Tony Tulathimutte, the shadowy maestro behind 2025’s seismic Rejection, has secured a fresh, substantial literary prize.
As the inaugural recipient of the Jack Galef Literary Arts Award, Tulathimutte is slated to receive $150,000. The prize is designated for graduates of Iowa’s prestigious MFA program. The alumnus, who is currently teaching in the same program as a visiting faculty member, is often attributed with sparking some of the cringes audiences have enjoyed over the past year.
The Jack Galef Literary Arts Award—named for the poet and ’67 Iowa grad, Jack Galef—will be presented every two years from here forward. Its aim is to bolster gifted writers at both early- and mid-career stages. Recipients will be chosen by a committee drawn from the workshop faculty.
Tulathimutte’s résumé includes a Whiting Award, a National Book Award long list, and the attention of a number of influential tastemakers. Iowa workshop director Lan Samantha Chang noted she is “delighted to award the inaugural prize to an iconic writer of pathbreaking fiction.”
That trailblazer expresses gratitude. “People widely acknowledge this, yet too many underestimate how much the struggle to earn a living can hamper creative work,” Tulathimutte said in a statement.
It appears the days of rejection for this writer may be behind him. (I’ll step aside now.) Congratulations, Tony!
