The United States Artists [USA] arts funding organization in Chicago has awarded six writers grants of $50,000 each as part of its annual fellowship program which present similar awards to 63 artists working across 10 creative disciplines to support their professional and creative development.
The six writer recipients were:
Chen Chen of Waltham, Mass., a poet and essayist whose debut collection of poems, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities was longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award;
Dawn Lundy Martin of Pittsburgh, a poet, essayist, and memoirist, whose latest collection, Stock Strange Blood, won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award in 2019;
Emmy Pérez of McAllen Tex., who was the Texas Poet Laureate in 2020;
Leroy F. Moore Jr. of Los Angeles, a poet who explores the intersections between racism and ableism;
Kiese Laymon of Oxford, Miss., a novelist and memoirist who currently is working on a horror comedy and a children’s book;
Grace Talusan of Boston, who writes in multiple genres and whose short story, “The Book of Life and Death” was the 2020 Boston Book Festival’s One City One Story pick.
“The 2022 USA Fellows were selected for their remarkable vision and their commitment to community – both in their specific communities and their discipline at large – and the potential to influence future generations,” Lynnette Miranda, USA program director stated in a release.
“Our work continues to illuminate the importance of elevating individual artists and cultural practitioners in communities across the sountry,” added Ed Henry, USA board chair, noting also that 20% of this year’s 63 recipients are Indigenous artists and that 17% are disabled.
USA has distributed more than $36 million to artists all over the U.S. in the past 15 years. Previous USA fellows who are writers include Claudia Rankine, Teju Cole, Alexander Chee, Ocean Vuong, Sharon Olds, and Fred Moten.
