George Mason professor and alum awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships

George Mason University professor and poet Vivek Narayanan and alumna Jessica Anthony, MFA Creative Writing '04, have been named 2026 Guggenheim Fellows.

The duo were two of 223 individuals representing 10 countries who were awarded fellowships this year from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which is celebrating its 101st class of fellows.

Narayanan is an associate professor in George Mason's Creative Writing Program. His books of poetry include Universal Beach, Life and Times of Mr S, After, and the 2024 collection The Kuruntokai and its Mirror. In addition to teaching in the master of fine arts in creative writing program, Narayanan is a co-editorial director of the George Mason-housed digital journal Poetry Daily. He also sits on the board of the Cheuse International Writers Center and was recently named a 2026 National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellow for his project "The Kuruntokai: A Poet's Annotated Translation of a Legendary Ancient Tamil Anthology."

Anthony, a senior lecturer at Bates College in Maine, is the author of several books. Her most recent novel, The Most (2024), was longlisted for the National Book Award. In addition, she is the author of The Convalescent (2009), winner of McSweeney's inaugural Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award, and Enter the Aardvark (2020), which was a finalist for the New England Book Award in Fiction. Her short fiction has appeared in Best New American Voices, Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeney's, and New American Writing.

Narayanan and Anthony join Creative Writing associate professor Tania James as recent Guggenheim Fellows. James was named a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow for fiction.

"The Guggenheim Fellowship is a well-deserved and impressive honor," said Tamara Harvey, chair of the Department of English. "That two faculty members and one alumna from George Mason's MFA Program in Creative Writing have received Guggenheims in the past two years speaks to the strengths of a highly regarded program that never rests on its laurels."

"The Guggenheim Foundation celebrates those who show 'exceptional promise,' and we couldn't be happier for Vivek and Jessica, who continue to inspire their peers, students, and readers," said Ann Ardis, dean of College of Humanities and Social Sciences.