#Vermont College MFA

[m-c-easton]

The Courage of Writing Nuance

One of my textbooks this semester is Words Overflown by Stars, a collection of craft essays by Vermont College MFA faculty. This week I contemplated Ellen Lesser’s essay “The Girl I Was, the Woman I Have Become: Fiction’s Reminiscent Narrators.” Specifically, she reflects on “the point in time from which the story gets told” and the purpose of placing a narrator in the present, reflecting on the…

[uwmspeccoll]

Written in the Stars

Star Tales: North American Indian Stories is retold and illustrated by Gretchen Will Mayo (b. 1936) and published in 1987 by Walker & Co. in New York. After getting a journalism degree and a teaching certificate, Mayo attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design from 1982 to 1984 and earned her MFA from Vermont College. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and in 1987, she received several awards and honors, including the Original Children’s Book Art Award and Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choice for Star Tales. Mayo has lived and worked in the Milwaukee area for many years.

For this book, Mayo, known for her children’s books, retells Native American stories related to the stars. Her work beautifully bridges cultural heritage and imagination, making her a cherished voice in children’s literature. Her illustrations enhance the enchantment of these celestial narratives, allowing one to imagine constellations coming alive with myth and magic.

-View other posts from our Native American Literature Collection

-Melissa (Stockbridge-Munsee), Special Collections Graduate Intern

[mybeingthere]

Sarah Amos, originally from Australia, left home after receiving a BFA in Printmaking from RMIT, to attend the Tamarind Institute of Lithography in New Mexico. In 1992 she became a certified Tamarind Master Printer in Lithography. In 1998 Sarah became the Master Printer for the Vermont Studio Center Press until 2008 and during this time she also received an MFA from the University of Northern Vermont. Sarah has been an Adjunct Professor at Dartmouth, Williams and Bennington Colleges teaching Printmaking and Drawing since 2007.

Sarah tells: "I grew up in a very artistic family, which I initially took for granted. It was not until I was in my teens that I realized the great accomplishments of the artisans within my family. My grandfather, Len Annois, was an accomplished student of naturalism who specialized in landscape painting and large Fresco murals and devoted his life to his work, and my grandmother, Mavis, was a gifted ceramicist and weaver. One of my favorite memories was going into my grandfather’s large studio, fossicking around and playing with all the painting and ceramic tools, charcoal drawings and paintings.

My mother, Rosie, has also been a huge influence as she, too, is a talented artist; she has worked in landscape and abstract painting, fashion and interior design. My mother is a whirlwind of creative energy, and when I was a child, was regularly covered in paint, flour or fabric, while making things on various tables all over the house, with a dog often curled up beneath her feet. She wanted to work with her hands and to make beautiful objects that in return gave her deep satisfaction. Her drive and commitment were infectious. I witnessed and absorbed all of this creativity from the edge of the table.

When I got older, I went to art school in Australia and received an undergraduate degree in printmaking. I soon left Australia for Albuquerque, New Mexico where I had been accepted into Tamarind Institute, an institute that solely focused on lithography (lithography is a printmaking technique that includes drawing with grease pencils and washes onto limestone blocks, chemically treating it to offset onto paper). I loved the alchemy and hands-on physicality of lithography.

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Dropping Sunrises in a Jar by Melinda Thomsen

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/dropping-sunrises-in-a-jar-by-melinda-thomsen/

Each poem in Dropping Sunrises in a Jar began as a way to understand why #birds appear so happy at sunrise. Written from notes spanning over twenty years, Dropping Sunrises in a Jar glimpses nature’s inner workings of joy. In free verse and form poems, sunrises from across the globe are depicted in a variety of awakening colors and sounds. #Poems recount the morning opera from locations like a sleeping car on a train going to Beijing to construction crane noise in Prague, the cooing of doves in North Carolina, and canyon towhees in Arizona. By organizing the poems into three sections: I’ll tell you how the Sun rose, A Ribbon at a time, and The Steeples swam in Amethyst, the readers ultimately find themselves gently released back into their world with signs of hope. #nature #poems #birds #chapbook #FLP

Melinda Thomsen’s Armature from Hermit Feathers Press (2021) was a finalist for the 2022 Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye award and an honorable mention in the 2019 Lena Shull Poetry Contest from NC Poetry Society. Her books Field Rations (2011) and Naming Rights (2007) are also from Finishing Line Press, and her latest poems can be found in Salamander Magazine, Artemis Journal, THEMA, The Ekphrastic Review, Poetry Miscellany, The New York Quarterly, and Poetry Quarterly, among others. A 2023 Randall Jarrell Poetry Contest Honorable Mention, 2019 Pushcart Nominee from The Comstock Review, and a Semi-Finalist in the 2004 “Discovery” / The Nation poetry contest, she’s an advisory editor for Tar River Poetry and current Vice President of Programming for the North Carolina Poetry Society. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, she received her MA in English from The City College, CUNY, and MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the Writing Center Coordinator for the John Paul II Catholic School and lives in North Carolina with her husband Hunt, two cats, and one chicken.

PRAISE FOR Dropping Sunrises in a Jar by Melinda Thomsen

I love that poet-philosopher Melinda Thomsen has turned her wise but uncynical eye and voice towards the tragedy of climate change. Thomsen writes, “I wake to the sky’s daily burning/in these—my sunset—years to collect sunrises…like candles gathered from my forgiving earth… But this burning keeps flushing out the birds…” Thomsen writes extensively of birds, those things with feathers, to give us what I love best in eco poetry, hope-punk. But, sad and knowing as her poems often are, Thomsen can’t help but bring her child-like wonder to the world, and for that I am grateful.

–ELIZABETH J. COLEMAN, editor of Here: Poems for the Planet, Copper Canyon Press, 2019

In Dropping Sunrises in a Jar, Thomsen skillfully highlights and juxtaposes the cyclical nature and beauty of sunrises and the corresponding splendor and chaos of local fauna, flora, as well as man made technologies. From mynas in Maui, bridges in New York City, construction in Prague, to warblers in Maine, Thomsen’s celebration of origins and beginnings cleverly serves as an homage to rebirth, routine, and hope.

–JOSE HERNANDEZ DIAZ, author of The Fire Eater, Bad Mexican, Bad American, and The Parachutist

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems

[jonathanferraragallery]

AMANDA JOY BROWN is a visual artist and educator based in the Bay Area. After studying Art and French at Harding University in Arkansas, Brown earned her MFA in the painting program at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She completed a month long residency at the Vermont Studio Center before moving to Nashville, TN where she found a studio community at Ground Foor Gallery+ Studios, and continued to exhibit in around the US as well as southern France. She now resides in California with her husband and 14 month old daughter, working out of her home studio and doing plein air excursions to paint the beautiful landscape of the East Bay every chance she gets. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally.

[dahlia-hernandez]

full name. Dahlia Annalisse Hernandez

nicknames. Dahli (sounds like ‘Dolly’), Lia, D

gender. cisfemale

pronouns. she / her

d.o.b. February 19, 1990 | 32

astrology. Pisces

hometown. Gautier, Mississippi

current residence. Ravenswood, Vermont

occupation. Artist & Gallery Owner

religion. spiritual

tattoos. 9 (here)

piercings. 7 (lobes - 2x, helix, daith, nose, nipples, belly button)

marital status. single

sexuality. pan

family. River Hernandez (son), Clover Moreau (step-sister), Rhiannon Bennett (step-sister), Forest Moreau (step-brother), Asher Bennett (brother in law)

children. 1 (River Hernandez, age 15)

pets. 0

positive traits. Creative, Playful, Brave

negative traits. Critical, Shy, Distrustful

       PINTEREST || PLAYLIST || WANTED CONNECTIONS

TIMELINE   —

1990 - on February 19th, Dahlia Annalise Hernandez is born in Gautier, MS.

1995 - Dahlia’s biological parents divorce. Her father, Miguel, takes full custody of her. This is the last time Dahlia sees her mother.

2000 - Dahlia’s father starts dating Daisy Laurent, and he and Dahlia become apart of the Moreau-Laurent family. A family with poly parents (Eric and Daisy) and 4 children (Clove, Forest, Orion, Rikki). Over time, Daisy and Eric become “mom” and “dad” to Dahlia.

2007 - Dahlia gives birth to her son, River Daniel Hernandez, on November 17th.

2008 - Dahlia graduates from highschool in June.

2010 - After delaying college for two years while she raised her young son, with the help of her family, Dahlia starts college at The University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al.  2014- Dahlia earns a Masters of Fine Arts degree (MFA) in Creative Technologies and Practice.

2017 - Dahlia is awarded full custody of her son, River Hernandez.

2020 - early in the year, Dahlia and River move to Ravenswood, VT to be close to her siblings; @rikki-bennett​. @forestmoreau​, and @clovermoreau​. Over the summer, Dahlia meets @denveradamson​. After a few months of hooking up, D&D start dating.

2022 - At the start of December, Dahlia and Denver break up.

HEADCANONS —

Dahlia’s house in Sycamore Village - https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/520-Powderhorn-Rd-Manchester-Center-VT-05255/227699081_zpid/

TLDR  —

TW: 

coming soon

[sfacgalleries]

Artist Talk: Miguel Arzabe and Daniela Rivera from San Francisco Arts Commission on Vimeo.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 | 6:30pm SFAC Main Gallery

Join exhibiting artists Miguel Arzabe and Daniela Rivera for a conversation about their work and process. Moderated by Matthew Villar Miranda, curatorial associate at Berkeley Art Museum.

This program is planned in conjunction with the exhibition Praxis of Local Knowledge on view at the SFAC Main Gallery through August 17, 2024.

About the Panelists Miguel Arzabe is a visual artist who lives and works in Oakland. He had recent solo shows at Shulamit Nazarian Gallery (Los Angeles, CA) and Johansson Projects (Oakland, CA). Arzabe’s work has been featured in such festivals as Hors Pistes (Centre Pompidou, Paris), Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal), and the Geumgang Nature Art Biennale (Gongju, South Korea); and in museums and galleries including MAC Lyon (France), MARS Milan (Italy), RM Projects (Auckland), FIFI Projects (Mexico City), Marylhurst University (Oregon), the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, the CCA Wattis Institute, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Arzabe’s work is held in public collections such as the Harn Museum in Gainesville, Florida, Albuquerque Museum of Art, Oakland Museum of California, the de Young Museum, San Francisco Arts Commission, the State of California, as well as numerous private collections. He has attended many residencies including Facebook AIR, Headlands Center for the Arts, Montalvo Arts Center, Millay Arts, and Santa Fe Art Institute. He holds a BS from Carnegie Mellon University, an MS from Arizona State University, and an MFA from UC Berkeley. In 2022 Arzabe was awarded the San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Award. In 2023 he was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and and a Golden Foundation Residency. In 2024 he was a SECA award finalist.

Born in Santiago, Chile, Daniela Rivera received her BFA from Pontifcia Universidad Católica de Chile in 1996 and her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, Boston in 2006. She is currently Professor of Studio Art at Wellesley College. She has exhibited widely in Latin American cities including Santiago, Chile, as well as in the United States. She has been awarded residencies at Loghaven, Headland Center for the Arts, Surf Point, Proyecto ACE in Buenos Aires, Vermont Studio Arts Center, and the Skowhegan School of Paintings and Sculpture. And she has been the recipient of notable fellowships and grants including from The Chiaro Award, The Rappaport Prize, Now + There, the Massachusetts Cultural Council Award, VSC, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the Berkshire Taconic Foundation, The FONDART in Chile, and the Saint Botolph Club foundation Distinguish Artist Award. Recent or upcoming exhibitions include: New Worlds, NMWA, Washington DC, 2024, Donde el Cielo Toca la Tierra, Matucana 100, Santiago Chile, 2024, Praxis of Local Knowledge, San Francisco Art Commission, San Francisco, Labored Landscapes; Where The Sky Touches the Earth, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fragmentos para una Historia del Olvido/ Fragments for a History of Displacement, The Davis Museum, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA (2018–2019); En Busca de los Andes, solo exhibition with Proyecto ACE, Buenos Aires, Argentina (June 2019); Sobremesa (Karaoke Politics), a public art project developed as her Now + There Accelerator Fellowship.

Matthew Villar Miranda (he/they/siya) is Curatorial Associate at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. In their former position as Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow at the Walker Art Center, they worked on exhibitions by Julie Mehretu, Pao Houa Her, Paul Chan, and Pacita Abad. They serve on the Board of Stakeholders Museums Moving Forward (MMF), a Ford and Mellon Foundation-funded initiative of an intergenerational, cross-institutional coalition of art museum professionals committed to advancing equity across the museum field. In 2021, they co-curated the Art for Justice Fund-supported exhibition Undoing Time: Art and Histories of Incarceration at the Arizona State University Art Museum (ASUAM). They received their BA in History of Art from UC Berkeley (2013) and graduated among the inaugural class of ASU-Los Angeles County Museum of Art Master's Fellowship in Art History (2021).

[introvertbookblog]

Hello everyone! I am here to participate the book tour of Witty in Pink by Erica George! Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for having me as a host! Check out the book info and about the author here. Without further ado, let’s go!

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Book Info:

Witty in Pink by Erica George

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Publishing Date: August 6, 2024

Synopsis:

Keep your friends close. Keep your nemesis closer.

After nearly five years of avoiding him, Briggs Goswick may have appeared at my feet on horseback like a handsome white knight but, in fact, he is a certified man-child.

Briggs may be many things―a society darling (annoying), attractive (so unfair), and heir to an elite family (helpful)―but after humiliating me at a ball several years ago, he is primarily my archnemesis.

His presence has made this summer go from bad to…complicated. I have the weight of saving my family’s name and finances solely on my shoulders, while I endure an endless parade of dreary balls and insufferable suitors to make a favorable match. But I have another idea―a business venture―to save my family. All I need are investors.

And as for Briggs? He’s hiding a secret as well: he’s flat broke.

Now the person I loathe the most in this world is just as trapped as I am―both penniless and our households depending on us to save them. And I think I know how. All I have to do is play nice with the very devil I’ve sworn to hate…

His society connections can boost me from near obscurity to help me win over investors for my business. And perhaps I can help him woo an aloof heiress with deep pockets. It’s a long shot. It might even work…but do I want it to?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

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About The Author:

Erica George is the author of young adult romances such as Witty in Pink (Entangled Teen, 2024), The Edge of Summer (Little, Brown BFYR, 2022), and Words Composed of Sea and Sky (Running Press, 2021). She is a graduate of The College of New Jersey with degrees in both English and education, and holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is currently a writing instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, residing in northwest New Jersey but spending her summers soaking up the salty sea air on Cape Cod. Many themes in Erica’s writing rotate around environmental activism and young people finding their voice. When she’s not writing, you can find her exploring river towns, whale watching, or engrossed in quality British dramas with her dog at her side.

Website | Instagram | Goodreads

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Click here to see the tour schedule of this book tour.

[inparenth]

Some Inconvenient Poems (A Review by S. Ayres)

Some Inconvenient Poems (A Review by S. Ayres)

Susan Ayres is a poet, lawyer, and translator. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in a wide variety of journals. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and teaches at Texas A&M University Law School. Her chapbooks are Walk Like the Bird Flies (Finishing Line, 2023) and Red Cardinal, White Snow (Main Street Rag, forthcoming 2024).…

[nixpix3]

Research Post #3

Tom Young was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1951. He attended Goddard College in Vermont for his BA in Photography in 1973 and the Rhode Island School of Design in 1977 for his MFA in Photography.

My favorite photos of Young’s are in his Cat and Mouse portfolio. He is very consistent with his color scheme throughout the majority of his photos. In this particular portfolio, it makes the images more unnerving than usual. The subject matter definitely helps with the unnerving aspect.

[bitoftime]

Recycled Realities by John Willis and Tom Young

In 1957, John Willis was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He teaches photography at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont, as an Emeritus Professor. He also graduated from Rhode Island School of Photography with an MFA in photography in 1986.

In 1951, Tom Young was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At the moment, he serves as an emeritus professor of art at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts. In 1977, he graduated with a master's degree in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design.  Around Young and Wills' home there is a paper mill where they gathered reusable paper. The images came from discarded pieces of paper that they recycled and used in their work for Recycled Realities. Its purpose is to bring many meanings and connections that exist in our daily lives.

I pictures in this book are beautiful. I would have never throughout of adding pieces of recycled paper for photography. The had an idea and it was executed so well. I love the combination as it shows what art is. Art is very subjective and this something many people can enjoy as it has different elements to it. I would love to try something like this, I feel like I could have some fun. GFT Publishing - John Willis, www.gftbooks.com/books_WillisJohn.html. Accessed 8 May 2024.

GFT Publishing - John Willis and Tom Young, www.gftbooks.com/books_WillisJohn-about.html. Accessed 8 May 2024.

[testifyatx]

Please join Testify in welcoming Susan Mack back to the Testify stage. She'll be sharing her story, "Friends," for our storytelling show, Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

Susan Mack (she/her) is a longtime Austin-based writer and storyteller whose work reveres everyday oddities. As a story addict, she tells stories around Austin and produces the quarterly Stories on the Lawn storytelling show.

She is currently submitting her full-length memoir, *The 117-day Countdown,* for publication. Susan holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

[irishgop]

Sally Bowring is a native New Yorker who earned her undergraduate degrees from the Fashion Institute of NY (Associate Degree) and Godard College in Vermont (BA) and her MFA from VCU, where for the last 37 years she has taught painting. Subsequent to her retirement in 2018, she teaches part-time as an Instructor at Richmond University.

Recently she spoke about her work:

“…this new work is too new for me to fully articulate it’s meaning. It’s like a visual puzzle, self referential and I love making them. I am fully engaged while making these paintings. The other day I thought I would like to make a painting you couldn’t use words to understand it- to describe it – maybe just grunts and yeps!”

My curiosity about Bowring was piqued when the fourth picture above resonated with Mark Rothko’s work. Some of her commentary about her own work is also of a kindred formative spirit.

[mybeingthere]

Bob Green Raku Pottery. He tells the story:

"I have been working with clay for thirty years. After completing my MFA degree in ceramics from Southern Illinois University, I first settled in New York City and became a member of a pottery Co-op in lower Manhattan. I initially supported myself working mornings as an art handler, transporting sculptures, large paintings… anything artists and gallerists needed moved with care. In the afternoons and evenings I worked in my studio with about six other potters. I and began showing my work in galleries in the city.     

In 1978 I participated in my first American Crafts Council show at Rhinebeck New York. I had no idea what to expect, and I don’t remember doing very well. I do remember meeting Josh Simpson and Nancee Meeker, as we were showing our work in the same small gallery in Soho.

In the summer of 1980 I was invited to work in the ceramics studio at Bennington College where my brother Josh was an undergraduate student. Stanley Rosen and Jane Aebersold were the ceramic faculty members at the time and at the end of the summer, they asked if I’d like to be the studio tech and visiting artist for the semester. This great opportunity lasted for four years; I never went back to New York City.     

I loved living in Vermont and in 1984 I became the resident potter at the Vermont State Craft Center in Middlebury .This position provided a studio and many teaching opportunities with community members and classes for Middlebury College. I continued to produce and show work regionally and nationally. During the summer I would return to Bennington College to teach a month-long ceramics class for pre-college students. During one of these summers I started Raku firing with my students and my own work was influenced by this teaching experience.

In 1991 I became the resident potter at the Shelburne Craft School where I remained through 2001, when I married the lovely Karen Totman and moved to western Massachusetts. We live in a wonderful old farm house with an attached pottery studio. I am a full- time studio potter and occasionally teach workshops on Raku and pit-fired pottery.  I continue to hone my craft in an environment where Karen's family has cared for the land over many generations. The refinement of organic elements into classical forms of the vessel vernacular has fascinated and driven me as a potter. Managing clay's malleability and fire's ephemeral effects on forms and surfaces continues to ignite my decades-long creative investigations."

https://bobgreenpottery.com/index.html

[finishinglinepress]

NEW FROM FINISHING LINE PRESS: Walk Like the Bird Flies by Susan Ayres

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/walk-like-the-bird-flies-by-susan-ayres/

The prose poems and lyric verses in Walk Like the Bird Flies invite you to explore identity, #history, #nature, #myth, and #art. From Judge Roy Bean to Medea, from Étienne Trouvelot to Princess Di, these poems walk like the bird flies, traveling an emotive journey through love and loss, in imagined and actual landscapes.

Susan Ayres is a poet, lawyer, and translator. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in a wide variety of literary and scholarly journals including Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Sycamore Review, Cimarron Review, The South Carlina Review, and Valparaiso Review. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and teaches at Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas. Visit www.psusanayres.com.

PRAISE FOR Walk Like the Bird Flies by Susan Ayres

These poems transport us from Texas desert landscapes to New England mountains to Adriatic tavernas, festivals, and landmarks, and at the same time they offer vivid confrontations with the elements of the natural world—mud, fire, water, forests, the wind that possibly “[carries] messages from beyond”—treating both foreign cities and nature’s manifestations as phenomena to observe and honor through the eyes of an estranged but receptive traveler. Susan Ayres fuses images from inner and outer landscapes, raising questions that can’t be answered and perspectives that can’t be contained but nevertheless offer sparks of revelation in poem after poem.

–Leslie Ullman, (The You That All Along Has Housed You and Library of Small Happiness)

“Listen to me as one listens to the rain,” Susan Ayres begins this incredible journey, because only when she listens to the rain can her imagination wander and guide us through a history and geography that is at once personal and cosmic in its reach. Indeed, she ends with a long poem that itself carries us from “from silkworms to / Skies.” But what is even more exciting, and so skillfully done, is the kind counterpointing that moves us from a medieval bridge in Slovenia to the American west to a contemporary beach to Led Zeppelin, a combination that requires great skill and vision. And skill and vision are what we have here, giving us a new sense and appreciation of our world, for Ayres has given us poetry’s version of Galileo’s Starry Messenger.

–Richard Jackson, Author of The World as Framed: New and Select Poems

Please share/repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #read #poems #literature #poetry

[ledenews]

Kentucky Poet Laureate Visits for Hughes Lecture 2023

The Kentucky Poet Laureate, Crystal Wilkinson (crystalewilkinson.net), will be the honored guest for West Liberty University’s Hughes Lecture on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Free and open to the public, the lecture gets started at 4 p.m. Wilkinson will be introduced by West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman. “We are excited to welcome Crystal Wilkinson to our campus. She is a leading and influential voice in Appalachian literature, and the students and campus community will no doubt be inspired and enriched by her classroom visit and lecture," said Dr. Scott Hanna, who coordinates the Hughes Lecture and is an associate professor of English and creative writing coordinator in the College of Liberal and Creative Arts. Wilkinson will meet with creative writing students at 12:30 p.m. and then deliver the Hughes Lecture at 4 p.m. in the Elbin Library Alumni Wall of Honor Alcove, located on the third floor of the library building. A reception and book signing will immediately follow.  A recent fellowship recipient of the Academy of American Poets, Wilkinson is the award-winning author of “Perfect Black,” a collection of poems, and three works of fiction—"The Birds of Opulence,” “Water Street” and “Blackberries, Blackberries.” She is the recipient of a 2022 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, a 2021 O. Henry Prize, a 2020 USA Artists Fellowship, and a 2016 Ernest J. Gaines Prize for Literary Excellence. Wilkinson has received recognition from the Yaddo Foundation, Hedgebrook, The Vermont Studio Center for the Arts, The Hermitage Foundation and others. Her short stories, poems and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including most recently in The Atlantic, The Kenyon Review, STORY, Agni Literary Journal, Emergence, Oxford American and Southern Cultures.  “Praise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts,” a culinary memoir, is forthcoming from Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House. She currently teaches at the University of Kentucky where she is professor of English in the MFA in the Creative Writing Program. The Hughes Lecture Series began in the 1970s and is named after Dr. Raymond Grove Hughes, a beloved teacher who joined West Liberty in 1931. His generous endowment gift established a fund managed by the WLU Foundation and known as the Hughes Lecture Series Endowed Fund. Thanks to this fund, the series has brought a wide range of authors and speakers to WLU, including: David Sheff, author of “Beautiful Boy,” Jeannette Walls, author of “The Glass Castle;” Dr. Ralph Abernathy, confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Eugene McCarthy, U. S. Senator and presidential candidate in 1968 and NASA scientist Homer Hickam. Copies of Wilkinson's books will be available for purchase at both the Hughes Lecture and the campus Barnes and Noble book store (304.336.8211.) For more info on the Hughes Lecture, please contact wshanna@westliberty.edu.  Read the full article