Creative Writing Fellowships and Awards
The Wyoming Arts Council’s Creative Fellowships program was created in 1986 and is based on a writer’s body of work, and honoring Wyoming’s literary artists whose work reflects exceptional writing. One fellowship is awarded in each category of Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction, for a total of three fellowships.
Since 1989, 50+ talented writers have received either the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature or the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman.
The Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing and Journalism Fellowship was established in 2019 and is an annual prestigious fellowship open to creative writers and journalists who demonstrate serious inquiry and dedication to the Greater Yellowstone region through their work.
Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing and Journalism Fellowship • Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature • Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman • Creative Writing Fellowship (Poetry) • Creative Writing Fellowship (Fiction) • Creative Writing Fellowship (Nonfiction)
Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing and Journalism Fellowship
This annual prestigious fellowship of $3,500 is a national call open to creative writers (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) and journalists (writer, photojournalist, videographer, documentary filmmaker, online or print media) who demonstrate serious inquiry and dedication to the Greater Yellowstone region through their work. This fellowship seeks to intersect science, education, current events, and conservation to effectively communicate the Greater Yellowstone’s natural history and singular importance to society through creative and exceptional writing and subject communication.
The fellowship recipient will be expected to create or complete a relevant publishable or produced work and may be requested or encouraged to make public presentations. In addition to the financial award, the fellowship recipient may elect to also receive a one week housing residency at one of several prearranged different locations within the Greater Yellowstone region. Such residency will be based on availability and will be negotiated with the fellowship recipient. Established and recognized authors are being sought, but emerging and mid-career writers are also encouraged to apply.
2026 application window will open in September 2025
2025 Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing and Journalism Fellowship Recipient
Gregory Nickerson of Laramie, Wyo. is the recipient of the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2025 Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing & Journalism Fellowship for his submission, “The Superior Deer.”
Gregory Nickerson loves watching wildlife and spending time in the mountains with his family. His explorations in Greater Yellowstone began as a kid in the backseat of a minivan and continued through 30 years of elk hunting. Since 2016 he has shared the story of Deer 255’s record-breaking migrations for the Wyoming Migration Initiative at the University of Wyoming.
Over the next year, Nickerson will create or complete a relevant publishable or produced work and have the opportunity for a housing residency in the greater Yellowstone region.
Honorable Mention:
- Kristin Hugo (Kemmerer, WY): (Warrenton, VA): Documenting Death in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Meet the 2025 Pattie Layser Jurors
Kelsey K. Sather, a Montana native, is the author of Birth of the Anima and a finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award in fantasy. Her work explores the complexities of human-nature relationships. With an MA in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah, she’s also the director of the Biocene Foundation, which supports ecological solutions and shares stories of resilience. Her second book, Ancient Language of the Earth, is set for release in Fall 2025.
Jim Robbins has been a Montana resident since 1977 and has written for the New York Times for over 40 years, specializing in science and environmental journalism. He contributes to numerous publications, including E360, Audubon, Smithsonian, and Scientific American, covering environmental stories worldwide. In 2023, he received the Montana Governor’s Humanities Award.
Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature and Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman
The Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman of $1,000 is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman writer. The Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature, also $1,000, is given annually for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script informed by a relationship with the natural world.
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. Poets, fiction writers, essayists, and script writers who have published no more than one book in each genre and who are not full-time students or faculty members are invited to apply by submitting manuscripts and an entry form by the deadline.
The Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature and the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman are made possible through the generosity of Neltje.
2026 application window will open in September 2025
2025 Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman Recipient
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.
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.
Honorable Mentions:
- Angela Volzke, Mills: The Limit
2025 Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature Recipient
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.
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.
Honorable Mentions:
- Autumn Hnilicka, Thermopolis: Caught in a Prairie Rain
Meet the 2025 Blanchan/Doubleday Writing Awards Juror
Dawn Wink, PhD is a writer and educator whose work explores wildness, beauty, and imagination. Wink’s novel, Meadowlark, was awarded the Women Writing the West WILLA Award for Historical Fiction/Finalist, High Plains Book Award for Woman Writer/Finalist, and NM/AZ Book Awards for Historical Fiction/Finalist. Other publications include, Teaching Passionately: What’s Love got To Do With It?, co-written with Joan Wink, “Wild Waters: Landscapes of Language,” and “Language, Culture, and Land: Lenses of Lilies.” Wink lives with her family in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Creative Writing Fellowships
Poetry • Fiction • Nonfiction
The Creative Writing Fellowships are awards of merit, based on a writer’s body of work, and honoring Wyoming’s literary artists whose work demonstrates exceptional writing. One fellowship will be awarded in each category of Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction, for a total of up to three fellowships. Applications are juried by noted authors, literary agents, or writing professionals from outside the state. Jurors may award honorable mentions.
Recipients of the Creative Writing fellowships share their work at one of the three Wyoming literary conferences.
2025 Creative Writing Fellowship Info
We have made the difficult decision to place the Fellowships on hiatus for this year. This includes the Performing Arts (theatre & dance and music), Creative Writing (Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction), and Visual Arts Fellowships.
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.
Meet the 2025 Jurors
Fiction Juror
Kali Fajardo-Anstine is the nationally bestselling author of the novel Woman of Light and the widely acclaimed short story collection Sabrina & Corina, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of an American Book Award. She is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and the 2021 recipient of the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Creative Nonfiction Juror
Erin Rae Jones is a writer and former NPR Network podcast producer and editor. Her podcast work has been honored by the Webby and Ambie Awards, won several Murrows, and been recognized by the Indigenous Journalists Assocation and PMJA. Her work has been called “vivid, engaging” by The New Yorker, commended by The Atlantic, and recommended by The New York Times. Her prose has been published in The Normal School and supported by the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and the Wyoming Arts Fellowship, which she won in fiction in 2019. She is the author of the newsletter mountain witch reads your tarot. She has an MFA from the University of Wyoming and lives in Colorado, where she is at work on a novel.
Poetry Juror
A Pushcart Prize Nominee, Marie Marchand served as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Ellensburg, WA, 2022-24. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Crannóg Magazine, Catamaran Literary Reader, California Quarterly, and Tikkun Magazine. Her books include Gifts to the Attentive (Winter Goose Publishing, 2022) and the forthcoming Mostly Sweet, Lovely, Human Things (MoonPath Press, 2025). Marie serves on the Ellensburg Arts Commission, integrating the literary arts into Ellensburg’s new Creative Arts District. She is a graduate of Naropa University and The Iliff School of Theology where she studied psychology, religion, and peacemaking.
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)
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
Previous Layser Fellowship Recipients
2024: Todd Burritt of Livingston, Montana; Honorable Mentions: Anne Marie Wells (Warrenton, VA); Nicholas Mott (Livingston, MT); Kevin Grange (Jackson, WY)
2023: Austin Kirchhoff, Bozeman, Montana; Honorable Mentions: Jeffrey Lockwood, Laramie; Gregory Nickerson, Laramie; Julie Rubini of Toledo, Ohio
2022: Katie Christiansen, Evergreen, CO
2021: Hannah Habermann | Jackson, WY
2020: Sarah Keller | Bozeman, MT
2019: Melodie Edwards | Laramie, WY
Previous Blanchan and Doubleday Award Recipients
2025: Leigh Reagan Smith, Jackson: The Legend of 399 (Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman); Max Owens, Lander: River’s Season (Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature)
- Honorable Mentions – Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman: Angela Volzke, Mills: The Limit
- Honorable Mentions – Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature: Autumn Hnilicka, Thermopolis: Caught in a Prairie Rain
2024: Cady Favazzo, Rock Springs (Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman); Callie Plaxco, Laramie (Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature)
- Honorable Mentions – Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman: Callie Plaxco: One Hundred Kinds of Light; Reatha Thomas Oakley: The Truth About Blind Girls
- Honorable Mentions – Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature: Renee Meador: Feathers Petals and Stars; William Owens: Murakami
2023: Ann Stebner Steele, Laramie (Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman); India Hayford, Casper (Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature)
- Honorable Mentions – Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for Writing by a Woman: Sarah Hamilton, Casper; Catherine Reeves, Cheyenne; Amy Hollon, Laramie
- Honorable Mentions – Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award Inspired by Nature: Pamela Galbreath, Laramie; Callie Plaxco of Laramie; Kathleen Smith of Gillette
Since 1989, 50+ talented writers have received Blanchan/Doubleday awards:
Hollie Sambrooks, Brandon McQuade, Stefani Farris, Dakota Richardson, Linda Baker, sid sibo, Liberty Lausterer, Lyndi Waters, Jayme Feary, Erin Jones, Geoffrey O’Gara, Betsy Orient Bernfeld, Hannah Hinchman, David Mouat, Sheila Roberts, Scott Hagel, Holly Skinner, C.L. Rawlins, Marcia Saum, Dainis Hazners, Barbara Gilbert, William Hoagland, Diane LeBlanc, Tina Willis, Maija Rhee Devine, Mary Beth Baptiste, Julene Bair, Chavawn Kelley, Geneen Marie Haugen, Janell Hanson, Mark Spragg, Karol Griffin, Stefani Farris, Laura Bell, Darcy Lipp-Acord, Jack Clinton, Tina Welling, Susan Marsh, Myra L. Peak, Marcia Hensley, Jeffe Kennedy, Melodie Edwards, Bo Moore, Barbara Smith, Alisan Peters, Lou O. Madison, Christine B. Nelson, W. Dale Nelson, Nina S. McConigley, Patricia Frolander, Edith Cook, George Vlastos, Christine Fadden, Yvette Ward-Horner, Matt Daly and Marylee White.
