Congratulations to the 2026 McKnight Fellows!
The Loft Literary Center is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 McKnight Fellowships for Writers, Loft Awards in Poetry/Spoken Word and Loft Award in Children's Literature (Younger Children). Since 1982, the Loft has partnered with the McKnight Foundation to offer substantial fellowships to Minnesota writers.
The fellowships are judged by prominent American authors and editors, and the winners, all from Minnesota, are awarded $25,000 each. The judges this year were Cornelius Eady in poetry/spoken word and Helena Ku Rhee in children’s literature.
The Loft received 27 qualified applications in children’s literature and 85 qualified applications in poetry/spoken word. This year’s recipients are children’s writer Marcie Rendon (Minneapolis), spoken word artist Donte Collins (Minneapolis), and poets Yahya Frederickson (Moorhead), Kara Olson (Minneapolis), and chaun webster (Minneapolis).
The honorable mentions in children’s literature are Keenan Jones (Plymouth), Colleen Muske (Stillwater), Phyllis Root (Minneapolis), and Sarah Warren (Minneapolis).
The honorable mentions in poetry/spoken word are Kyle Tran Myhre (Minneapolis), Ollie Schminkey (St. Paul), Ryan Vine (Duluth), and Carolyn Williams-Noren (Minneapolis).
Read the full press release.
Congratulations to these outstanding writers!