On Wednesday, the nonprofit Whiting Foundation announced the winners of its 2026 Whiting Award for Emerging Writers. Each honoree will receive $50,000 in recognition of their outstanding work in nonfiction, poetry, drama, and/or fiction that offers “a kaleidoscopic view of this moment — from the human cost of AI to the poetry of displacement, from Detroit to Kabul to the stage.”

This year’s winners are:

• Negar Azimi (nonfiction)
• Elaine Castillo (fiction and nonfiction)
• Karen Hao (nonfiction)
• Hajar Hussaini (poetry)
• Hilary Leichter (fiction)
• Lara Mimosa Montes (fiction and poetry)
• Brittany Rogers (poetry)
• Alison C. Rollins (poetry)
• Celine Song (drama)
• Carvell Wallace (nonfiction)

Founded more than half a century ago by Flora Ettlinger Whiting, the Whiting Foundation seeks to support the arts and humanities through education and grantmaking. Learn more about its history here.