Housatonic Book Awards
The MFA in Creative and Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University and its alumni organization, the MFA Alumni Writers Collaborative, are proud to present the 2026 Housatonic Book Awards.
The Award will be given to book-length works in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and YA/Middle-Grade. Books must have been published in 2025. The Award carries a $1,000 honorarium in exchange for appearing at the winter or summer residency of the MFA in Creative and Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University to give a public reading and a one-day, three-hour workshop with MFA students. The Award also includes a $500 travel stipend and hotel stay during the residency.
For more information and submission guidelines, visit: Housatonic Book Awards
Past Winners Include…
  |
  |
|
Fiction The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
|
Poetry
Original Kink by Jubi Arriola-Headley |
  |
  |
|
Nonfiction Just an Ordinary Woman Breathing by Julie Marie Wade |
Young Adult/Middle Grade
The Newspaper Club by Beth Vrabel |
  |
  |
|
Fiction Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger
|
Poetry
Leave Smoke by Jeff Walt |
  |
|
|
Nonfiction The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer |