Whiting Foundation announces grants of $50,000 each for 10 emerging writers
Since 1985, the foundation has had a mission to nurture 'new creations' by supporting poets, playwrights and authors of fiction and nonfiction. Past winners have included Tony Kushner, André Aciman and Tracy K. Smith.
This week, the foundation announced its class of 2025. Elwin Cofman writes speculative fiction that Whiting judges say offers 'illuminating sites of bawdy humor and horror,' while Karisma Price crafts post-Katrina poems that are 'songs, howls, portraits, critiques.' Judges praised the essays of Aisha Sabatini Sloan for their 'startling connections between the personal and the collective.'
The other winners were dramatist Liza Birkenmeier, fiction writers Samuel Kọ́láwọlé, Shubha Sunder and Claire Luchette, graphic fiction writer Emil Ferris, poet Annie Wenstrup and nonfiction writer Sofi Thanhauser.
'These writers demonstrate astounding range; each has invented the tools they needed to carve out their narratives and worlds,' Courtney Hodell, Whiting's director of literary programs, said in a statement. 'Taken as a whole, their work shows a sharply honed sensitivity to our history, both individual and collective, and a passionate curiosity as to where a deeper understanding of that history can take us.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Jay Leno criticizes modern late-night comedy for alienating half the audience with partisan politics
Jay Leno reflected on why he always kept his jokes politically balanced while hosting 'The Tonight Show' for over two decades. The 75-year-old comedian recently sat down for an interview with David Trulio, the president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, during which he was questioned about his approach to political humor. 'I read that there was an analysis done of your work on 'The Tonight Show' for the 22 years and that your jokes were roughly equally balanced between going after Republicans and taking aim at Democrats. Did you have a strategy?' Trulio asked. 'It was fun to me when I got hate letters [like] 'Dear Mr. Leno, you and your Republican friends' and 'Well, Mr. Leno, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' — over the same joke,' Leno recalled. 'And I go, 'Well, that's good,'' he said. 'That's how you get a whole audience.' Leno went on to note how late-night comedy has changed amid the current divisive political landscape. 'Now you have to be content with half the audience because you have [to] give your opinion,' Leno said. 7 Jay Leno hosts 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' on Nov. 5, 2012. AP When Trulio asked if Leno had any advice for comedians today, the 'Jay Leno's Garage' host referred to his longtime friendship with late comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield. 'I knew Rodney 40 years,' he said. 'I have no idea if he was Democrat or Republican. We never discussed [it], we just discussed jokes.' 'And to me, I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, you know, the pressures of life, whatever it might be,' Leno continued. 'And I love political humor, don't get me wrong, but it's just what happens when people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.' 7 Jay Leno rides his vintage 1910 Model O-O White Steam Car on July 14, 2025. Snorlax / MEGA 7 Jay Leno appears on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon' on June 15, 2016. Getty Images While speaking with Trulio, Leno discussed how comedy could be used to create common ground. 'Funny is funny,' Leno said. 'It's funny when someone who's not….when you make fun of their side and they laugh at it, you know, that's kind of what I do.' 'I just find getting out — I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture,' he continued. 'When I was with Rodney, it was always in the economy of words — get to the joke as quickly as possible.' 7 The New York Post front cover on July 27, 2025. Trulio pointed out that both Leno and Dangerfield achieved massive success during their careers, noting the two's 'approach worked in the marketplace.' 'Well, why shoot for just half an audience all the time? You know, why not try to get the whole [audience],' Leno replied. 'I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture,' he explained. 'I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny.' 7 Stephen Colbert during a shooting of 'The Late Show' on June 25, 2025. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS 7 Jimmy Fallon hosts 'The Tonight Show' on Feb. 21, 2013. AP Leno's comments come amid the uproar that ensued after CBS announced on July 17 that it was canceling 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' with the show's final episode scheduled to air in May 2026. At the time, the network clarified that the cancellation was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,' and noted, 'It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.' Weeks ahead of the cancellation, CBS and Paramount paid President Donald Trump a $16 million settlement following his lawsuit against the news network for airing an edited interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election. 7 Seth Meyers hosting 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' on Feb. 24, 2014. AP Colbert, who frequently blasts Trump on his show, criticized the settlement and described it as a 'big fat bribe' during an episode that aired days before the cancellation was announced. The host's supporters, including several politicians, have accused CBS and Paramount of canceling 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' for political reasons. Trump celebrated the news of the cancellation in a post on his platform Truth Social, which drew a fiery response from Colbert, who told the president 'Go f— yourself' during the opening monologue of his show on Monday. Several fellow late night show hosts and comedians have rallied around Colbert. 'The Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon and 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers, 'Last Week Tonight' host John Oliver and 'The Daily Show' host Jon Stewart attended Colbert's taping on Monday in a show of support. Stewart and Oliver previously worked alongside Colbert on 'The Daily Show.' On Friday, 'The Late Show' creator David Letterman slammed CBS' decision to cancel the long-running show as 'pure cowardice' and asserted that the network mistreated Colbert, who succeeded him as host in 2015. Fox News Digital's Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
9 hours ago
George Lucas finally comes to Comic-Con to give a preview of his new museum
SAN DIEGO -- SAN DIEGO (AP) — George Lucas is finally coming to the stage at Comic-Con. And while 'Star Wars' is sure to get a mention, the 81-year-old is making his debut appearance at the San Diego pop cultural extravaganza for a more earthbound reason: a preview of his long-in-the-works Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. The Sunday panel discussion in Comic-Con's vaunted Hall H will act as a relatively quiet closing act to the four-day festival that brought its usual series of big, bombastic looks at upcoming sci-fi and superhero projects. The museum-centered session is also meant to be a broader discussion of the new institution's subject matter: the histories and traditions of narrative art across time and cultures. Lucas will be joined by fellow filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro and art director Doug Chiang, who has worked on a steady series of 'Star Wars' films starting with the Lucas-directed prequels in 1999. Queen Latifah will act as moderator. Lucas is easily on the Mount Rushmore of figures whose work has had the greatest inspiration on the kind of films and other pop cultural celebrated annually in Hall H at Comic-Con. But the convention wasn't a common showcase for blockbuster films when he was directing them himself. And he sold 'Star Wars' and Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Co. in 2012, and Disney has used different venues to make big splashy presentations about its properties. The museum founded by Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson, is set to open next year in Exposition Park, near the Los Angeles Coliseum, several of the city's other museums, and the University of Southern California. The 11-acre campus and 300,000-square-foot building designed by architect Ma Yansong includes galleries, two theaters and related spaces.
San Francisco Chronicle
9 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
George Lucas finally comes to Comic-Con to give a preview of his new museum
SAN DIEGO (AP) — George Lucas is finally coming to the stage at Comic-Con. And while 'Star Wars' is sure to get a mention, the 81-year-old is making his debut appearance at the San Diego pop cultural extravaganza for a more earthbound reason: a preview of his long-in-the-works Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. The Sunday panel discussion in Comic-Con's vaunted Hall H will act as a relatively quiet closing act to the four-day festival that brought its usual series of big, bombastic looks at upcoming sci-fi and superhero projects. The museum-centered session is also meant to be a broader discussion of the new institution's subject matter: the histories and traditions of narrative art across time and cultures. Lucas will be joined by fellow filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro and art director Doug Chiang, who has worked on a steady series of 'Star Wars' films starting with the Lucas-directed prequels in 1999. Queen Latifah will act as moderator. Lucas is easily on the Mount Rushmore of figures whose work has had the greatest inspiration on the kind of films and other pop cultural celebrated annually in Hall H at Comic-Con. But the convention wasn't a common showcase for blockbuster films when he was directing them himself. And he sold 'Star Wars' and Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Co. in 2012, and Disney has used different venues to make big splashy presentations about its properties. The museum founded by Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson, is set to open next year in Exposition Park, near the Los Angeles Coliseum, several of the city's other museums, and the University of Southern California. The 11-acre campus and 300,000-square-foot building designed by architect Ma Yansong includes galleries, two theaters and related spaces.
