Fellowship & Prizes

In partnership with Ubwali Literary Magazine, the Hope Prize celebrates the best of Zambian prose and poetry. Ubwali was founded and is edited by former Shenandoah Editorial Fellow Mubanga Kalimamukwento. In addition to celebrating African diasporic writing, the Hope Prize is one of the ways Shenandoah honors its commitment to support editorial fellows, past and present.

One winner is selected each year from the staff of Ubwali, receives an honorarium of $500, and is featured in the fall issue of Shenandoah. Only work by Zambian writers published in Ubwali Literary Magazine will be considered for the prize. There is no separate application process; all Zambian writers published in Ubwali Literary Magazine in the preceding year will be considered. A shortlist will be announced in June, and a winner in July.

Our inaugural Hope Prize winner for 2025 is Mukande Siame for her essay “Like Mother.”

In order for substantive change to happen in the predominantly homogeneous publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book corporations in New York City to literary magazines like Shenandoah. We recognize that if we want writers from diverse backgrounds, varied perspectives, and underrepresented groups to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and create connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Click on the title above for more information about the application process and our fellows.

Open for submissions each year in October, the Graybeal-Gowen Prize honors a single poem by a poet living in or born in Virginia, as well as those with long-term residency in the past. Submit as many as three poems, each no longer than fifty lines, along with brief biographical note, which should confirm the basis for eligibility as a Virginian. Shenandoah editors create the shortlist, and one winning poem is selected by an outside judge to receive the $1000 prize and publication in the spring issue of Shenandoah. All submissions will be considered for publication. No Washington and Lee staff, faculty, or their families are eligible. The Graybeal-Gowen Prize was established to honor the memory of WLU graduate and lover of poetry, Howerton Gowen.

Past winners include darlene anita scott, Hayden Saunier, Arianne Elena Payne, Shaina Phenix, Emma Aylor, Nancy Schoenberger, Judith McCombs, Margaret Mackinnon, Elizabeth Murawski, Kevin Hart, and Jennifer Key.

Recent judges include Tim Seibles, Anna Maria Hong, Deborah Miranda, and Kyle G. Dargan.