Good news for some in the Lighthouse community is good news for all of us. Thank you for underwriting our theory that although writing is a solitary art, sometimes what we need most is to come together.
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Several members from our community have recently gotten good news. Let’s dig in and celebrate these successes, starting with Book Project Keynote Karan Mahajan, whose new novel, The Complex, made the cover of this weekend’s New York Times Book Review. The reviewer says Mahajan is an “increasingly important writer, from whom one only wishes we heard more often.” Come hear from him on April 10.
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Faculty and Staff Wins
- Evanthia Bromiley’s debut novel, Crown, was chosen for Alta's Stories of the West: 10 Best Books of 2025, long-listed for the Center for Fiction Prize, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and a Southwest Top Pick Book of the Year. It will be translated into French and published by Plon Editions, France. Evie recently participated in panels at the Tucson Festival of Books.
- Memoir and poetry faculty (and Lighthouse Executive Director) Michael Henry’s latest book, Gun Poems, “an absolutely essential new collection” by Andre Dubus III, was profiled yesterday in Westword, and comes out this week. Come celebrate his and Seth Brady Tucker’s The Cruelty Virtues tonight after Friday 500.
- Erika Krouse's short story collection, Save Me, Stranger, was longlisted for The Story Prize. Erika is also a finalist for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize for 2026.
- Victoria Lee's fifth book, The Love Variations, will be published on May 5, 2026, with the Dell imprint of Penguin Random House.
- Our own Manager of Community Engagement, Marissa Morrow's poem, "Shovels and Roots," came out in the winter issue of Denverse.
- Joy Roulier Sawyer won "Best First-Time Screenwriter" at both the World Class Film Awards and the New York Film & Female Actor Awards.
- Short story instructor Pardeep Toor's debut collection, Hands, comes out April 14! Hear him read and pick up the book at our May 8 event, The American Dream, Revised, also featuring Battett Swanson (Lost in Summerland) and Hermione Hoby (Virtue).
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Book Project, Portfolio Year, and Poetry Collective Triumphs
- Book Project alum Joan Burleson's memoir I Love You More was named a finalist in the 2025 Independent Authors Network Book of the Year Award. Joan graduated in 2018 from Ben Whitmer’s cohort.
- Book Project 2024 alum Ben Chavez is on a roll! His debut short story, “The Conquistador,” was published in February in The Write Launch and another story was accepted to be published in Cream City Review next month. Ben worked in Tiffany Quay Tyson’s cohort.
- Anna Qu’s 2026 cohort is on a roll: Book Projecteer Carli Cutcheon’s essay "My Undiagnosed Chronic Illness Taught Me to Love Sci-Fi” was published last week in Electric Literature. And Katherine Casey’s essay "The Blue House in the Hemlocks" was featured in BioStories.
- Book Project 2015 alum Susanna Donato made it to the final four in the March Sadness 90s Edition essay contest for her piece on Ani DiFranco’s “You Had Time.”
- Book Project 2023 alum Candice May’s short story “What Fits in a Mason Jar” was published in The Healing Muse, Vol. 25. She was in Erika Krouse’s cohort.
- Portfolio Year 2025 alum (Natalie Hodges’s cohort) Joanna Rotkin received The Letter Review Prize for Books in April 2025, and was recently named as a runner-up for The Editor's Prize for The Missouri Review. Her essay will be published there this fall.
- Book Project 2022 alum Simone Stolzoff’s second book, How to Not Know, comes out in May. You can pick it up at Lit Fest, where he’ll be teaching a two-day intensive, Everything But the Page.
- Randy Sylvan's short story, "Jim Morrison Lives," appeared in the fall issue of Denverse. Randy’s in Amanda Rea’s current Portfolio Year cohort.
- Brooke Terpening's Defending Death will be published with Severn River, edited by Megan Copenhaver, in a four-book deal in summer 2027. Brooke was in Eleanor Brown’s 2020 cohort.
- Book Project 2024 alum Lior Torenberg’s debut novel Just Watch Me hit shelves in late January, and was selected by CBS’s Club Calvi as a Reader’s Choice. You can hear from Lior and her agent Aram Fox at her Shoptalk April 12; she’ll also present at Lit Fest in June.
- Book Project 2025 alum Maria Zorn had an essay, “35 and 1,” published in Longreads last month.
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Member Book, Production & Publication News
- Cotton O'Connell's short story "Only Child" was published in the fall 2025 issue of the Madison Review.
- Jen Seibert Evans, writing as J.L. Evans, was named a finalist for The Forge Literary Magazine Flash Nonfiction Prize in 2025. Her piece, “For Dear Life,” was published in February. Back in 2025, she signed with her literary agent, Claire Elliot at FinePrint Literary, and is now on submission with her debut novel, a queer, feminist, heist thriller.
- Anne Glaser's essay, “The Sexting Seniors of Assisted Living," was published in the New York Times Modern Love Column in November 2025.
- Chelsea Grossi is celebrating her first fiction publication. Her short story, "User Error" (workshopped many times with Lighthouse faculty and friends), was selected for publication in the UK's STREETCAKE magazine (Volume 99, Dec 2025), published under her pen name, Charlotte Chambers.
- Sam Kennedy's "Being Mr. Playlist: On Tradition and Time Travel" was published in Issue 9 of Fruitslice, a quarterly publication featuring exclusively queer writers, artists, and creators.
- Robert Garner McBrearty's story collection The Problem You Have, published by University of New Mexico Press, is a finalist for the Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award in the short story category. Yay, Robert!
- Margaret Morse is excited to announce that The Weaver of Ur is shortlisted for the Historical Novel Society's 2026 First Chapters Competition and is deeply appreciative of Lighthouse's amazing instructors, members and programming who have helped make this possible. This year's competition drew 650 submissions from published and unpublished authors in 25 countries.
- Longtime member and sometimes visiting author Patricia Smith won the National Book Award in Poetry for her collection, The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems.
- Bellamy West's debut queer romance, Accounting for Love, was published on March 3. The novel was featured in Ingram's Indie Early Buzz Catalog as one of the top new releases to watch.
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Community Accomplishments
- Late Book Project alum Christy Bailey's memoir, Headstrong: Embracing Alopecia and Becoming Pañuelo Girl, was named one of Kirkus Reviews' Top 100 Indie Books of 2025–one of just 10 memoirs included this year.
- Leah Rogin’s collection Tomorrow We Will Do Beautiful Things and other stories was accepted for publication by Blackwater Press and will be out in late 2026.
Are you a Lighthouse member with good news to share? Please let us know by filling out our Kudos form.
And thanks, everyone, for keeping us inspired!
Yours in Writing,
The Lighthouse Team
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