NEW YORK (AP) — Ten rising writers, from an writer of speculative fiction to a poet rooted in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, have acquired $50,000 grants from the Whiting Basis.
Since 1985, the muse has had a mission to nurture “new creations” by supporting poets, playwrights and authors of fiction and nonfiction. Previous winners have included Tony Kushner, André Aciman and Tracy Ok. Smith.
This week, the muse introduced its class of 2025. Elwin Cofman writes speculative fiction that Whiting judges say affords “illuminating sites of bawdy humor and horror,” whereas Karisma Value crafts post-Katrina poems which might be “songs, howls, portraits, critiques.” Judges praised the essays of Aisha Sabatini Sloan for his or her “startling connections between the personal and the collective.”
The opposite winners have been dramatist Liza Birkenmeier, fiction writers Samuel Kọ́láwọlé, Shubha Sunder and Claire Luchette, graphic fiction author Emil Ferris, poet Annie Wenstrup and nonfiction author Sofi Thanhauser.
“These writers demonstrate astounding range; each has invented the tools they needed to carve out their narratives and worlds,” Courtney Hodell, Whiting’s director of literary packages, mentioned in an announcement. “Taken as a whole, their work shows a sharply honed sensitivity to our history, both individual and collective, and a passionate curiosity as to where a deeper understanding of that history can take us.”
