Texas State faculty member wins Guggenheim

Kali Fajardo-Anstine, the endowed chair in creative writing at Texas State University, was recently awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Guggenheim Fellowships are awarded to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.

Fellowships are intended to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions.

'It is a great honor to have my work recognized by the Guggenheim Foundation, which has historically uplifted fiction by some of the finest writers our country has ever produced,” Fajardo-Anstine said. “As a Chicana, Texas State professor and writer of the American West, I do not take such a profound honor lightly. I am beaming with joy and eager to write new work.'

According to Texas State officials, Fajardo-Anstine is the bestselling author of the novel 'Woman of Light' (One World, 2022). She is also the author of the widely acclaimed short story collection 'Sabrina & Corina,' (One World, 2019).

Her work has been nominated for many literary prizes and awards, including the National Book Award, the PEN/ Bingham Prize, the Carol Shields Prize, the Story Prize, the Saroyan International Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

Fajardo-Anstine is also the winner of a 2020 American Book Award and is the 2021 recipient of the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Fajardo-Anstine holds a master in fine arts degree in fiction from the University of Wyoming-Laramie and a bachelor of arts degree in English with a minor in Chicana/o studies from Metropolitan State University of Denver. She has taught at the University of Wyoming, San Diego State University, Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colorado) and in many workshop settings with prestigious organizations such as Tin House, Catapult, Kweli International Literary Festival and Gemini Ink.

For more information on the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, visit www.gf.org.

TXST currently has three other Guggenheim Fellows in residence. They are: Johanna (Joey) Fauerso, Art and Design; Cyrus Cassells, English; and Kathleen Peirce, English.