A recent college graduate and a local nonprofit administrator have been named the recipients of this year’s Langston Hughes Creative Writing Awards.
First presented in 1997, the awards recognize Douglas County writers of poetry and prose who, like Hughes, use their craft to share stories of human experience. The 2022 recipients receive a $500 prize and will share readings of their work at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St.
Poetry prize winner Faith Maddox recently earned a bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing from the University of Kansas. She is a writer, artist and musician whose work explores personal vulnerability and the relationships between gender, spirituality and the natural world. An album of Maddox’s music, Subtle Hauntings, is scheduled for release in 2022 through French Exit Records.
Lawrence writer Brett Salsbury received the award for fiction. Salsbury is a native Kansan who earned a master of fine arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is currently the director of finance and development for Just Food. His writing has been featured recently in journals including the Westchester Review and deLuge, with additional pieces scheduled for release in The New Territory.
The Langston Hughes Awards, which took a hiatus in 2021, are co-sponsored by the Raven Book Store and the Lawrence Arts Center. The event recognizing this year’s award winners will also be a celebration of Hughes’ 120th birthday.
The event will be free and open to the public. Masks are required in addition to proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.
Past Langston Hughes Award Winners:
2020 Kate Lorenz // Tracey Lien
2019 Molly Weisgrau // Jameelah Jones
2018 Kim Condon // Rachel Atakpa
2017 Mercedes Lucero // Chloe Seim
2016 Kate Russell // Tai Amri Spann-Wilson
2015 Alyse Bensel // Matthew O’Connell
2014 Justin Runge // Crystal Boson
2013 Becky Mendelbaum // Brendan Allen
2012 Amy Ash // Callista Buchen // Iris Moulton
2011 Mary Stone Dockery // Beth Reiber
2010 Jeff Tigchelaar // Amy Stuber
2009 Judy Bauer // Nancy Pistorius
2008 Stephen Bunch // John Mark Connolly
2007 Jean Grant // Douglas M. Crawford-Parker
2006 Mary G. Wharff // Christopher Citro
2005 Kevin Rabas // Max Keith Sutton
2004 Tasha Haas // Nedra Rogers
2003 Kelly Barth // Sarah Kanning
2002 Alice Ann White // Thomas Yeahpau
2001 Katrina Vandenberg // John Reimringer
2000 Joy Clumsky // Daniel Dyer
1999 Gary Lechliter // Terry Wierman
1998 Kathleen Johnson // Michele J. Lubbers
1997 Allan Grohe // Barbara Seaman
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