Stipend increased from $50,000 to $70,000 for this 20+ year old program

BOSTON, Aug. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Associates of the Boston Public Library proudly announces Zarlasht Niaz of Minneapolis, MN, as the 2025-26 Writer-in-Residence. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous investor, Zarlasht will receive a stipend of $70,000, a $20,000 increase over last year's amount. An Afghan writer with a B.A. in Global Studies and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, her winning submission proposed a novel-in-verse, UNFURLING. The story will be told from two perspectives and centers on Afghan American teens Yasaman and Zubair, who navigate issues of identity, Islamophobia, and sibling violence in post-9/11 rural Wisconsin. Upon hearing the news, Zarlasht said, "When I got the call that I won, I couldn't believe it. It's a great reassurance to know that the stories we feel most afraid to tell can find such profound support in the world."

Thanks to a generous anonymous investor, the Associates' Writer-in-Residence program has supported emerging writers for the past twenty-one years, with alumni publishing, or having forthcoming, 80 books. In addition to the stipend, Zarlasht will receive $2,500 for coaching or editing, and a private office within the Central Library for her year-long tenure.

In the blind judging process, a panel of authors, publishers, and literary agents selected Zarlasht's submission from a record-breaking 526 applications. Olivia Swomley, Senior Editor at Weldon Owen Kids and a member of the judging panel, effused, "To beautifully and poetically tackle themes of sibling violence and coming of age as an Afghan-American in rural Wisconsin takes courage and heart. Fortunately, Zarlasht Niaz has a great deal of both." Hear from Zarlasht at the Writer-in-Residence Reading on October 7, 2025, at the Boston Public Library. Tickets can be found on our website, www.Writer-in-Residence.org. 

About the ASSOCIATES OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

The Associates is an independent non-profit that raises funds to preserve, digitize, and promote the Boston Public Library's Special Collections and its historic, literary, and artistic treasures. Since its inception in 1972, the Associates has been the driving force and sponsor behind many programs, including the Writer-in-Residence Program, the Pierce Performance Series, the Hundred-Year Book Debate, and Literary Lights. For more information, please visit www.AssociatesBPL.org or connect with us on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Vidisha Agarwalla, Communications Specialist
VAgarwalla@AssociatesBPL.org 
617-901-3299

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SOURCE Associates of the Boston Public Library