The Arkansas Press Women (APW) will recognize winners of its 2026 Professional Communications Contest during a luncheon on Saturday, May 30.
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Community Room of the Central Baptist College Mabee Student Center in Conway.
Featured speakers at the 2026 Arkansas Press Women Awards Ceremony will be Christian Leus and Caroline McCoy, the Oxford American’s managing editor and digital managing editor, respectively. They will discuss the literary publishing landscape, the magazine’s rootedness in Arkansas, and the possibilities and challenges of reporting, writing, and editing longform works of literary journalism.
McCoy served as the Oxford American’s inaugural Narrative Change Fellow in 2025. Her work explores the impact of public policy on Arkansans and has appeared in publications including The American Scholar, The Bitter Southerner, The Georgia Review, Lit Hub, and Electric Literature. Leus is a graduate of Hendrix College and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi and currently lives and works in Arkansas.
Published since 1992, the Oxford American is a quarterly print and weekly digital magazine dedicated to showcasing outstanding Southern writing and undertold stories.
A total of 338 entries were submitted in this year’s Arkansas contest. Each entrant placing first through third or honorable mention will receive an award certificate along with judges’ comments on their work, which must have been published, posted, or broadcast during the 2025 calendar year.
First-place winners will advance to the national competition administered by the National Federation of Press Women. National winners will be recognized at the 2026 NFPW Conference, scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at the Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland. More information about the NFPW Conference can be found at https://www.nfpw.org/conference.
Tickets for the luncheon are $25 per person and may be paid at the door by cash, check, or credit card. Attendees are asked to RSVP by May 16 to APW Treasurer Richard S. Plotkin via email at rsplotkin@conwaycorp.net or by text at (501) 920-9429. Advance reservations are required to assist with catering arrangements. Guests with dietary restrictions should note them when RSVPing.