Swarthmore’s English Department and Creative Writing Program hosted its third biennial Writers' Week in March. Talented authors read their works and held Q&As in the Scheuer Room of Kohlberg Hall, and the 2026 winners of Swarthmore’s annual Student Writing Contest were honored.

“Writers’ Week is the result of the hard work of a community of dedicated people who labor to bring intelligent, intriguing, and meaningfully provocative written art, and the up-to-the-minute conversations surrounding such art to our students,” says Associate Professor of English Literature Chinelo Okparanta. 

Okparanta thanked this year’s special donors, Roy Parvin ’79 and Janet Vail ’81, and cited the English Department’s Patti Coney, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Morgan Parker, and Thanisha Chowdhury as integral to the event’s success. 

Kicking things off on March 24, author Sarah Yahm ’01, a National Jewish Book Award finalist, read from her novel Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation. Yahm was followed by author and First Novelist Award winner Angela Flournoy, who read from her recent novel The Wilderness. The readings were followed by the announcement and celebration of the winners of the fiction category (The William Plumer Potter Prize in Fiction) of the annual student writing contest. First place went to Maryam Abdulhussein ’26, second place to Tabitha Parker-Theiss '26, and third place went to Tolu Majekodunmi ’29. Honorable mentions were given to Dalton Mwangi '28 and Thanisha Chowdhury ’28. 

Poet Chet’la Sebree, a James Laughlin Award winner, read from two of her collections, Field Study and Blue Opening. The announcement and celebration of the winners of the poetry categories of the student writing contest followed the readings. The Lois Morrell Poetry Award went to Erin Picken ’27, the John Russell Hayes Poetry Prize went to Shreeya Jhaver ’29 (first place) and Elijah Santos ’26 (second). The Nathalie F. Anderson Poetry Prize went to Bidhata Pathak ’27. 

Essayist Angela Pelster-Wiebe, a McKnight Fellow, who read from her essay collection Limber and her forthcoming collection The Evolution of Fire, closed the event the following day. The final winners of the student writing contest, winners of the creative nonfiction category, were announced following the reading. The Swarthmore Prize in Creative Nonfiction went to Corinne Lafont ’26, with honorable mentions for Ary Iyer ’28, Claire Mathews ’28, and Nico Weisberger ’29. 

This year, the program announced the awards on separate dates. This change allowed for guest writers like Pelster-Wiebe, who judged the nonfiction contest, to read more of their work, says Lafont.

“[Pelster-Wiebe's] writing drove the audience to tears, and an engaging Q&A followed,” Lafont says. “Afterwards, students received free copies of her novels, which she signed with personalized inscriptions. 

“Overall, the new shift cultivated more student and faculty engagement with each separate award,” adds Lafont. “I dedicate each Corinne in my title, 'Corinne, Corinne, Corinne,' to my mom, my best friend, and myself, jokingly. Thank you two for loving every version of me."

The Creative Writing Program will host its end-of-year picnic on Friday, May 8, in the Martin Hall lobby at noon. Swarthmore students will have the opportunity to read their original poetry, prose, and creative nonfiction to attendees, with snacks and refreshments provided.