative Writing Fellowships recognize outstanding literary artists whose work demonstrates exceptional writing in the categories of Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction. Recipients of the Creative Writing fellowships share their work at one of the three Wyoming literary conferences.

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History of the Fellowship

Created in 1986, the Creative Writing Fellowships celebrate Wyoming writers whose work reflects a high level of literary achievement. Up to three fellowships are awarded annually—one in each category: Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction. Jurors may award honorable mentions.

Grant Guidelines

• $5,000 unrestricted award of merit
• One fellowship awarded in each of the following categories: Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction
• Applications are juried by noted authors and literary professionals from outside Wyoming
• Recipients retain all rights to their work
• Fellows may be invited to share their work at Wyoming literary conferences

Eligibility and Funding Requirements

Before applying, all applicants must review the Wyoming Arts Council’s Grant Guidelines to ensure compliance and understand the application process.

Eligibility

• Must be at least 18 years of age at time of application.
• Must not be a full-time student pursuing high school, college, or university art-related degrees.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have legal resident status (evidence of U.S. citizenship, resident status and state residency may be required).
• May not be affiliated with the Wyoming Arts Council either as a board member or staff member, including their families, whether full-time, part-time or contractual.
• May not be an employee of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.
• Must have been domiciled within the state borders for a total of 20 months in the previous two years.
• Must remain a Wyoming resident for at least one year after award, living in the state for at least 10 months of the year.
• Applicants must register or update their information in the Wyoming Arts Council’s Artists & Venues Directory.
• Must not have received a Creative Writing fellowship within the last four years.
• May receive a total of two fellowship awards in your lifetime.
• You may not receive a Blanchan or Doubleday writing award in the same year as this award, but you may enter this competition if you were a previous Blanchan or Doubleday winner.
• You may enter the competition only once by the deadline.
• You may only enter the competition in one category (Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction).

What if you win an award?

• You’ll receive $5,000 up front.
• You will receive an honorarium/travel stipend, if applicable, to present your work at a fellowship reading at your choice of literary conference: the Casper College Literary Conference (November, 2023), Wyoming Writers Conference (June, 2024), or the Jackson Hole Writer’s Conference (June, 2024).
• You’ll sign a contract that verifies you’re eligible to receive this award.
• You’ll need to supply a resume, bio, and a photograph for publicity.
• The Arts Council will retain your manuscript for possible use in excerpts for promotional purposes and Arts Council publications (print and electronic).
• You will retain all rights to this work and the work you produce during the grant period.
• You must create an impact statement, due August 31, 2025, sharing how this award helped you and what you accomplished during the year you received it.

Submission Guidelines (All Categories)

• You may submit up to 25 pages of writing, typed, double-spaced using a 12-point standard font.
• If submitting poetry, only one poem is allowed per page and the double-spaced requirement is waived. We welcome longer poems of multiple pages, if applicable.
• For a book excerpt, you may provide a synopsis, but it will be included in the 25-page limit.
• You may submit more than one piece of writing, as long as you don’t exceed the 25-page limit.
• Writing may have been previously published, but don’t submit reprints.
• Work must have been created within the past 5 years.
• Pages must be numbered; include title of work and page number on each page.
• Your name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript.
• If you submit more than the allowable page limits, extra pages will be removed.
• Do not send supplementary materials (letters, resumes, etc.)
• All work must be combined into one document and uploaded.

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2024 Creative Writing Fellowship Recipients

Andrew Munz of Jackson (Fiction)

Andrew Munz is a playwright, director and performer based in Jackson, Wyoming, his hometown. He has written and directed a number of his own scripts since 2010, including the popular theatrical comedy series, “I Can Ski Forever”, which he published as a book in 2020. Other productions include his original musicals: “Cowboys Like Us”, a gay cowboy / drag queen fairy tale, “Saga”, a musical written in English and Icelandic about the founding of Iceland in 874 AD, and “The Importance of Wild Country”, which shared the story of famed conservationists Olaus and Mardy Murie.

He is a 2021 Performing Arts Fellow, Wyoming Arts Council, and a 2022 recipient of the Rising Star Award, given by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. He is also the author of “Jackson Hole: A Love Letter”,  in collaboration with Nate Stephens.

In 2023, Munz took over the Pink Garter Theatre in Jackson, and started the nonprofit, Tumbleweed Creative Arts, which supports the creation of original work by local artists. His next original production is “The Black Ibis”, a murder mystery set in 1925 Egypt, slated to premiere at the Pink Garter on September 18th.

Kristin Hugo of Kemmerer (Creative Nonfiction)

Kristin Hugo is a science journalist focusing on biology, nature, animals, and bones. She is currently writing a book called Carcass: On the Afterlives of Animal Bodies, which is slated to be published by MIT Press in late 2025.

After earning a BA in Journalism from California State University, Northridge and an MS in Science Journalism from Boston University, Kristin moved around the East and West Coasts of the US to pursue science writing positions at National Geographic, PBS Newshour, Newsweek, and Bay Nature Magazine. Now she lives in Kemmerer, Wyoming, focusing on her upcoming book on dead animals, and bone-hunting in her spare time.

In addition to writing, Kristin has experience in fact-checking, social media, multimedia, and photography. Her TikTok account, RollBones, showcases educational and entertaining videos about bones and has over 212,000 followers. She has received an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Book Grant and is an alumn of both the Poynter-Koch Media Fellowship and the Wyoming Innovation Partnership Creative Economy Workshop. You can see her writing, social media pages, and contact info at KristinHugo.com. She’s available for freelance journalism, public speaking, and more.

George Vlastos of Pinedale (Poetry)

George Vlastos is a third generation Wyoming native. After graduating from Natrona County High School he received a BA in English from Stanford University and an MFA from the University of Wyoming in Poetry & Environment and Natural Resources.

He has been the featured artist at the WyoPoets Annual Conference and a recipient of the Neltje Blanchan Fellowship – awarded to a writer whose work, in any genre, has been influenced by nature. He was selected by the Wyoming Humanities Council to present at the Laramie Ignite and by the Casper College Humanities Festival to present Pilgrim vs. Pilgrimage, part of a memoir written in prose and poetry about his travels among the monasteries of Mount Athos in northern Greece.

For the past 27 years, Vlastos has been an educator in Wyoming’s schools. Currently he teaches at Pinedale Middle School.

Honorable Mentions:

• Jackie Dorothy of Thermopolis (Fiction)
• Peter Fine of Laramie (Fiction)
• Pamela Galbreath of Laramie (Nonfiction)
• Renee Carrier of Hulett (Nonfiction)
• Jono Majhanovich of Pinedale (Poetry)

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Meet the 2024 Fiction Juror

Vauhini Vara is a novelist, essayist, and journalist whose debut novel, The Immortal King Rao, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the Colorado Book Award. Her story collection This Is Salvaged was a notable book of 2023 and longlisted for the Story Prize. Vara also writes for Wired and other national outlets and previously worked as an editor at The New York Times Magazine. Her forthcoming essay collection, Searches, includes her widely recognized piece “Ghosts,” which she adapted into a play. She teaches at Colorado State University and mentors writers of color through Periplus.

Meet the 2024 Creative Nonfiction Juror

Erika Krouse is a celebrated author of fiction and nonfiction whose memoir Tell Me Everything won the Edgar Award and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Her earlier works include the novel Contenders and the story collection Come Up and See Me Sometime, a New York Times Notable Book translated into six languages. Krouse’s short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Ploughshares, and have been recognized by Best American series. She holds degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Colorado Boulder, where she also taught. She currently teaches for the Lighthouse Writers Workshop and Regis University’s MFA program.

Meet the 2024 Poetry Juror

Julie Carr is the author of over a dozen books of poetry and prose, including Climate, Real Life: An Installation, and Someone Shot My Book. Her work spans experimental poetry, essays, and literary criticism, and has been published by presses such as Omnidawn, Ahsahta, and the University of Michigan Press. She is also a co-editor, translator, and scholar whose recent titles include Mud, Blood, and Ghosts and the forthcoming The Underscore. Carr’s writing is known for its intellectual rigor and emotional depth, often exploring themes of violence, identity, and social change. She continues to publish new work, including a forthcoming trilogy titled Overflow.

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Previous Creative Writing Fellowship Recipients

2024: Andrew Munz of Jackson (Fiction), Kristin Hugo of Kemmerer (Creative Nonfiction), and George Vlastos of Pinedale (Poetry)

2023: Jennifer Kocher, Gillette (Creative Nonfiction), Janna Urschel, Laramie (Fiction), Rod Miller, Cheyenne (Poetry)

2022: Kate Northrop, Laramie (Poetry), David Zoby, Casper (Creative Nonfiction), Francesca King, Laramie (Fiction)

2021: Lori Howe, Laramie (Poetry), Taylor Gordon, Laramie (Fiction), Tina Welling, Jackson (Creative Nonfiction)

2020: Betsy Bernfeld, Wilson (Poetry), Susan Marsh, Jackson (Fiction), Shreve Stockton, Ten Sleep (Creative Nonfiction)

2019: Jason Stenar Clark, Laramie (Poetry ) Chad Hanson, Casper (Creative Nonfiction) Erin Jones, Laramie (Fiction)

2018: David Romtvedt, Portland (Fiction); Kate O’Hara, Kansas (Creative Nonfiction); Catherine Reeves, Casper

2017: Cara Rodriguez, Casper (Poetry); Ben Wener, Cody (Fiction); Carly Fraysier, Clearmont (Creative Nonfiction)

2016: Stephen S. Lottridge, Jackson (Creative Nonfiction); Connie Wieneke, Wilson (Poetry);  Michael Sudmeier, Wilson (Fiction)

2015: Carol Deering, Riverton; Constance Brewer, Gillette; Kathleen Smith, Gillette

2014: Shawn Klomparens, Jackson; Estella Soto, Laramie

2013: Chad Hanson, Casper; Mary Beth Baptiste, Laramie; Heather Jensen, Cheyenne

2012: Claudia Mauro, Jackson; Matt Daly, Jackson; W. Dale Nelson, Laramie

2011: Kathy Bjornestad, Sundance; Samuel Western, Sheridan; Stefani Farris, Lander

2010: Joel Burdess, Casper; Jayme Feary, Jackson; and Pam Galbreath, Laramie

2009: Sam Renken, Laramie; Lori Van Pelt, Saratoga; and David Zoby, Casper

2008: Kevin Holdsworth, Green River; Doug Reitinger, Sheridan; and Valerie Pexton, Laramie

2007: John Sutton of Sheridan, John D. Nesbitt of Torrington, Chavawn Kelley of Laramie

2006: Jane Wohl, Sheridan; Myra L. Peak, Green River; and Jeffe Kennedy, Laramie

2005: John English, Casper; Alyson Hagy, Laramie; Geneen Marie Haugen, Kelly

2004: Heather LaVonne Jensen, Cheyenne; Laura Bell, Cody; and Vicki Lindner, Casper

2003: W. Dale Nelson, Laramie; Page Lambert, Sundance; and Michael Harkin, Laramie

2002: Diane Panozzo, Tie Siding; Ted Kerasote, Jackson; Ann McCutchan, Laramie; Connie Wieneke, Wilson

2001: Rodney Gene Mahaffey, Casper; Paisley Rekdal, Laramie; Chavawn Kelley, Laramie; Bo Moore, Green River

2000: Robert Druchniak, Evanston; Charles Levendosky, Casper; Stefani Farris, Laramie; Geoff Peterson, Green River

1999: Mark Spragg, Cody; Alyson Hagy, Laramie; Sam Western, Sheridan; Martha Clark Cummings, Thermopolis

1998: Carol Deering, Riverton; Christy Stillwell, Laramie; William Hoagland, Powell; Lisa Vice, Thermopolis

1997: Dainis Hazners, Story; Jon Billman, Kemmerer; Julia Hoagland, Powell; Maija Rhee Devine, Laramie

1996: Laura Bell, Shell; Bob McKee, Douglas; Diane LeBlanc, Laramie; David Romtvedt, Buffalo

1995: C.L. Rawlins, Laramie; Suzanne Tyler, Jackson; Jane Wohl, Sheridan; Ron Franscell, Gillette

1994: Janell Hanson, Laramie; Craig Johnson, Ucross; Marie J. Carvalho, Rock Springs; Stephanie Buehler, Sheridan

1993: Tim McGee, Worland; Hannah Hinchman, Dubois; Rodney Mahaffey, Casper; and Lawrence Sullenger, Story

1992: Leslie (Bridewell) McMillan, Rock Springs; Scott Hagel, Cody; Mark Jenkins, Laramie; Page Lambert, Sundance

1991: C.J. Box, Cheyenne; Len Edgerly, Casper; Dainis Hazners, Story; Julia Hoagland, Powell

1990: Vicki Lindner, Laramie; Michael Riley, Cody; Geoff O’Gara, Lander

1989: Rick Kempa, Rock Springs; Jennifer McMullin, Casper; Barbara Smith, Rock Springs; Dan Whipple, Casper

1988: B.J. Buckley, Arvada; David Mouat, Worland; Mark Spragg, Wapiti; Geoff Peterson; Green River

1987: Sandra Dorr; Story, Mark Jenkins; Laramie, John Nesbitt; Torrington, Tim Sandlin; Jackson

1986: Tilly Warnock; Laramie, Len Sherwin; Douglas, Kirk Keller; Moran, Mary Alice Gunderson; Casper