MacDowell has elected Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hernan Diaz as chair of its Board of Directors, the organization announced. Diaz, a MacDowell Fellow, succeeds Nell Painter, who served from 2020 to 2025.
Diaz is the author of four books, including “Trust” (2022), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and “In the Distance” (2017), a Pulitzer finalist. His latest novel, “Ply,” is scheduled for release in fall 2026. His work has appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times, The Atlantic, McSweeney’s and The Paris Review.
A 2019 MacDowell resident, Diaz said, “MacDowell has played such a vital role for almost 120 years for good reasons. Here, the instrumental logic of universal exchange that rules our everyday lives is suspended.”
MacDowell annually hosts 300 artists across disciplines through a competitive residency program.
