Join us on Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 6 PM to celebrate the best published work from 2025 by Wisconsin writers. The award ceremony includes brief readings by first place winners and will be followed by a reception and book signing by the authors.
Don't miss the opportunity to hear some of Wisconsin's best writers reading from their work. This event is free and open to the public. Winners will be announced at the ceremony, and finalists are listed below:
Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award Finalists
for a group of poems
Nina Boals
Christopher Chambers
Nick Demske
Sami Hegelson
Cynthis Marie Hoffman
Lora Keller
Jesse Lee Kercheval
Mark Kraushaar
Chessy Normile
Joseph Radke
Wendy Vardaman
Kay W. Levin Short Nonfiction Award Finalists
Jane Barnard
Matt Cashion
Krista Eastman
Richard Ely
Jill Sisson Quinn
John Gurda
Brandon Hansen
Ronnie Hess
Jesse Lee Kercheval
Heather Swan
Barrett Swanson
Zona Gale Short Fiction Award Finalists
Margaret Benbow
Alex Bledsoe
Linda Falkenstein
Steve Fox
A.M. Mischek
Jennifer Morales
Cayce Osborne
Eric Roe
Christine Schultz
Richie Zaborowske
Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award Finalists
Anthony Bukoski, The Thief of Words
Nickolas Butler, A Forty Year Kiss
Phyllis R. Dixon, Something in the Water
Charity Eleson, The Blood of Others
Janis Falk, Not Yet Lost
Steve Fox, These Are My People
Richard Goodkin, The Magnificent Lies of Madeline Béjart
Michael Hopkins, Never Stop Exiting
E. H. Lupton, Lazarus, Home from the War
David McGlynn, Everything We Could Do
Ron Rindo, Life & Death & Giants
Lindsey Steffes, Gichigami
Edna Meudt Poetry Book Award Finalists
Sasha Debevec-McKenney, Joy Is My Middle Name
Lisa Fishman, One Big Time
Anthony Immergluck, The Worried Well
C. Kubasta, Under the Tented Skin
Meredith Mason, Secret Work
Richard Meier, A Companion
Kurt Olsson, The Unnumbered Anniversaries
Jacqueline S. Redmer, Dissociative Effect
David Southward, Queer Physics
Mandy Mo Pwint Tu, Fablemaker
Norbert Blei/August Derleth Nonfiction Book Award Finalists
Gaar Adams, Guest Privileges
Kristina Amelong, What My Brother Knew
Ann Bausum, White Lies
Emily Callaci, Wages for Housework
J.K. Cheema, A Place to Be
Tamara Dean, Shelter and Storm
B.J. Hollars, Dinosaur Dreams
Ben McCormick, In the Room at the Top of the World
Andrew Patrie, Clumsy Love
Nancy Reddy, The Good Mother Myth
Joshua Shores, Counting on Death
Christine Wenc, Funny Because It's True
The Wisconsin Writers Awards was established in 1964 and is Wisconsin’s longest-running literary award for published work. The eight awards include four awards for books; three awards for short form works including short stories, poetry, and nonfiction; and one special prize for writing by a Wisconsin high school student. The awards celebrate works published in 2025 by writers currently residing in or having lived for a significant period of time in Wisconsin (entries for the Wisconsin Young Writers Award need not have been previously published). This year the first place award for books prize was increased to $1000.
In addition to cash prizes, first-place winners of the Wisconsin Writers Awards (except for the Young Writers Award) each receive a five-day writing residency at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point. Honorable mentions receive a cash prize and five-day residency at Ernest Hüpeden's Painted Forest in Wonewoc, WI. Out-of-state judges made the decisions for each award.