The Nonfiction Writing Program is pleased to announce Alayna Becker as the winner of the Herodotus Award for Spring 2026. Alayna is a second-year MFA student in the Nonfiction Writing Program. The Herodotus award provides $500 toward research-related travel to help support new work to be generated by the end of the semester. 

Herodotus was the first writer who became widely known for collecting research material systematically, testing its accuracy, and arranging it in well-constructed and vivid narratives. Named in his honor, up to three $500 Herodotus Awards are given annually to students in the Nonfiction Writing Program.