2026 Scholarship Winners
Stockbridge-Munsee/Band of Mohicans Scholarship
Sandee Weiterman Barton, Ph.D., is a retired geology professor and author of The Standard Model of Indigenous Learning. She resides in Red Springs and works for the Tribe as the Training and Continuous Improvement Coordinator. Keeping her hand in academia, she teaches a graduate class on Indigenous Perspectives: Culturally sustaining Pedagogy, Curriculum, and the Arts. Her latest publication is titled A Reflective revisit of the Standard Model of Indigenous Learning (SMIL): Turning a Theoretical Model into Application (2024). Primarily an academic writer, Sandee is finding her literary voice. Her poetry has been published in the Yellow Medicine Review Spring 2025 issue and in the Mohican Writers Book #3: Mohican Heartbeats, 2025.
“I am so very honored to have been chosen for this scholarship and thrilled for this opportunity to learn from your knowledgeable workshop leaders. By participating in this writers’ conference, I hope to learn how to craft my thoughts, memories, observations, and emotions into a literary format that will amplify my voice within the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Being primarily an academic writer I’m particularly excited to explore and focus on building a creative foundation to express myself.”- Sandee Barton
Yvonne Daley Memorial Scholarship for a Vermont Writer
Sara Glennon has lived in Vermont for most of her life. She graduated from Poultney High School and has taught English at Landmark College in Putney since 1991. She is a co-founder of the award-winning Writing Across the Curriculum program at Landmark. She is an avid walker, reader, knitter, and a proud mother of three grown sons. In the last decade she has developed an interest in writing personal essays and other creative nonfiction. She lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.
“I’m grateful for the support this scholarship provides for my attendance at the Southern Vermont Writers’ Conference, and I’m looking forward to this collaborative experience.” - Sara Glennon
Third Act Scholarship for a Writer 65+
Sally Schloss was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has been writing short stories for most of her life—published and unpublished, award-winning and still in progress. Her novel Helping Howard came out a few years ago. She now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she’s at work on another novel and a new collection of short stories.
“I love being in community with other writers, and the Southern Vermont Writers’ Conference offers a rare chance to step away, focus on craft, share work, and write—set in one of my favorite places on earth, Vermont in the spring.” - Sally Schloss
Yen Ha is an artist and writer. Born in Saigon, she lives in New York City, where she co-founded the architecture firm, Front Studio. Her short stories appear in Bellevue Literary Journal, Waxwing and the Minola Review. Her work is supported by The Hambidge Center, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and Monson Arts.
Emerging Voices Scholarship
“I'm looking forward to this time and space dedicated to the craft of writing. This will be my first writing conference so I'm excited to participate in the many workshops and writing sessions you have planned!” - Yen Ha
Zorina Exie Frey is a Pushcart Prize recipient holding a master's degree in Poetry and Creative Nonfiction from Converse University, a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, and a web design certificate from Indiana University South Bend. She is published in The Journal of Poetry for Therapy, Introduction to Afrofuturism: A Mixtape in Black Literature & Arts, and swamp pink. She has presented academic papers at the International Conference on Poetry Studies, and the Furious Flower Conference. Zorina is also a Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Voices of Color Fellow. She currently teaches college English in Maryland.
Emerging Voices Scholarship
“There are so many amazing writers and poets applying to this program and I’m humbled and honored to be selected for this scholarship. I’m looking forward to expanding my writing community at this conference and all the exciting things Manchester has to offer!” - Zorina E. Frey