Amtrak Picked These 24 Writers to Get Free Roundtrip Rides

Amtrak announced the 24 writers chosen for its residency program on Wednesday, which offers the winners free roundtrip rides on Amtrak. Each resident will be given a private sleeper car that includes a desk, a bed and a window with a view of America’s countryside for inspiration.

Here are the chosen recipients:

Ksenia Anske, a Seattle-based fantasy writer

Scott Berkun, writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist

Jennifer Boylan, author of She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, the first bestselling work by a transgender American

Craig Calcaterra, writer at NBCSports.com

Jen Carlson, deputy editor of Gothamist

Farai Chideya, award-winning journalist and Distinguished Writer in Residence at the NYU journalism institute

Anna Davies, young adult novel ghostwriter and writer for The New York Times and Salon.com

Korey Garibaldi, doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of Chicago

Katie Heaney, editor at Buzzfeed and author of Never Have I Ever

Karen Karbo, author of the best-selling Kick Ass Women series

Marianne Kirby, co-author of Lessons from the Fatosphere

Erika Krouse, Boulder-based novelist

Lindsay Moran, author of a memoir on her life in the CIA: Blowing My Cover, My Life As A Spy

Lisa Schwarzbaum, film critic

Tynan, co-founder of blogging platform SETT

Jeffrey Stanley, playwright of Tesla’s Letters

Deanne Stillman, author of Desert Reckoning

Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life and Chang and Eng

Chris Taylor, journalist and deputy editor at Mashable

Stephen “Stepto” Toulouse, Director of Community Engagement for Black Tusk Studios and author of A Microsoft Life

Glen Weldon, NPR writer, regular panelist on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour and author of Superman: The Unauthorized Biography

Marco Werman, host of PRI’s The World and creator of PBS Frontline documentary Libya: Out of the Shadow

Saul Williams, poet, musician, actor and performer, starred in Holler if Ya Hear Me

Bill Willingham, comic book author of Fables series