MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
January 11 – 17, 2007 Edition
Oregon Writers
Publishers Earn
Literary Grants
Portland, OR/1/11/07—Literary Arts, an Oregon-based nonprofit literary organization, has announced the recipients of the 2006 Oregon Literary Fellowships. Out-of-state judges selected 13 writers and six publishers to receive grants ranging from $500 to $3,000. A reception in March 2007 will honor this year’s recipients.
Since 1987, Literary Arts has honored more than 500 writers and publishers and has distributed more than $500,000 in grants and awards. This year’s Oregon Literary Fellowships totaled $25,000. Literary Arts received a record 302 applications this year, from writers in 40 Oregon cities and towns.
Fellowships to Writers
These fellowships provide funds for writers to initiate, develop or complete a project in the genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature.
Poetry:
Regina Godfrey (Portland), The C. Hamilton Bailey Fellowship Kathleen Halme (Portland), The Walt Morey Fellowship
Fiction:
Tina Boscha (Brownsville), The Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship Miriam Gershow (Eugene) Peter Brown Hoffmeister (Eugene)
Nonfiction:
Angie Chuang (Portland), The Friends of the Lake Oswego Library William Stafford Fellowship Antoinette Nora Claypoole (Ashland) William George (Portland)
Drama:
Sharon Sassone (Portland)
Young Readers Literature:
Elizabeth Rusch (Portland) The Edna L. Holmes Fellowship in Young Readers Literature Beth Ann Wagner (Portland)
Special Fellowships for Women Writers
The Women Writers Fellowship is a limited, special fund, endowed by the Ralph L. Smith Foundation and administered by Literary Arts, for women writers living in Oregon. Of special interest to the grantmakers are perspectives that are traditionally not well represented, including those exploring experiences of ethnicity, class, physical disability or sexual orientation.
Shannon Brazil (Portland), drama Ingrid Wendt (Eugene), poetry
Judges
Fellowships to writers were judged by a panel consisting of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, historian and author of Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie; Samrat Upadhyay, author of the short-story collection The Royal Ghosts; and Sue Walker, poet laureate of Alabama. Young readers literature was judged by Marilyn Courtot, president of the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database ( www.childrenslit.com). Judges’ biographies are available at http://www.literary-arts.org.
Fellowships to Publishers
Presses and magazines demonstrating a commitment to literary publishing receive these fellowships. Kevin Larimer, editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, judged this year’s fellowships.
Calyx Journal, editor Margarita Donnely (Corvallis) Chiasmus, editor Andy Mingo (Portland) Hawthorne Books, editor Rhonda Hughes (Portland) Poetry Northwest, editor David Biespiel (Portland) Rain Magazine, editor Nancy Cook (Astoria) Wordcraft of Oregon, editor David Memmott (La Grande)
Applications for the 2007 Oregon Literary Fellowships will be available at www.literary-arts.org on February 1, 2007.
Next year, Literary Arts’ new Oregon Writers’ Endowment will offer additional financial support to Oregon writers and publishers. A challenge grant from the Gray Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation made this permanent fund possible. Writers, readers and booklovers across the state generously contributed to the fund, which Literary Arts will continue to build in 2007.
The Oregon Literary Fellowships program is sponsored by the C. Hamilton Bailey Endowment, Betty Bradshaw, Leslie Bradshaw Endowment, The Collins Foundation, John & Julie Dixon, Friends of the Lake Oswego Library/Booktique, Gray Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, Edna L. Holmes Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, Jackson Foundation, The Kinsman Foundation, The Ruth Manary Fund of The Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, Walt Morey Endowment, Oregon Arts Commission, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Ralph L. Smith Foundation, Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, U.S. Bank, Women Writers Fellowship Endowment and the Wyss Foundation.
Oregon Literary Fellowships is a program of Literary Arts, a nonprofit organization that enriches the lives of Oregonians through language and literature. Other programs of Literary Arts are Oregon Book Awards, Portland Arts & Lectures, Poetry Downtown, Poetry in Motion®, Writers in the Schools and Delve: Readers’ Seminars. For more information about Literary Arts, please contact Barbara Verchot at 503.227.2583 or visit www.literary-arts.org.
