The new 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 NER/BLWC Fund for Emerging Writers, established in 2014 by a private benefactor in honor of Stephen Donadio, NER editor for twenty years and Middlebury College professor of literature. 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 year for a New England Review Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Scholar.

How it works:
By the end of January each year, beginning in 2015, 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 New England Review 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.

2017
Finalists
Winner: Alan Rossi

2016
Finalists
Winner: Hai-Dang Phan

 2015
Finalists
Winner: Ricardo Nuila