The New England Review Award for Emerging Writers builds on the strengths of two of Middlebury College’s literary institutions. Both New England Review (NER) and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (BLWC) impact emerging writers’ lives and, in doing so, help sustain a vibrant literary culture.

What it is:
The NER Award for Emerging Writers provides a full scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference for an emerging writer in any genre. This annual award, which is bestowed upon a writer who offers an unusual and compelling new voice and who has been published by NER, is selected by the NER editorial staff and the BLWC director.

How it came about:
This annual award is made possible by the Stephen Donadio Fund for Emerging Writers, established in 2014 by a private benefactor in honor of Stephen Donadio, NER editor for twenty years and former Fulton Professor of Humanities and Director of the Literary Studies program at Middlebury College. Proceeds from this endowment will support NER’s ongoing commitment to identify and publish gifted emerging writers, and will fund a full scholarship to the Writers’ Conference each August, named the Stephen Donadio Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Scholarship.

How it works:
Near the end of January each year, NER’s editorial staff will announce a short list of finalists from the emerging authors who have published in NER over the course of the previous year. These finalists will be invited to fill out a form indicating their eligibility* for the award. The editor of NER and director of the BLWC will choose a winner from those eligible finalists. The Stephen Donadio Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Scholarship will cover tuition, room, and board at the Conference.

* To be eligible for the NER Award for Emerging Writers, finalists must not have published a book in the genre in which they’ve been nominated, and must be available to attend the Conference in the year in which they’ve been nominated. Previous Bread Loaf Scholarship recipients are not eligible.

Order our award winners’ collection today
Our four-issue set includes four winning pieces alongside a range of contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from other emerging and established writers—a unique gift for a favorite writer or reader, an inspiration for your own writing, and a great excuse to sit and lose yourself in the best reading around.

2020
Finalists
Winner Leslie Bazzett

2019
Finalists
Winner: Jennifer Stock

2018
Finalists
Winner: Devon Walker-Figueroa

2017
Finalists
Winner: Alan Rossi

2016
Finalists
Winner: Hai-Dang Phan

 2015
Finalists
Winner: Ricardo Nuila