AWP Tribal Colleges & Universities Fellowship Program

Tribal communities have long fostered emerging literary talents and continue to produce some of the most influential voices in the literary landscape today. AWP is honored to provide more space for Indigenous American talent through the AWP Tribal Colleges & Universities Fellowship Program.

Faculty from TCUs will work with students through mentorship to create and share original work at each annual AWP Conference & Bookfair. With the help of generous donations, current fellowships will send fellows to the 2027 AWP Conference & Bookfair in Chicago, Illinois!

Donate to support the AWP TCU Fellowship Program


Fellowship Information

The #AWP27 TCU Fellowships will be offered to two faculty and four students. The fellowships include the following:

  • a $4,000 honorarium for faculty and a $500 stipend for students
  • paid round-trip travel expenses and lodging for the duration of the conference
  • monthly meetings between faculty and students to workshop the students’ creative pieces
  • a public reading given by student fellows at the conference
  • a complimentary one-year AWP membership
  • publication in The Writer’s Chronicle of an article featuring faculty fellows’ reflections and student fellows’ final creative pieces

Eligibility

To be eligible for these fellowships, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • be an active TCU faculty member (part- or full-time) or a current TCU student (undergraduate or graduate) involved/interested in creative writing
  • be available to travel and be at the conference on March 17–20, 2027
  • if faculty, be available to serve as a creative writing mentor to two student fellows during the conference, as well as for monthly workshop meetings before the conference
  • if a student, be available for monthly workshop meetings with faculty mentor before the conference

#AWP26 Tribal Colleges & Universities Fellowship Program Fellows

Creative Advisor

Headshot of Ramona EmersonRamona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She received her degree in media arts in 1997 from the University of New Mexico and her MFA in creative writing (fiction) in 2015 from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has worked as a professional cinematographer, writer, and editor for over thirty years and is currently working on her eighth and ninth film projects, Crossing the Line and Through Her Lens. She is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab fellow, a Time Warner Storyteller fellow, a Tribeca All Access grantee, and a WGBH Producer fellow.

Emerson recently released her second novel, Exposure, the follow-up to her debut novel Shutter, which was published by Soho Press in 2022. Shutter was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, PEN Open Book Award, and Edgar Award, among others. Emerson currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband/producer, Kelly Byars, run their production company, Reel Indian Pictures. She is also an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico in the Department of Film and Digital Arts.

Faculty Fellows

Headshot of Michelle Sturges-Brown

Michelle Sturges-Brown

Headshot of Yolanda Franklin

Yolanda Franklin

Student Fellows

Headshot of Tylia Begay

Tylia Begay

Headshot of Dominique Hunter

Dominique Hunter

Headshot of Jamie Natonabah

Jamie Natonabah

Headshot of Elliott Chemberlin

Elliott Chemberlin

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