Workshop alumni Rebecca Lee (MFA 1992) and Abraham Verghese (MFA 1991) are among the 171 scientists, writers, scholars, and artists from 48 fields awarded 2023 Guggenheim Fellowships this year from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Lee is recognized in the field of fiction and Verghese in the field of General Nonfiction.
Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen through a rigorous peer-review process from almost 2,500 applicants in the Foundation’s ninety-eighth competition. In all, 48 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, 72 different academic institutions, 24 states and the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces are represented in this year’s class of Fellows, who range in age from 31 to 85. Close to 50 Fellows have no current full-time college or university affiliation. Many Fellows’ projects directly respond to issues like the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, democracy and policing, scientific innovation, climate change, and identity.