The Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowships

Congratulations to Jamier Boatman-Harrell, Inyene Ekanem, Ji Hyun Joo, Lucas Ege Mautner, Skyler Melnick, Allen L. Melton Jr., Eric Sacks, Darina Sikmashvili, and Ayten Tartici, our 2026 Emerging Writer Fellows!

The Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship Program annually provides financial support, professional and creative development, personalized mentorship, and community engagement to nine early-career, New York City-based fiction writers.

During the one-year Fellowship period, Fellows receive:

• A grant of $5,000
• The opportunity to have their manuscript revised and critiqued by an experienced editor
• Access to write in our Writers Studio
• A monthly Open Studio where creative work is shared and discussed
• The opportunity to meet with editors, authors, and agents who represent new writers at monthly dinners
• Two public readings as part of our annual program of events
• A professional headshot for personal publicity use
• Inclusion in an anthology distributed to industry professionals
• Invitation and ticket to our First Novel Fête
• Complimentary admission to all Center events
• A 25% discount on writing workshops at The Center
• A workshop on reading as performance

The Fellowship also marks the beginning of a lifelong relationship with The Center. Alumni remain a vital part of our community, launching their debuts on our stage, participating in our programs, and offering support to new Fellows.

Our 125 Fellowship alumni have published over 60 books, reflecting The Center’s mission to nurture and champion exciting new voices. Fellows have gone on to receive prestigious honors and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Whiting Award, the NAACP Image Award, the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the Gotham Prize, and the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35.

Get to know our Emerging Writer Fellowship alumni and enjoy videos of them reading from their work.

The Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship is supported in part by Amazon Literary Partnership, Stuart S. Applebaum Giving Foundation, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, Jerome Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Hawthornden Foundation, the Karpfinger Agency, Macmillan, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, Penguin Random House, PublishersMarketplace.com, and contributors to The Center for Fiction.

If you would like to lend your support to our work for emerging writers, please consider donating to The Center for Fiction today. For additional support opportunities, please contact Melissa Wyse, Director of Development, at [email protected].