Monte Azul is Thrilled to Announce the Six Recipients of the Iguana Azul Fellowship Awards for Writers 2026
- Carlos Rojas
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Iguana Azul Charitable Trust
Full Fellowship Award for Writers is made possible by the generous support of the Iguana Azul Chartible Trust, a private trust dedicated to supporting the arts
Designed for writers in need of dedicated time and space to focus on their craft, this residency award provides a serene and inspiring sanctuary along a pristine riverfront. Immersed in the natural beauty of Monte Azul’s private rainforest reserve in Costa Rica, the sounds of the Chirripó River and exuberant wildlife create the perfect environment to fuel creativity — whether drafting a novel, refining a poetry collection, or exploring new literary horizons.
Fellows will enjoy private riverfront accommodations with en suite bath, meals sourced locally, uninterrupted writing time, and the opportunity to connect with a supportive artistic community.
Presenting the Distinguised Recipients
Vidya Balachander
Vidya Balachander is a writer, editor, and curator whose work sits at the intersection of food, culture, and identity. Based in Manila, with roots in India and years spent in Sri Lanka and the UAE, her journalism and storytelling is shaped by a deep engagement with place, migration, and memory. She has won international recognition for her writing, including the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) Award for Food & Drink Writing in 2021. She is currently working on her first book of essays on food and migration. https://www.vidyabalachander.com
Tendai Huchu
Tendai.L. Huchu’s work has appeared in 'Lightspeed', 'Interzone', 'Analog Science Fiction & Fact', 'The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021’, 'Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine', 'Mystery Weekly', 'The Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016', and elsewhere. He is the winner of a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (2023), Alex Award (2022), the Children’s Africana Book Award (2021), a Nommo Award for African SFF (2022, 2017), and has been shortlisted for the Caine Prize (2014) and the Grand prix de l'Imaginaire (2019). The fifth and final instalment of his Edinburgh Nights fantasy series titled “Secrets of the First School” was released in October 2025. Find him on IG @TendaiHuchu.
Su-Yee Lin
Su-Yee Lin is a writer from New York. Her writing has been published in The Offing, Day One, Electric Literature, Bennington Review, Strange Horizons, Tor.com, Quarterly West, Nashville Review, and other literary journals, and has been anthologized in the Pushcart Prize anthology and Best Small Fictions. She has received fellowships and residencies from the Fulbright foundation, the Center for Fiction, Hedgebrook, New York Foundation for the Arts, Willapa Bay AiR, Ucross, Crosstown Arts, and others. She is a graduate of Brown University and the MFA program at UMass Amherst. She writes on the intersection of place, mythology, and identity. https://suyeelin.com
Rebone Masemola
Biography
Rebone Masemola is a South African writer and anthropologist exploring how history, culture and belief shape identity. Her work blends research and storytelling to examine gender, power and the inherited residues of violence across generations.
Artist Statement
My project traces the gendered legacy of witchcraft accusations in South Africa through the eyes of a young girl. At Monte Azul, I will explore how historical violence echoes into the present, shaping belonging, memory and the stories we inherit.
Preeti Sethi
Preeti Simran Sethi is a writer, integrative therapist, and rest advocate dedicated to uplifting cultural healing practices endemic to South Asian culture. Her residency will explore what hummingbirds – and their state of decreased physiological activity know as torpor – can teach us about rejuvenation. These observations and writing will inform her chapter on what nature can teach us about rest for her forthcoming book Repose. https://preetisimransethi.com
Rachel Walther
Rachel Walther is an author and film historian based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her debut book, Born to Lose: The Misfits Who Made Dog Day Afternoon, will be released in March 2026. Her focus is classic Hollywood and contemporary crime films; her upcoming project will focus on neo-noir of the 1990s.
Her work can be found on her site: www.sleepingallday.com