About Us
Since 1898, the Denver Woman's Press Club (DWPC) has had professional women writers and editors of all genres, journalists, poets, historians, novelists, and more, make dramatic breakthroughs for women's rights and writers in Colorado. Join our story and support future generations of writers and communicators by donating to DWPC Scholarships on Colorado Gives Day, December 8, 2026.
Thank You for Supporting Colorado Writers Through Our Scholarships
Since the 1920s, DWPC scholarships have supported women pursuing college degrees in journalism, creative writing, communications, and other writing professions. Your Colorado Gives Day donation will fund our scholarships for the coming year.
In appreciation, your gift of $50 or more will be matched by a group of generous DWPC members.
2026 Scholarship Winner Spotlight - Isabelle Vigueria
From left: Isabelle Vigueria, scholarship chair Estelle Meskin, 2026 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards medalist India Johnson, and 2026 Ruth Murray Underhill Award winner Rosaline Nizam outside DWPC.
Isabelle Vigueria, at left, is a 2026 recipient of the DWPC Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which is the most prestigious and oldest scholarship established in 1923. She turned a five-page assignment into a full three-act play and loves writing "group stories," a hobby with her best friend that brought them and kept them close over the years. "I believe stories have the power to bring people together," she says. In her free time, she is either hunched over her laptop or in the driveway fixing her 1977 Chevy Camaro.
As a national award honoree, Isabelle will go to New York City to compete nationally with other Scholastic Art & Writing Award winners.
Throughout high school, Isabelle took every AP English and history class that was offered. She is a three-time varsity basketball player, and graduated as valedictorian. She volunteers with the special needs ministry at her church.
She is attending the University of Wyoming to study history with the goal of becoming a teacher. She believes stories have the power to bring people together, and she looks forward to continuing to grow as a writer through the Denver Woman's Press Club.
DWPC awards the following three scholarships annually:
The National Scholastic Art and Writing Medalists Award. Created in 1923, this is the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition award for Colorado high school writers. Winners from the Colorado region proceed to New York City for national judging. Nationally, there are more than 250,000 submissions, with a significant number coming from Colorado high school seniors. Past winners of note include Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, and Joyce Carol Oates.
The Ruth Murray Underhill Award. This award was established in 1985 to honor Dr. Underhill, a pioneering anthropologist who wrote about North American Native Americans. It is awarded annually to a CU Boulder English Department student for outstanding merit in creative writing.
The Frances Belford Wayne Merit Award. This award was established in 1940, named for noteworthy Denver journalist, Frances Belford “Pinkie” Wayne, who enjoyed a 40-year career as a reporter and opinion writer at The Denver Post. This annual scholarship recognizes an outstanding student in the Metro State University School of Journalism and Media Production. [not awarded in 2026]
DWPC's podcast features conversations with members and guests about their books and creative writing processes. Here is a sample of some of the podcasts available:
Listen to DWPC's podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts.
"The object for which our said corporation is formed and incorporated is for the purpose of advancing and encouraging women in literary work, to cultivate acquaintance and friendship among women of literary taste, to engage in educational effort, charity and philanthropy, to secure the benefits arising from organized effort and to drive dull care away."
In the spring of 1898, the Denver Woman's Press Club was founded by nineteen charter members. Organizer and first president, Minnie J. Reynolds, was the first woman political writer on the Rocky Mountain News staff, and the first woman candidate for the Populist Party in Colorado. Reynolds was inducted into the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2022.
In 1924, the club purchased the Denver studio home of George Elbert Burr, an American printmaker and painter best known for his etchings and drypoints of the desert and mountain regions of the American West. The DWPC, one of the nation's oldest continuously operating women's press clubs, also is reportedly the only women's press group in the U.S. that owns its own home. The clubhouse was designated a historic landmark in 1968 by the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission and placed on the state register of historic properties in 1995.
Over the years, the Denver Woman's Press Club has been honored to receive numerous grants to support club operations and restore our historic 1910 clubhouse and garden, including those from the Colorado Historical Fund, Colorado Garden Show, El Pomar Foundation, and Colorado Creative Industries. We continue to earn grants and receive funds from private donors to help us maintain our clubhouse, which continues to welcome both members and the public for author receptions and other special events.
Many literary luminaries have been guests of DWPC including William Barrett, Barbara Cartland, Mary Higgins Clark, Barbara Kingsolver, James Michener, Robert MacNeil, Anna Quindlen, Tracy Chevalier, and Annie Proulx.
Today the DWPC membership includes over 150 writing professionals in various fields - publishing, journalism, electronic communications, advertising, marketing, public relations, trade and business publications, history, education, freelance marketing, fundraising, and government.
Organization name
Denver Woman's Press Club: Where Writers Connect
other names
DWPC
1898
Tax id (EIN)
84-0503553
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
1325 Logan StreetDenver County, CO, US