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The recipient of the 2026 Porter Fund Literary Prize is novelist and short story writer Jeffrey Condran. “It’s a great honor to receive the Porter Prize,” said Condran, “to receive recognition of my work by my adopted home.” Condran moved to Arkansas from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2015 to take a position teaching creative writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “I didn’t know what it would be like to move a thousand miles away, but Arkansas has been really goo

It is with heavy hearts that we learn the 1995 Porter Prize winner, Norman Lavers, has passed away. To learn more about his life, click here: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/jul/26/remembering-norman-lavers-a-curious-life-of/ For his legacy, here: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/jonesborosun/name/norman-lavers-obituary?id=62036396 His most recent book about Arkansas insects was just published by Et Alia Press. He wrote it with his wife, Cheryl Lavers. https://ww

Each year the Porter Fund awards a $5,000 Porter Scholarship to a student enrolled in the University of Central Arkansas MFA Writing Program. The 2025 Porter Fund Scholarship recipient is Hex Brown. ​​​