The DWPC Scholarship Chair, Estelle Meskin, is pleased to announce two talented scholarship recipients for the 2025-2026 academic year, Kaelyn Diep and Hannah Olsson.  As part of our core mission, the DWPC is honored to present these annual $2500 scholarships to distinguished college students who hold promising futures as professional writers, journalists, and communicators.

Kaelyn Diep

Frances Belford Wayne Merit Award

• School of Journalism and Media Production
• Metropolitan State University of Denver

Kaelyn Diep is a Colorado native, eager to complete her senior year at MSU Denver as the new editor-in-chief of the all-campus school newspaper, The Metropolitan.  She has created news stories and posted online for Met Media, which hosts the other communication outlets at the university.  She tried broadcast journalism, but prefers to work behind the scenes in building the story. Kaelyn is grateful for being acknowledged for her work by the Denver Woman’s Press Club and looks forward to pursuing a career in journalism as a writer and news editor.

Hannah Olsson

Ruth Murray Underhill Award

• Department of Creative Writing, English Department, Graduate School, University of Colorado Boulder

Hannah Olsson is from Grand Junction, CO.  With a degree in Cinema and Creative Writing from the University of Iowa, she is currently an MFA Candidate in Creative Writing at CU Boulder.  She is the editor-in-chief of Timber Magazine—a journal of experimental literature—and the managing editor for Sundress Publication’s ‘Craft Chaps Series’—an educational publication. Hannah received the Graduate Part-Time Instructor Recognition Award for her excellence in teaching. When she’s not struggling for words, Hannah is hiking around Boulder with her two dogs, Bert and Eloise. This scholarship will greatly aid Hannah in pursuing her dreams of becoming an MFA professor.