Freund Prize winners to read Sept. 26 

The winners of the 2024 Philip Freund Prize for Creative Writing will be celebrated at an event hosted by the Department of Literatures in English in the College of Arts and Sciences on Sept. 26.

The four writers – Andrew Boryga, Aisha Abdel Gawad, C. Michelle Lindley and Amanda Moore – will read from their award-winning work at 5 p.m. in the Rhodes-Rawling Auditorium, Klarman Hall KG70. Books by the authors will be available for purchase thanks to Buffalo Street Books and a book signing will follow the reading.


The work of the four Freund Prize winners spans a wide range of forms and topics.

Boryga ’13 is a novelist and journalist. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Atlantic; his debut novel, “Victim,” published earlier this year. His honors include the Gary Fincke Creative Writing Prize from The Susquehanna Review, being named Undergraduate Artist of the Year by Cornell University, and prizes from The Michener Foundation and the University of Miami. He attended the Tin House Writer’s Workshop and has taught writing to college students, elementary school students and incarcerated adults.

Gawad, M.F.A. ’13 published her debut novel, “Between Two Moons,” in 2023. The book received a New York City Book Award, was a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize, and was longlisted for the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and the 2023 New American Voices Award. Aisha's short fiction and essays have appeared in publications such as the Kenyon Review, American Short Fiction, Bon Appetit and Literary Hub. She is a high-school English teacher based in Connecticut.

Lindley, M.F.A. ’22 is a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow for 2024. Her work has been published in Conjunctions, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere; her debut novel, “The Nude,” published in July.

Moore’s, M.F.A. ’01 debut collection of poetry, “Requeening,” was selected for the National Poetry Series by Ocean Vuong and published in 2021. Her poems and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies including Best New Poets, ZZYZVA, Ploughshares, LitHub and Poets & Writers. An editor and reader for Women’s Voices for Change and Bull City Press, Moore also runs writing workshops and community classes, translates poems by contemporary Costa Rican women and teaches high school English.

This reading is part of the Fall 2024 Barbara and David Zalaznick Reading Series. The series will also host poet Elisa Gabbert on September 19, writer Rowan Ricardo Phillips on October 17 and author Sigrid Nunez on November 7.

The Freund Prize for Creative Writing is supported by the Philip Freund '29 endowment. Winners receive a $5000 award and an invitation to participate in the Freund Prize Reading in the following fall semester.

More information about the event is available on the University Events Calendar.