05/12/2026
✨️ Congratulations to the 2026 Chautauqua Janus Prize winner, Hassaan Mirza! ✨️
Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce “Name, Place, Animal, Thing" by Hassaan Mirza as the winner of the 2026 Chautauqua Janus Prize.
In another record-breaking year for submissions, Mirza’s “Name, Place, Animal, Thing” was selected by guest judge, Deborah A. Miranda among 10 finalists. Hassaan Mirza will receive the $5,000 prize, plus travel and lodging for a week’s writing residency at Chautauqua Institution this summer. He will give a public lecture and reading at a celebratory event at 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 12, in the parlor of the Athenaeum Hotel as part of Chautauqua Institution’s 2026 Summer Assembly.
“Winning the Janus Prize for this story is, on a fundamental level, an encouragement to continue down the path I am on, and to continue to take more risks in my writing,” said Mirza. “I am also thrilled to be able to partake in a residency at the Chautauqua Institution and to meet new readers, writers, and thinkers. Even though writing is a solitary task, the fact that it can connect me to new communities feels nothing short of a gift.”
Gratitude to our jury of readers, our guest judge Deborah A. Miranda, and the donors for your time and efforts in supporting this prize for innovative, emerging writers!
Read the full press release: https://bit.ly/4d5Ft99
Chautauqua Literary Arts
