Two Women Academics Honored With PEN Open Book Awards

Two women academics have been named winners of the PEN Open Book Award. The award, previously called the Beyond Margin Award, honors authors of color for book-length projects with a theme of racial or ethnic diversity. Preference is given to works of fiction, literary nonfiction, biography, and poetry.

Nina McConigley, a lecturer at the University of Wyoming, was honored for her collection of short stories entitled Cowboys and East Indians (FiveChapters Books, 2013). The stories examine the immigrant experience in the American West.

Born in Singapore to Irish and Indian parents, McConigley is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Wyoming and a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Houston.

Ruth Ellen Kocher is a professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was honored for her collection of poems, domina Un/blued (Tupelo Press, 2013). Professor Kocher has taught at the University of Colorado since 2006. She has also taught at the University of Missouri and Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Kocher is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. She holds a master of fine arts degree in creative writing and a Ph.D. in American literature from Arizona State University.

The two women will receive their awards, and a $5,000 cash prize, at a ceremony in New York City on September 29.