Congratulations goes to alum of the BA/MA program, Trae (David) Hawkins, currently in the MFA program at the University of Nevada. Trae recently won a prestigious award in support of his writing from the non-profit company We Need Diverse Books, in partnership with Penguin Random House. Trae’s manuscript was one of two selected to receive editorial critique and the possibility of a book contract—and he won money to boot.

The program is called the Black Creatives Revision Workshop, and Trae describes the experience and process of the workshop this way: “We basically got to have revision-focused workshops with the faculty listed on the website as well as virtual lunches with agents and editors who gave us insight into the industry. At the conclusion of the workshop, we got to submit our revised manuscripts to editors at PRH, and they chose two winners! The prize is essentially $4,500 along with the opportunity of having my manuscript floated to several imprints within PRH and strongly considered for publication by editors within these imprints. I also get editorial notes from the editor that chose my manuscript to win the prize. The timeline on when my manuscript is circulated to the PRH imprints is still being worked out, but I’m sure it’ll be sometime in the new year.”

Trae’s young adult manuscript, The Stars Are Ours, was reviewed by Matt Phipps, Assistant Editor at Penguin Young Readers. “I love the queer representation and it’s easy to rally behind this liberation narrative,” said Phipps.

More information about the project and winners can be found here: “WNDB and Penguin Random House Announce the Winners of the First Black Creatives Fund Revisions Workshop”. Congratulations, Trae!