The MacArthur Foundation announced the recipients of its 2026 “genius” grants, given annually to “extraordinarily creative individuals with a track record of excellence in a field of scholarship or area of practice.”
Bryan Washington, the author known for his short story collection Lot and novels Memorial, Family Meal, and Palaver, was recognized by the foundation for “capturing the beauty of modern relationships in stories shaped by place, memory, and rituals of daily care.”
Maaza Mengiste was named a 2026 fellow; the foundation cited the author of the novels Beneath the Lion’s Gaze and The Shadow King for “revealing the human costs of political violence through a compelling blend of history, memory, and imagination.”
Poet Layli Long Soldier, author of the collections Whereas, Night Poems and Day Poems, and We, received a fellowship for “exploring ways to articulate Native American histories and celebrate enduring kinship, strength, and creativity.”
Other authors to win fellowships include sociologist Holly Jean Buck (Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero Is Not Enough) and historians Elizabeth Ellis (The Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South) and Ariel Ron (Grassroots Leviathan: Agricultural Reform and the Rural North in the Slaveholding Republic).
The MacArthur Foundation grants come with a cash award of $800,000. The fellowships were first awarded in 1981; previous recipients include Cormac McCarthy, Susan Sontag, Ishmael Reed, Edwidge Danticat, and Tommy Orange.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
