Congratulations to Sofia Puente-Lay, 2020 MFA graduate in fiction, who was named the winner of this year's Ploughshares Emerging Writer's Contest in the fiction category. Puente-Lay's story "Vigil," written during her time at Mason, was selected by category judge Kirstin Valdez Quade.
The Ploughshares Emerging Writer's Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each genre per year will receive $2,000 and publication in the literary journal. Emerging writers are those who have not published or self-published a book.
At Mason, Puente-Lay was also the first recipient of the Robert Raymond Scholarship, presented to a student who is a promising writer and also is a member of an under-represented minority group in the graduate creative writing program.
The full list of Ploughshares Emerging Writer's winners can be found here.
September 10, 2020