The Lawrence Arts Center and Raven Book Store have announced the winners of this year’s Langston Hughes Creative Writing Awards.

Becky Mandelbaum won the fiction award for her work “Snowman,” and Brendan Allen is the winner for poetry with his work “Horizontal Inheritance.” Each will receive a $500 prize.

An awards ceremony is planned for 7 p.m. Friday — Hughes’ birthday — at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. The public is invited for birthday cake, live music, coffee, readings of Hughes’ poetry and the presentation of awards.

Inspired by Hughes — who grew up in Lawrence and drew from African-American culture and American democracy for his writings in diverse genres and styles — the awards seek to encourage and support contemporary poets and writers who present their life experiences creatively through poetry, stories and nonfiction prose.