South Arts Announces Inaugural Southern Prize for Literary Arts Winner and Finalist

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Jackson, MS
September 13, 2024 - Today, South Arts is pleased to announce that Yurina Yoshikawa was named the inaugural Southern Prize for Literary Arts winner, receiving a $25,000 award. During a ceremony at the Mississippi Book Festival, Yoshikawa was honored alongside the Southern Prize for Literary Arts Finalist Constance Collier-Mercado, who received a $10,000 award.

“We are thrilled to award these two outstanding writers in this inaugural award and program,” said Susie Surkamer, South Arts President and CEO. “Both have worked tirelessly throughout their careers to uplift the literary culture across the American South, while developing masterful, diverse portfolios. Their work epitomizes the vibrancy and collaboration shared by their fellow Literary Arts Fellows, and we’re beyond thrilled that South Arts is beginning to play a role in supporting the next generation of writers from our region.”

Established in 2017, the Southern Prize and State Fellowships program was created in acknowledgment of a discrepancy in regional funding for artists across all disciplines, annually awarding fellows from each state in South Arts’ region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. As the latest expansion of the annual program, which scaled up in 2023 to include support for the literary arts in addition to the longstanding visual arts component, the multi-state initiative awarded 18 State Fellows in May with unrestricted cash prizes of $5,000 each—nine literary arts fellows and nine visual arts fellows.

From the cohort of State Fellows for Literary Arts announced in Spring 2024, the Southern Prize Winner and Finalist were selected by a national jury based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the diversity of artistic expression of the region. In addition to the cash prizes, both will also receive access to a creative sanctuary to focus on finalizing in-progress work or initiating and finalizing new work through a writer’s residency in The Writers Room at The Betsy-South Beach.

The 2024 State Fellows for Literary Arts are:

In this first cycle of the Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Literary Arts, the program focused on supporting fiction writers. The collective endeavors of this year's fellows span across diverse facets of the genre, delving into themes including multigenerational trauma, legacy, identity, Black girlhood, feminist ecopoetics, and the enduring impact of the confederacy. Forthcoming cycles will support various genres, such as poetry, drama/playwriting, creative nonfiction, and young adult fiction.

“Yurina and Constance are among a cohort of incredibly strong southern writers who represent our  aspiration for enhancing awareness of contemporary writers in our region,” said Emmitt Stevenson, South Arts Director of Artist Engagement. Both are adept writers who embody technical mastery, each creating palpable connections in exploring questions that revolve around identity, belonging and place. Yoshikawa and Collier-Mercado are unique voices and have distinct visions in playing with the changes, or a boldness in pushing the boundaries through exploring storytelling experimentation. These awards are truly reflective of the path we charted in amplifying southern literary culture through the Southern Prize program.”

Coinciding with a special award ceremony, South Arts also released an inaugural Literary Anthology, a collection of fiction work from the nine writers awarded in this year’s State Fellowship for Literary Arts. Published in partnership with Hub City Press—the South’s premier independent literary press—the publication debuted at the Mississippi Book Festival and will be for sale on the Hub City Press website and nationally distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West. For more information about the publication or for pre-order options, please visit hubcity.org/becoming

The Southern Prize and State Fellowships program is supported by Southern First Bank, the Warner Fund, the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, and other donors. Applications for the 2025 Southern Prize and State Fellowship program (both Literary and Visual Arts) will open October 2024. For more information about the Southern Prize and State Fellowships programs, application eligibility, and additional opportunities from South Arts, please visit southarts.org.