The Center for Women Writers is a literary arts organization based at

Salem College Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational esta ...

in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Center for Women Writers was established in 1996, which coincided with the 225th anniversary of the opening of Salem Academy & College. The first director was Annette Allen. In addition to hosting literary arts events, the Center for Women Writers underwrites an annual January Term Writer-in-Residence and manages the International Literary Awards, initially called the National Literary Awards. These awards include the

Reynolds Price Edward Reynolds Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011) was an American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University. Apart from English literature, Price had a lifelong interest in Biblical ...

Short Fiction Award,

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as United States Poet Laureate, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have bee ...

Poetry Award, and the Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award.

Past winners

Short fiction

* 2003 - Sheryl Monks * 2004 - Jennifer S. Davis * 2007 - Bonnie Jo Campbell * 2008 - Becky Hagenston * 2009 - Jacob Appel * 2011 - Colette Sartor * 2013 - T.D. Storm * 2014 - Bushra Rehman * 2015 - Kerry Hill * 2016 - JoeAnne Hart * 2017 - Jaquira Díaz * 2018 - Kristen Gentry *2019- Elizabeth Edelglass *2020- Kanza Javed

Poetry

* 2004 - Ann Fisher-Wirth * 2007 - Mary F. Morris * 2008 - Terry Godbey * 2009 - Susan Lilley * 2010 - * 2011 - Susan A. Cohen * 2012 - * 2013 - * 2014 -

Joseph Bathanti Joseph Bathanti (born July 20, 1953, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American poet, novelist and professor. He was named by Governor of North Carolina, Governor Bev Perdue as the seventh North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2012–2014. Biography Early ...

* 2015 - Jaimie Gusman * 2016 - J.C. Todd * 2017 - Danielle Zaccagnino * 2018 - Annie Virginia * 2019 - Laura Minor * 2020 - Chelsea Bunn

Nonfiction

* 2003 - Maureen Stanton * 2004 - Catherine Rainwater * 2007 - M.B. McLatchey * 2008 - Pascha A. Stevenson * 2009 - Maria Hummel * 2010 - * 2011 -

Mako Yoshikawa Mako Yoshikawa (born 1966) is an American novelist. She is the author of two novels, ''One Hundred and One Ways'' (1999), a national bestseller that was also translated into six languages, and ''Once Removed'' (2003). Her recent work includes ...

* 2012
Jennifer Rose
* 2013 - * 2014 - Brandel France de Bravo * 2015 -

Melissa Febos Melissa Febos is an American writer and professor. She is the author of the memoirs ''Whip Smart'' (2010) and ''The Dry Season'' (2025) and the essay collections ''Abandon Me'' (2017), ''Girlhood'' (2021), and ''Body Work'' (2022). Early life and ...

* 2016 - Jessica Reidy * 2017 - Lisa Locascio * 2018 - Eliza Smith * 2019 - Jen Soriano * 2020 - Maria Isabelle Carlos

References

External links