Vanessa Walters joined Millay in 2016 to work on her novel, The Nigerwife and was named the Leo Maitland Fellow at the end of her residency. The Nigerwife (title changed to The Lagos Wife), was published in 2023 by Atria Books and has been optioned by HBO. She is now working on another novel due to be published by Atria in 2026. Vanessa is also a Tin House Fellow and the author of two YA novels (Rude Girls and Best Things in Life) published by Pan Macmillan in the United Kingdom.