MSU鈥檚 Pierce sees talent honored with 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥敾ㄐ阒辈 State Associate Professor of English Catherine Pierce is receiving a $25,000 Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Considered among nearly 1,700 eligible applications, this year鈥檚 35 Fellows were selected through a highly competitive, anonymous process and were judged solely on the artistic excellence of the work sample provided. Fellowships alternate between poetry and prose each year, and this year鈥檚 awards specifically support poetry.
鈥淎 recent national survey shows reading poetry is making a comeback,鈥澛爏aid Mary Anne Carter, NEA acting chairman. 鈥淭he National Endowment for the Arts supports our nation鈥檚 poets and encourages a wide range of voices and styles.鈥
The full list of NEA Creative Writing Fellowship recipients is available at .
A native of Delaware, Pierce also serves as co-director of MSU鈥檚 creative writing program. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Susquehanna University, Master of Fine Arts from Ohio State University, and doctorate from the University of Missouri.
Pierce said the fellowship is a 鈥渢remendous honor,鈥 and she is grateful to the judges and NEA for this 鈥渞eally wonderful affirmation of my work.鈥
鈥淚 can already tell that聽I鈥檓 approaching my writing with new vigor and courage,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he fellowship also means more time and space in which to do that writing鈥攖o be able to devote more uninterrupted hours to that work聽is an invaluable gift. I鈥檓 so excited to discover the new material聽that comes out of this opportunity.鈥澛
First published in the spring 2017 issue of The Gettysburg Review, Pierce鈥檚 poem 鈥淚 Kept Getting Books About Birds鈥 was included in the 43rd edition of 鈥淭he Pushcart Prize: best of the Small Presses鈥 anthology series.
Pierce has authored three books of poetry. They include 鈥淭he Tornado Is the World鈥 (Saturnalia 2016), winner of the 2017 花秀直播 Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Prize and 2015 Sustainable Arts Foundation Award; 鈥淭he Girls of Peculiar鈥 (Saturnalia 2012), winner of the 2013 花秀直播 Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Prize; and 鈥淔amous Last Words鈥 (Saturnalia 2008), winner of the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize.
Pierce鈥檚 chapbook, 鈥淎nimals of Habit,鈥 was published in 2004 by Kent State University Press. Her poems also have appeared in The Best American Poetry, American Poetry Review, Slate, Boston Review and The Cincinnati Review, among many other publications. For more, visit .
Learn more about MSU鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences and its Department of English at and .
MSU is 花秀直播鈥檚 leading university, available online at .