Maggie Smith by J. Wojdacz While poet Maggie Smith was in residence at VCCA in November 2011, she worked on her second book, The Well Speaks of It's Own Poison . which was just selected by Kimiko Hahn to win the 2012 Dorset Prize from Tupelo Press. Congratulations, Maggie! "VCCA will be heartily thanked in the acknowledgments, because I made breakthroughs with the book there that I couldn't have made without the luxury of that time and space. Thank you thank you thank you."   -- Maggie Smith

"Enclosure" by Sharon Shapiro is among the available works to be sold Sharon Shapiro is moving out of the Charlottesville studio she has been working in since 2001. As part of her moving sale, she is selling many works created prior to 2010 at a 20% discount.          Sunday, July 7, 2013 2:00 to 5:00  RSVP and Address Here  

You can help us make our budget for fiscal year 2013 by making a donation before the end of this month — June 30, 2013 THANK YOU!

My Favorite Warlord , the third book of poems by Eugene Gloria , has won the 2013 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award . The award recognizes "outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures." Eugene's work was chosen by a stellar committee consisting of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (chair), poet Rita Dove, writer Joyce Carol Oates, psychologist Steven Pinker, and historian Simon Schama. The long history of the Anisfield-Wolf award includes five Nobel Prize recipients: Martin Luther King Jr., Wole Soyinka, Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, and Derek Walcott. "I remain deeply grateful to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts for the gift of time and space that allowed me to write and revise many of the poems in my third collection. Thank you." -- Eugene Gloria Eugene Gloria teaches creative writing and English literature at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

VCCA Fellow Michele Schuff of Austell, Georgia, recently returned from a four-week residency at Schloss Plüschow in Mecklenburg, Germany - one of VCCA's International Exchange Programs.  While there, Michele worked in a studio in a 17th-century house near the Baltic Sea, and was featured in the Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper. If you would like to read the article in German, click here . Find out more about the VCCA-International Exchange Programs here

Garden of Mirrors                         The sky flashes and the great sea yearns                                                                John Berryman Because the feathers of a hummingbird diffract light a dull bird will, without warning, turn a resplendent green, an irredemable red. We came to Morven Farm to be part of what has no easy definition.  We came, more accurately, out of yearning need for art. What we shared was not just a one night stand because many of us will wake dismantled, will see the garden of mirrors again. Every once in a while we get the chance to be idea makers. Every once in a while we get a glimpse of what moves so fast it can only be seen in photograph:  think prop plane, think hummingbirds’ wings. Think how this night reminded each of us: Bright Shiny Me. by Charlotte H. Matthews Poet and VCCA Fellow Charlottesville, Virginia 

Bright Shiny Me - the multimedia arts installation by VCCA Fellows Maja Spasova, visual artist, London and Berlin; and Luis Hilario Arévalo, composer, Mexico City. Photo by Michael JN Bowles, photographer, Charlottesville, Virginia and Sydney, Australia Overheard at VCCA's The Commission on Saturday, June 1, at UVA's Morven Farm: "It's a musical mirror garden" "Completely magical" "The sound is making my feet tingle" "It changes every time the clouds move" "It's like a blanket of falling stars"  Bright Shiny Me - the multimedia arts installation by VCCA Fellows Maja Spasova, visual artist, London and Berlin; and Luis Hilario Arévalo, composer, Mexico City. Photo by Medford Taylor, photographer and VCCA Fellow, Richmond, Virginia Bright Shiny Me - the multimedia arts installation by VCCA Fellows Maja Spasova, visual artist, London and Berlin; and Luis Hilario Arévalo, composer, Mexico City.