Featured News, Grant News | August 13, 2013
The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s creative writing fellowships in creative nonfiction.
They are Chad Hanson of Casper, Mary Beth Baptiste of Laramie and Cheyenne’s Heather Jensen.
They each will receive a $3,000 award plus a $500 stipend to travel to Casper to read their work at the annual fellowship reading on Friday, Sept. 13, 2-4 p.m., at the Casper College Literary Conference.
They will be joined at the reading by fellowship judge Connie May Fowler, memoirist and novelist from St. Augustine, Fla.
Honorable mentions in this category go to Rick Kempa of Rock Springs and Diane Panozzo of Tie Siding.
Chad Hanson serves as chairman of the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Casper College. His creative nonfiction titles include Swimming with Trout and Trout Streams of the Heart. He is also the author of The Community College and the Good Society: How the Liberal Arts were undermined and what we can do to bring them back. He is consultant and evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission and question writer for Educational Testing Services. His winning manuscript is entitled “The Scent of a Canyon.”
Mary Beth Baptiste has worked in a number of jobs, from wildlife biologist to mental health therapist. After years of what she calls “egghead writing,” she now writes creatively in Laramie. She is the winner of two WAC Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Vermont Literary Review, Copper Nickel Literary Magazine, Newsweek, Stonehill Alumni Magazine, Wyoming Wildlife and in regional and national anthologies. Title of her winning entry is “Altitude Adjustment,” a chapter from her book manuscript, The Lupines after the Fire.
Heather Jensen writes fiction and creative nonfiction. She hopes that her “personal narratives of courage in the face of adversity encourage other survivors of abuse to heal and find peace and happiness in their own lives.” Her public service work includes stints with Women’s Civic League of Cheyenne and JustServe.org, which helps connect non-profits with local volunteers. She hones her public speaking skills at Hear Me Roar Toastmasters. Her winning manuscript is entitled “The Truth Shall Set You Free.”
Poet and essayist Rick Kempa teaches at Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs. He is the author of two books of poetry and has been widely published in journals and anthologies. He is a member of the WAC’s artist roster and past winner of a WAC fellowship.
Diane Panozzo is an educator, poet and writer. She teaches classes at the University of Wyoming Honors Program, Art Museum and Theatre Program. She is working on a series of stories set in the Wind River Reservation and a nonfiction book about a wildlife biologist’s relationship with the Red Desert. She won a 2003 WAC poetry fellowship.
This is the 28th year for the creative writing fellowships sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council. Next year’s category will be fiction. Applications will be available in spring 2014.
For more information, contact Michael Shay at 307-777-5234 or mike.shay@wyo.gov
The Wyoming Arts Council believes that experiencing the arts should be accessible for all, including people with mental and/or physical disabilities, older adults, military/veterans, people living in institutions and those who lack access to the arts due to geographic isolation, cultural difference and economic hardship.
