Michener Center for Writers

MCW alum Carrie R. Moore (MCW ’23) was awarded the 2026 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction for her story collection, Make Your Way Home. Congrats, Carrie!

The Michener Center for Writers is thrilled to congratulate our Director, Bret Anthony Johnston, on being named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow! Congrats, Bret!

The Michener Center was honored to host filmwriter, producer, and director, Kat Candler, as a guest faculty member this Spring semester. Last Thursday, April 9th, she met with MFA creative writing students for a Q&A to discuss her career and offer insight and advice.

The Michener Center for Writers is thrilled to announce that two of our alumni, Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (MCW ‘23) and Carrie R. Moore (MCW ‘23) were named as National Book Foundation 2026 5 Under 35 honorees! nationalbook.org/the-national-b…

Playwright and film director, Annie Baker, closed out an exciting week of visitors! She joined MFA creative writing fellows on Friday, April 3rd, for a Q&A hosted by the Michener Center for Writers. Thank you, Annie, for sharing your knowledge with our students!

Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Marie Howe, read a selection of work from her collection, New and Selected Poems, at the Harry Ransom Center on Thursday, April 2nd. She joined MFA writing fellows the following morning for a Q&A at the Michener Center.

Author Marlon James visited the Michener Center for Writers to have a conversation with fellows last Thursday, April 2nd. He read an excerpt from his forthcoming work, The Disappearers (September 2026), and answered questions about his career and creative process. Thanks, Marlon!

MCW’s current first-year fellows (MCW ’28) participated in their first reading on Thursday, March 26th at the J. Frank Dobie House Community Room. These readings offer fellows an opportunity to present their work with their peers in the supportive writing community at UT Austin.

The Michener Center for Writers is excited to share the reading of Eliyah Smith’s (MCW ’25) play Biography on March 31, 2026 at 4pm at @artny72 Mezzanine Theater. Congrats, Eliyah!

Congrats to MCW alum Anna Maria Hong (MCW ‘02) on winning the Alice James Award for her manuscript, Dispellations! Details about Anna Maria and the Alica James Ward can be found at alicejamesbooks.org/news/26aja

Congrats to current MCW fellow, Will Bahr, on his second recent publication in The New York Times! To read visit: nytimes.com/2026/03/11/art…

Congrats to Maria Reva (MCW ‘18) on her novel, Endling, being named a 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist!

Happy pub day to Karan Mahajan (MCW ‘15)! The Complex is equal parts brilliant family saga and piercing political drama, The Complex is a virtuosic novel of revenge and redemption, ambition and undoing, loyalty and love, by one of the most lauded voices in contemporary fiction!

The Michener Center for Writers is excited to welcome 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner, poet Marie Howe, to the Harry Ransom Center on April 2, 2026 at 6:00pm. Marie will read a sample of her work from New and Selected Poetry (2024) followed by a reception, signing, and book sales.

Happy Pub Day to MCW alum Jennifer Graham (MCW ’10)! You can find her new novel, The Fall of Iris Henley, on shelves today.

Happy Pub Day to MCW alum, J.D. Ho (MCW ’10). Grab your copy of Backyard Alchemy today!

Happy Pub Day to the Michener Center for Writers’ Director, Bret Anthony Johnston! His collection of short stories, Encounters with Unexpected Animals, is available today.

We were delighted to welcome Reena Shah (MCW ’25) back to the Dobie House this morning to sign copies of her debut novel, Every Happiness. Congrats on your release and safe travels during your book tour, Reena!

Current MCW fellow, Will Bahr’s, work “When Grief Came for the Gravedigger”, was recently featured in The New York Times Magazine. Read the article here: nytimes.com/2026/02/11/mag… Congratulations, Will!

Congratulations to MCW fellow, Joon Cho, for receiving one of the 2025 Austin Film Society Grants for Short Film for his film, An Adequate Place to Die.