The Whiting Awards were celebrated March 6 at the BookCourt store in Brooklyn. The other recipients included poets Anthony Carelli, Aracelis Girmay, Jenny Johnson and Roger Reeves; fiction writers Leopoldine Core, Dan Josefson and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi; and nonfiction writer Elena Passarello.

Since 1985 the Foundation has supported creative writing through the Whiting Awards, given annually to ten writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama. The award, according to the organization, is based on early accomplishment and the promise of great work to come.

"We hope to identify exceptional new writers who have yet to make their mark in the literary culture," says the Foundation. "Though the writers may not necessarily be young (talent may emerge at any age), the grant ideally offers recipients a first opportunity to devote themselves fully to writing, and the recognition has a significant impact."

Anne Washburn's plays include The Internationalists, A Devil at Noon, Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant and I Have Loved Strangers. Her work has been produced by the Playwrights Horizons, Actors Theater of Louisville, American Repertory Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, The Civilians, Dixon Place, Ensemble Studio Theater, Soho Rep, DC's Studio Theater and the Vineyard.

Luca Hnath's plays include Red Speedo (Studio Theatre, DC), A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney (Soho Rep), nightnight (2013 Humana Festival), Isaac's Eye (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Death Tax (2012 Humana Festival, Royal Court Theatre) and The Courtship of Anna Nicole Smith (Actors Theatre of Louisville).