VCCA has requested the pink Tiger Fuel trucks so that for every gallon of propane we buy, a penny goes to breast cancer research. It's part of the American Breast Cancer Foundation's nationwide campaign to provide diagnostic tests for uninsured and underserved individuals. What a great way to get in the pink!

Former U. S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser has selected Marilyn Kallet's poem, "Fireflies", for publication on his website, "American Life In Poetry". From there, "Fireflies" will swarm into weekly columns in newspapers all across the country, and then around the world via the website's free Internet subscription. Congratulations Marilyn!

As many of you know, the VCCA pool has been tragically empty all summer. Dry as a bone. We even found a mummified frog in the deep end. And frankly, we're concerned about the effect this is having on some of our Fellows. They want to swim off the heat so badly that they're seeing things. Just the other week, Karl Nussbaum gazed down at the empty concrete box and swore he saw a dive-in movie theater. Before long, he had all the Fellows seeing it. They even pooled together to watch Paul Newman in "Sweet Bird of Youth". Maysey Craddock documented the phenomenon. (To see more of her dive-in movie photos at Flickr, click here .) Since that night, there's been talk of pool halls, mini-golf courses, fallout shelters...all sorts of poolishness. At the same time, Michael Dowell, VCCA's financial wizard, has been working with the board to find the $14,000 needed for repairs - and they've already pooled $6,000. The dilemma is that in order to have things i...

Congratulations to VCCA Fellow Kelly Cherry, who is assuming the mantle of Virginia's eleventh Poet Laureate! Kelly first came to VCCA in 1978, and has returned nine times since then. In 2005, she was in residence for thirty days at Le Moulin à Nef, the VCCA-France studios in Auvillar. She is Eudora Welty Professor Emerita of English and Evjue-Bascom Professor Emerita in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kelly is the second VCCA Fellow named Virginia's Poet Laureate: Claudia Emerson held the title in 2008 -2010. VCCA Advisory Council Member Rita Dove also held the title from 2004 -2006.