The writers who teach in the Goddard MFA in Creative Writing Program have been published and produced internationally, and are recognized in their fields. They are active writers. Collectively, current and recent faculty members have published more than 150 books, had plays produced around the world, and won most of the major U.S. literary awards.

Goddard would like to officially commend our MFAW faculty for their great achievements.

MFAW Faculty Awards and Fellowships

Bhanu Kapil (Poetry, hybrid):

• Judith E. Wilson poetry fellowship, University of Cambridge, 2019-2020
• Windham Campbell Prize for Poetry, (Yale University) 2020
• Chomondeley Award, Society of Authors, (UK) 2020

Kenny Fries (Poetry, Memoir/Creative Nonfiction, Libretto): 

• Creative Capital Literature Award
• Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Arts and Literary Arts Fellowship 
• Fulbright Scholar (Germany)
• Fulbright Scholar (Japan)
• DAAD (German Academic Exchange) Faculty Research Grant
• Canada Council for the Arts
• Ontario Arts Council
• Toronto Arts Council
• Creative Arts Fellow, Japan/US Friendship Commission and National Endowment for the Arts
• Outstanding Book Award, Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights
• Residencies from Yaddo, MacDowell (among many others)
• Gregory Kolovakos Award for AIDS Writing 

Richard Panek (Creative Nonfiction, Science Writing, Fiction):

• Guggenheim Fellow in Science Writing
• American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award (for The 4% Universe)
• Antarctic Artists & Writers Program grant (National Science Foundation)
• New York Foundation for the Arts, Fellow in Nonfiction Literature
• Goodreads Choice Award for Best Nonfiction Book of the Year (for The Autistic Brain)
• The Royal Society (U.K.) Prize for Science Books (for The 4% Universe), Longlisted.
• Best Science Books of 2011 (for The 4% Universe):
  • New Scientist;
  •  Physics World.
• Jagiellonian University of Kraków and Euclid Science Communication Foundation Award for a Wise Book of the Year (for The Autistic Brain)
• New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller (for The Autistic Brain)
• Best American Science & Nature Writing notable mentions, 2003, 2000

John McManus (Fiction):

• American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, 2019
• Fulbright Scholar, South Africa, University of Cape Town, Jan-Dec 2014
• Creative Capital Foundation Literature Grant, 2013
• Fellowship of Southern Writers’ New Writers Award, in recognition of distinguished achievement in Southern writing (award citation written by George Garrett), April 2001
• Whiting Writers’ Award, October 2000

Aimee Liu (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction):

• Literary Guild Super Release
• Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award
• Bosque Fiction Award
• Pushcart Prize Special Mention  

Rahna Reiko Rizzuto (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction/Memoir):

• American Book Award
• U.S. Japan Creative Artist Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts
• National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
• Grub Street Book Award Winner
• Asian American Literary Award Finalist
• Dayton Literary Peace Prize Nominee
• Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights Book Award, Longlist 
• Hedgebrook Fellowship (multiple)
• PEN Open Book Honor
• Best Books of the Year, Honolulu Advertiser

 Elena Georgiou (Poetry, Hybrid, Fiction, Essay):

• Finalist, Vermont Book Award, Vermont College of Fine Arts, VT, 2019
• Finalist, New American Voices Award, Institute for Immigration Research, 2018
• Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2003
• Winner, Lambda Literary Award for Poetry (mercy mercy me), 2000
• Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for Poetry (The World In Us), 2000
• Finalist, Publishing Triangle Award for Poetry (mercy mercy me), 2000
• Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, 1999
• Winner, Emerging Writers Award, The Astraea Foundation, New York, 1998

Keenan Norris (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction):

• James D. Houston Book Award (Brother and the Dancer), 2012 
• Public Voices Fellowship, 2020 
• Marin Headlands Artist-in-Residence, 2017 
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Fellow, 2017, 2015
• Callaloo Writers Fellowship, 2016 

Sherri L. Smith (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Young Adult, Graphic Novel):

• University of Kansas Alyce Hunley Whayne Visiting  Researchers Travel Award, 2020
• Wellstone Center in the Redwoods, Writer-in-Residence, 2017
• Wassard Elea, Writer-in-Residence, 2015
• Hedgebrook, Writer-in-Residence February , 2011
• Hedgebrook, Writer-in-Residence, 2009
• Elizabeth George Foundation Award, 2009

Pasadena

• 2017 Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Book Award
• 2016 Junior Library Guild Selection 

The Toymaker’s Apprentice

• 2016 Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Book Award

Orleans:

• 2016 Louisiana Young Readers Choice Nominee
• 2015 Magnolia Book Awards Nominee
• 2014 Honorable Mention for the Westchester Fiction Award
• 2014 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year list
• 2014 Cooperative Children’s Book Center Best Fiction for Young Adults
• 2013 Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book

Flygirl:

• 2010 – 2013 Fourteen State Awards Lists
• 2010 California Book Awards Gold Medal in the Young Adult Category
• 2010 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults 
• 2010 Young Adult Library Services Association Teen’s Top Ten Nominee
• 2010 Amelia Bloomer Project Selection
• 2010 Children’s Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
• 2009 Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book List
• 2009 Washington Post Best Books for Teens
• 2009 Booklist starred review

Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet:

• 2011 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award Nominee
• 2009-2010 Florida Sunshine State Young Reader Award master list nominee, grades 6-8
• 2009 California Book Award Finalist

Sparrow:

• 2009 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award Nominee
• 2006 NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies 
• 2006 New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age 

Lucy the Giant:

• 2005 De Gouden Zoen Honorable Mention, CPNB, Netherlands, for Dutch translation 
• 2003 American Library Association Best Books for Young People 
• 2003 American Library Association Amelia Bloomer Selection 
• 2003 New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age 
• 2003 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year 
• 2002 Book Sense 76 Pick
• 2002 Junior Library Guild Selection 
• 2002 Cleveland Public Library Celebrate With Books Selection

Jan Clausen (Poetry, Hybrid, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction/Memoir):

• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
• New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship

Victoria Nelson (Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, Fiction):

• Guggenheim Fellowship
• American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
• Woodrow Wilson Fellowship
• Modern Language Association Award for Comparative Literary Studies
• American Publishers Association PROSE Award for Excellence in Literature

Douglas A. Martin (Poetry, Hybrid, Fiction, Memoir):

• Lambda Award Nomination for Gay Memoir/Biography
• Ferro-Grumley Award finalist
• Pushcart Prize Nomination 
• Top Ten Books of the Year in the San Francisco Bay Times 
• International Book of the Year (selected by Colm Tóibín, The Times Literary Supplement)

Susan Kim (Dramatic Writing [TV, Screen, Plays], Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Graphic Novel, Young Adult:

• Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary for Paving the Way
• The Drama League of New York Award for Outstanding New Play for Open Spaces
• Nominated for national Emmy Award five times
• Nominated for the Writers Guild of America award three times
• For Brain Camp (co-written with husband Laurence Klavan): 
• Junior Library Guild Selection 
• Scholastic Book Fair Selection
• Top Ten Great Graphic Novel for Teens, 2010, American Library Association

For City of Spies:

• the Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List by the Texas Library Association 
• Scripps Howard News Service’s Favorite Books of 2010 
• Comic Book Resources’ Favorite Books of 2010

Rogelio Martinez (Dramatic Writing):

• Laurents/ Hatcher Foundation Citation of Excellence for Blind Date Guggenheim Award, 2017
• Mid-Career Fellowship at the Lark, 2012-2014
• Member of Dorothy Strelsin Writer’s Group, Primary Stages (2006-2012) Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, 2013
• National Endowment for the Arts/ TCG Grant, 2006
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation New Science and Technology Initiative Grant  
• Princess Grace Award, 2001 
• New Dramatists Award
•  James Hammerstein Award among others. 

Deborah Brevoort (Dramatic Writing):

• Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, The Women of Lockerbie,
• Silver medal, Onassis International Playwriting Competition The Women of Lockerbie
• The Galileo Prize, EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for The Blue-Sky Boys
• New York Foundation on the Arts (NYFA) Playwriting Fellowship
• Gold Medalist, 2004 Pinter Review Prize for Drama, for Signs of Life
• New Jersey Council on the Arts playwriting fellowships, 2007 and 2018
• Jane Chambers Playwriting Award for Signs of Life
• Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Award for Signs of Life
• L. Arnold Weissberger Award for Into the Fire
• Frederick Loewe Award in Musical Theatre for Coyote Goes Salmon Fishing
• Frederick Loewe Award in  Musical Theatre for King Island Christmas  
• National Theatre Conference/Paul Green Foundation award for musical book writing
• Winner, Frontiers Competition, Fort Worth Opera, 2019 for Albert Nobbs.
• Winner, Frontiers Competition Fort Worth Opera, 2017, for Steal a Pencil for Me.
• Winner, Frontiers Competition Fort Worth Opera, 2016, for Embedded
• Finalist, Domenic Pellicciotti Prize for Opera Composition
• Performing Artist/Writer Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society (research)
• Winner of the Amy & Eric Burger Essays on Theatre Competition, sponsored by the University of Wyoming, for On Literary Activism (A Goddard MFAW Keynote)

Beatrix Gates (Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction): 

• The Huntington Library: Alan Jutzi Non-Traditional Scholar Fellowship for research on astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt, “Good Seeing: A Poem of the Full Sky,” Pasadena, California, 2019.
• QUEST University: Writer-in-Residence, Squamish, BC, Canada, 2016.
• The MacDowell Colony, Poetry Fellow, 2015 (Lincoln Financial Northern New England Fellow), Peterborough, NH.
• The MacDowell Colony, Poetry Fellow, in 2006-07; and in 1995, Peterborough, NH.
• Porter Brother’s Scholarship, Poet, ArtWeek, Great Spruce Head, Maine, 2016. 
• Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Poetry Fellow, 2015 (Quita Broadhead fellowship), Amherst, Va..
• VCCA, Poetry Fellow, 2008; 2007; 2005; 2004; 2002; 1992; Amherst, Va..
• Ucross Foundation, Poetry Fellow, 2013 and 2012, Ucross, Wyoming.
• Lambda Literary Poetry Award Finalist for In the Open, Painted Leaf Press, NY, NY, 1998.
• Vermont Studio Center, Poetry Fellow, 1993, Johnson, Vt..
• Cummington Community of the Arts, Poetry Fellow, 1990, 1987 & 1986, Cummington, Mass..
• Master Class with Marie Ponsot, The Writer’s Voice, NY, NY, 1988.
• Millay Colony for the Arts, Poetry Fellow in 1988, Austerlitz, NY.

Translation/ Poetry

• Witter Bynner Translation Award & Santa Fe Art Institute Residency, with Electa Arenal,  translation of contemporary poet Jesús Aguado from the Spanish, 2003.
• Publication: The Poems of Vikram Babu by Jesús Aguado, translated by Electa Arenal/Beatrix Gates, HOST Publications, Publications, bilingual edition, Austin, Texas, 2009.
• WERU, Orland, Maine: Bilingual Reading w Arenal/Gates: Jesús Aguado’s The Poems of Vikram Babu, translation by Gates/Arenal, “Gracias a la Vida” with Jim Fisher, 2017.
• WERU, Orland, Maine: Bilingual Reading w Arenal/Gates: Jesús Aguado’s The Poems of Vikram Babu; Discussion w translators Gates/Arenal, “Off the Charts,” Max Langstaff, 2013

Grants, awards and Artist Residencies for The Singing Bridge

• World Premiere of the opera, THE SINGING BRIDGE, Conception & libretto by Beatrix Gates and music by Anna Dembska, July 2005, supported by grants from:
• Meet the Composer/ Commissioning Music USA/ National Endowment for the Arts;
• The Davis Foundation; The Bangor Daily News; The Maine Community Fund;
• produced by Opera House Arts, Stonington Opera House, Stonington, Maine.
• Opera House Arts Residency, 2004, Stonington, Maine
• for development and presentation of the opera, THE SINGING BRIDGE,
• with composer Anna Dembska and director Richard Edelman.
• LEF Foundation, commissioning grant, librettist & composer, THE SINGING BRIDGE, 2003.
• Opera House Arts Residency, 2003 & 2002, Stonington, Maine
• THE SINGING BRIDGE with composer Anna Dembska & director Valeria Vasilevski supported by the PatsyLu/Open Meadows Fund.
• Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Interview, THE SINGING BRIDGE opera, composer Anna Dembska and librettist/ conceiver Beatrix Gates, Portland, Maine, 2005.

GRANITE PRESS AWARDS & GRANTS

• National Endowment for the Arts/ Book Program of the U.S. Information Agency:
• “From Writer to Reader,” Buenos Aires Book Fair, Leaning Forward by Grace Paley, 1987.
• National Endowment for the Arts/ NEW AMERICAN WRITING at the Liber and Frankfurt Book Fairs, Leaning Forward by Grace Paley, 1986.
• The Community Fund & Funding Exchange: for Poets Travel/ Readings, 1986 for IXOK AMAR.GO, Central American Women Poets for Peace, ed. Zoe Anglesey, including Diana Avila, Yolanda Blanco, Mirna Martinez and Daisy Zamora.
• Maine State Commission on the Arts & Humanities and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance:

Interested in applying, get more info here