Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Supporters,
I am thrilled and honored to name Meg Day as the second (2026) recipient of the Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award.
About Meg Day:
Poet & essayist Meg Day is the author of Last Psalm at Sea Level (Barrow Street, 2014), winner of the Publishing Triangle’s Audre Lorde Award and finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. A recipient of the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship and an NEA Fellowship in Poetry, Day was also named the 2024 Guggenheim Poet-in-Residence and the 2025 SouthArts State Fellow in Literary Arts for North Carolina. The co-editor of Laura Hershey: On the Life & Work of an American Master (Pleiades, 2019), Day has received scholarly support for work in Deaf & disability studies from the Mellon Foundation, NC Humanities, and the Andy Warhol Foundation. Recent work can be found in Best American Poetry & The New York Times. In 2026, Day’s manuscript Sound Lasso was awarded the Pegasus Poetry Book Prize and will be published by Graywolf Press. Day is an Associate Professor of English & Creative Writing and Director of the MFA program at North Carolina State University. www.megday.com
I chose Meg Day as the second recipient of the Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award because Meg’s poems, and Meg’s thinking and writing about Deaf and Disabled poetics, is groundbreaking. In Meg’s poems, the rendering of Deaf and intersectional experience is lyrically powerful.
In 2021, I invited Meg to write an essay for the three-year Disabiilty Futures in the Arts project. In Meg’s essay, “Unfit to Print: Refusing the Page in Deaf Poetics,” Meg writes: “As a Deaf poet writing in English, I have long tried to get paper to do what it won’t: accommodate me. But how does one break the page? Every time I’ve tried, it’s been called experimental. Perhaps this is the new euphemism for disabled? Perhaps this has always been the euphemism for Deaf? Perhaps it’s just proof of the limited, nondisabled imagination, or our collective commitment to capitalism, which is itself a commitment to eugenics.”
In 2023, I included Meg in the Disability Poetics video series.
Meg’s recent public-facing projects, especially the Guggenheim Museum Poet-in-Residence projects, affirmed my belief: Meg Day shows us what the future of poetry can be.
Meg Day says: ““Receiving this award means a great deal to me at this particular moment in my life & my career. The world is changing, my politics are changing, & to feel tied to a strong lineage of queer & disabled poets is a lifeline of encouragement & camaraderie I welcome.”
About the Award
As a “pioneer” of Disability Literature, in 2025, in honor of my 65th birthday, I established the Kenny Fries Literary Trust to ensure, as much as is possible, the legacy of my work and that of Disability Arts and Literature. As part of the Trust, today, on my 66th birthday, I announce Meg Day as the second recipient of the Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award.
Historically, disabled writers have been marginalized and denied access to professional education and training; the lack of disabled mentors has caused the link between generations of disabled writers too often to be lost. My hope is this annual award will assist a disabled writer of a younger generation to become more widely known both in the Disability Arts community, as well as in the arts world at large.
The Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award will be administered by the Literary Trust. While capable, each year on my birthday I will personally select the disabled and/or Deaf writer to receive the award. Upon my inability to continue, the Trust’s trustees will assume this responsibility.
Though I’ve personally provided the initial endowment for the award I am beyond grateful to those who have already contributed to ensure the future of the Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award. The generosity of supporters will ensure this award will continue for years to come. To be part of the Award’s future, please consider making a gift in honor of my 66th birthday, which can be easily submitted via PayPal, using this link: https://paypal.me/LiteraryAward. (If PayPal is not a suitable way to donate, or you have any questions, please email me directly at kenny@kennyfries.com and we can make other arrangements.)
Another meaningful way to help is to share this announcement and information with friends, colleagues, and those who care about Disability Arts and Literature.
I am thrilled that Meg Day is the recipient of the second Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award, continuing the annual tradition to support the next generation of disabled and/or Deaf writers.
With warm appreciation,
