The Hurston/Wright 2019 College Writing Award Winners
The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation’s 2019 Award for College Writers goes to a student at Temple University, for fiction, and a student at New York University, for poetry. Each wins a $1,000 cash prize, sponsored by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Trevor Lanuzza, an MFA candidate in fiction at Temple University, wins the fiction prize for his story “nobody’s a real mystic anymore.” Bernard Ferguson, an MFA candidate at NYU, wins the poetry prize for his collection titled “Notes on Migration.” Honorable mentions were awarded to Elinam Agbo, an MFA candidate at the University of Michigan, for fiction, and to Nadia Alexis, an MFA candidate at the University of Mississippi, for poetry. The honorable mentions each win a $250 cash prize.
The fiction competition was judged by novelist Lauren Francis-Sharma, author of ’Til the Well Runs Dry. In selecting Lanuzza’s story, Francis-Sharma said, “This tragic yet hilarious story of a group of young queers is a wild, gripping ride that is hectic, breathless and most lovable. This young writer’s voice is resonant, palpable and especially brave.”
The poetry competition was judged by poet Alan King, author of Point Blank and Drift. In selecting Ferguson’s poetry, King said, “Each poem is a colorful bazaar where ‘words/glimmering like flint’ announce ‘the diaspora has come alive,’ where sweet wine ‘hums like bees’ and a song ‘falls like nectar about/our ears.’ The reader becomes a xylophone of emotions.”
The award, which debuted in 1991 and is the longest-running program of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, encourages college creative writers with support early in their writing careers. Almost 90 students from 60 colleges and universities submitted their work for the 2019 competition. The judges, who have sole discretion in making the selections, are sent entries without information that would identify the authors or their schools.
This is the sixth year that the award has been sponsored by Amistad and HarperCollins Publishers. Tracy Sherrod, editorial director of Amistad, said “It is a great honor for Amistad/HarperCollins to continue supporting the Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers. I have seen recipients of this award go on to become prominent literary voices. We are proud to be a part of this exciting work.”
Former Hurston/Wright college writers who have found publishing success include Tayari Jones, Natalie Baszile, Mitchell S. Jackson, and Nate Marshall.
The college winners will be honored at the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Friday October 18, 2019. The evening features the announcement of the winners of the juried awards for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as presentation of awards for career achievement. More than 200 literary stars and representatives of the publishing industry, media, politics, arts, and academia attend the annual ceremony.