The Saad Prize
The Saad Prize is a literary award and incubator presented by Hootso that honors Diné poets, writers, and storytellers whose work engages questions of Diné sovereignty and self-determination through artistic practice. Named for the Diné word saad, meaning “word” or “language,” the Prize recognizes writing as an art form capable of reflecting, shaping, and sustaining community.
As part of an artist-led initiative, The Saad Prize partners with cultural, educational, and community organizations to remain responsive to the evolving concerns of Diné life. Each year, the Prize centers a distinct theme that illuminates different dimensions of contemporary Diné aesthetics and poetics, or Dinétics. Through this structure, the Prize invites poets, writes, and storytellers to consider how language participates in the ongoing work of community, imagination, and nation-building.
While many literary prizes focus solely on artistic merit, The Saad Prize situates poetry within a broader framework of Indigenous civics. Poems are recognized for their craft and the ways they engage land, language, community responsibility, and collective futures. In this sense, the Prize reflects Diné philosophies of relationality and sovereignty, affirming writing as a practice of reflection, dialogue, and cultural continuity.
The flagship Saad Prize in Diné Poetics recognizes a poem of exceptional craft and civic resonance. Additional incubator awards include the College Award, supporting emerging writers in higher education; the Youth Awards, encouraging the next generation of Diné writers; and the Storyteller Award, recognizing artists and storytellers who carry forward Diné narrative traditions through oral storytelling and spoken performance. Together, these honors reflect the many ways language lives within Diné communities, on the page, in classrooms, and through the ongoing practice of story.
2026 Prize Cycle
VERBS
Land / Language / Futures
Presented in partnership with Navajo Technical University and the Navajo Nation Poet Laureate
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The 2026 Prize Cycle of The Saad Prize centers the theme Verbs: Land / Language / Future, presented in partnership with Navajo Technical University. This theme invites poets, writers, and storytellers to consider how Diné land, language, and collective futures function as living actions that shape community life.
In Diné thought, land is not simply a place but a relationship. Language carries memory, teaching, and responsibility. The future emerges through the everyday practices of care, governance, creativity, and story. By framing these elements as verbs, the Prize asks writers and storytellers to explore how poetry can illuminate the ongoing work of belonging, cultural continuity, and sovereignty. Hootso and Navajo Technical University invite Diné writers and storytellers to reflect on how language moves across generations and landscapes. The 2026 Prize recognizes poems and oral works that reveal how land, language, and future are lived, practiced, and imagined through art.
About Navajo Technical University
Mission: Navajo Technical University honors Diné culture and language, while educating for the future.
Vision: Navajo Technical University provides an excellent educational experience in a supportive, culturally diverse environment, enabling all community members to grow intellectually, culturally and economically.
Awardees
Saad Prize in Diné Poetics
Kirbie Bennett for the poem “the i that grows unseen in the desert”
Honorable Mention: Kentaro Herder for the poem “Jiní”
Incubator Awards
College Award
Cymbre Laurig for the poem “Niłchitsosí”
Honorable Mention: Frederika Thomas for the poem “Shima Yazhi at the Basketball Game”
Youth Award
Eshyla Begay for the poem “Language in Motion”
Storyteller Award
Rowie Shebala for the poem “Origins Over Coffee” and its performance
Finalists
Chris Hoshnic
Shaniya Smith
Sam Slater
Reed Bobroff
Danielle Manygoats
Updates
