Panhandle Creek Press Two Week Residency Winner
We’re excited to announce the Finalists and Winner of our first annual two-week-long Panhandle Creek Writer’s Residency!
With southern exposure and panoramic views, at 8750 ft, the residency offers a quiet place to focus on your work-in-progress while immersed in rugged Rocky Mountain beauty. Just steps away from nature trails and the Roosevelt National Forest, writers can find inspiration and rejuvenation on any number of beautiful local hikes, or relax on their private deck to watch the birds and meandering wildlife along the Panhandle Creek.
Many thanks to all of the amazing writers, poets, artists, and scientists who applied to win the Panhandle Creek Press Two Weeks Writer’s Residency. We opened the application process on January 1st, and were thrilled to see the overwhelming response. The applicants were, without exception, highly deserving and inspiring. Their proposed community presentations were all so wonderful that Panhandle Creek Press invited the director of our local library to consider the proposals, and make the final decisions.
2026 Writer’s Residency Finalists
Nicole Diamond Austin, from Los Angeles, CA
Karina Berenson, from Northfield, MA
2026 Panhandle Creek Press Two-Week Writer’s Residency Winner
Lauren Camp, from Santa Fe, NM
About Lauren Camp:
As New Mexico Poet Laureate (2022-25), Lauren Camp created the New Mexico Epic Poem Project, a community-centered, crowd-sourced initiative designed to help people in rural and arts-underserved communities express themselves. Undertaken in partnership with New Mexico Arts, the Project has reached 25 of New Mexico’s 33 counties. Letterpress broadsides of each community poem will be printed, disseminated across the state, and exhibited at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe.
Lauren is the author of eight poetry collections, including In Old Sky (Grand Canyon Conservancy, 2024), which grew out of her experience as Astronomer-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park. Since this time, Lauren has brought “Poetry Under the Stars” programs to four national parks and monuments, voicing poems about the dark from across time and cultures to audiences in the dark. These readings, followed by a laser-guided constellation tour, are designed to encourage people to slow down, look and listen, and to advocate for preserving our dark skies. Learn more about Lauren Camp’s work here.
Congratulations to Lauren Camp and our two finalists! We’ll be in touch with you soon, as well as all our applicants!
In Other Press News:
Never Only Available for Preorder
Preorder your copy of Laurie Fairchild’s Never Only now to receive her book immediately upon release!
And join us on Earth Day, April 22nd, 5-7pm, at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens for our Never Only Book Launch Celebration. Details coming soon!
Book Summary: In Never Only, by Laurie Fairchild, Mother Nature has spent millennia learning from other life on Earth and mourning the loneliness of mass extinctions. Determined to avoid another, she enlists a therapist to help her evaluate Humanity’s intentions and whether she will need to sacrifice one species to save the rest.
