A University of Michigan alum has been named a 2026 MacArthur Fellow.
Professor Maaza Mengiste is a fiction writer whose work explores the human toll of political conflict.
Awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the fellowship provides recipients with $800,000 over five years. The honor recognizes exceptional creativity.
Mengiste recalls being on jury duty for a criminal case at the time she was notified she had been selected.
"It was such a disconnect from where I was in the case and going through expert forensic testimony. And then, I get this call, and it felt so surreal.”
Mengiste teaches English at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from U-M in 1993 and a Master of Fine Arts from New York University in 2007.
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