Latria Graham, a mentor in UGA’s Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program, has been awarded the 2025 American Mosaic Journalism Prize by the Heising-Simons Foundation. The prestigious honor, which comes with a $100,000 award, is the largest journalism prize in the U.S. and recognizes excellence in long-form, narrative, and in-depth reporting on underrepresented communities.

“Ms. Graham’s rich and lyrical writing masterfully weaves the scale of history throughout her stories, unveiling parts of Black history and culture from underrepresented regions of America that need to be shared with diverse audiences,” said the 2025 judges of her work.

“I’m honored to be one of the two recipients of the 2025 American Mosaic Journalism Prize awarded by the (Heising-Simons Foundation),” Graham added in an Instagram post, “and I’m thrilled to share this recognition with Zaydee Sanchez, whose stunning photojournalism captures the realities of migrants, agricultural workers, and LGBTQ+ people. Her lens finds compelling stories and then she dares you to look away, or even to blink.”

Graham’s powerful storytelling has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and Garden & Gun, where she writes the “This Land” column. Her forthcoming book, Uneven Ground: A Memoir of a Family, a Land, and a Culture in Peril, explores her journey to preserve her family’s century-old farm. The American Mosaic Journalism Prize not only recognizes her impactful reporting but also provides the space to continue telling the stories that matter most to her.

“Ultimately, I tell stories about all of the things we—Black people and, by extension, humanity—have survived. Along the way, I hope that I’m challenging assumptions, highlighting connections, and providing questions that readers can use to initiate change,” she told the Heising-Simons Foundation.

“So many of the stories I cover feature folks who do incredible things, and their flowers and recognition are denied to them while they’re alive, usually due to racism and/or sexism. This prize gives a little breathing space, room to rest, and the ability to tell some of these large important stories I’ve dreamed of writing for almost a decade.”

In addition to her work as a journalist and author, Graham mentors students in the MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program at UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, helping emerging writers refine their craft and develop meaningful, deeply reported stories.

She acknowledges the many people who have supported her along the way, writing, “So much of this job relies on trust, so thank you to everyone—from the sources I interview to the artists (illustrators and photographers) I collaborate with and of course the editors that accept my pitches—it takes all of us to make this thing go ‘round and I’m grateful we get to do it.”

Learn more about the Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program.