NEW YORK — Six emerging authors, whose work includes poetry, short stories and"creative nonfiction,"were named this year's winners of the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers'Awards, given to"women writers who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers."

The recipients will each receive $15,000. The awards were founded in 1995 by"Best of Everything"author Rona Jaffe, who died last year.

"She felt that women writers face many obstacles in their pursuit of their creative work and she was so pleased that her program could provide support and encouragement to the most promising among them,"Jaffe foundation director Beth McCabe said in a statement Wednesday.

This year's winners are Rivka Galchen, who is working on a first novel; Ellen Litman, whose story collection,"The Last Chicken in America,"comes out next year; poet Melissa Range; Emily Rapp, whose memoir-travelogue,"Poster Child,"will be released in January; Rita Mae Reese, who is working on a novel and a poetry collection; and Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, whose"Harlem Is Nowhere,"a book of"creative nonfiction,"is scheduled for a 2008 release.

Previous winners include ZZ Packer and Lan Samantha Chang.

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