Sandell Morse’s lyrical account, “Houses,” describes her pilgrimage from Maine to La Colonie, a safe house in Beaulieu sur Dordogne that successfully sheltered Jewish children during the holocaust.  The essay, which  first appeared in  Ascent,  a publication of Concordia College, Moorehead, MN,  was just nominated for a Best of the Net award. http://www.readthebestwriting.com/houses-sandell-morse/

Catherine Peek, the winner of the Harry D. Forsyth Fellowship for the Visual Arts is reveling in the sunshine on this fine October day. The Forsyth fellowship was established in 1999 to provide a fully funded two-week residency at VCCA for a Sweet Briar alumna working in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking or mixed media. According to the Sweet Briar website: “The fellowship is awarded to an alumna who has demonstrated exceptional ability and commitment in the area of the visual arts. The selected Forsyth Fellow need not have been a studio art major during her time at Sweet Briar, however, she should be seriously pursuing work in the visual arts. Applicants are judged based on achievement or promise of achievement as evaluated by review of work samples, references and resume.” Catherine’s delight in the weather is more than just personal because, in addition to the fellowship, Catherine also has won the commission, beating out all other competitors, inclu...

Don Miller has published his short story, "The World's Best Music" in storySouth. Don wrote the first several drafts of the story during a week spent at VCCA in the summer of 2013. The story can be accessed at  http://www.storysouth.com/ 2014/09/worlds-best-music.htm l

To all at Annaghmakerrig (a name I can spell—finally—without looking it up!) The Guthrie Family Robbie Mary Martina Lavina Mary Esther MaryAlice Ingrid Jim and his grounds McGinns' pub Charlie Adams and his taxi The groundskeeper at the Parish Church, who opened especially for me All at Mt. San Angelo — Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Everyone whose name (or deeds) I failed to note, though our paths criss‐crossed Thank you  ‐‐ for the wholesome and appetizing food that fueled my novel, padded my belly, and    gave me energy to wrestle my plot to the ground and the courage to, in some cases,     kill it. ‐‐for the bike that took me to Newbliss and back along the wee roads. ‐‐for the attention to detail, the thorough and regular room cleaning, a luxury that    allowed me, a slack housekeeper, to forget chores. ‐‐for the smooth, rolling sea of green and the smell of roses and grass  that sailed    throu...

N. West Moss reports that she has been awarded the 2014 Faulkner-Wisdom gold medal for best short story for "Omeer's Mangoes." Another one of West's stories, "Lucky Cat," was short-listed. And her novel-in-progress took the 1st runner-up slot!   http://peauxdunque.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/2014_winners.pdf

Kylie Heidenheimer arrived for her fifth residency at VCCA with work already begun on some of her pieces. “It’s what I like to do, to arrive with something in progress.” This ensures a relatively smooth segue into work without the added weight of a blank canvas staring you down from across the studio. And, as Kylie points out, “You see things differently when you move them around.”   Beginning in 2010, Kylie started working with more amplified color. This initiated a medium change from acrylic to oil, the acrylic colors being too highly-keyed for her taste. It was “an interesting adventure” since she’d been using the medium for 15 years and had to adjust her working methods to accommodate the demands of oil. But the rich colors and translucent glazes characteristic of oil make it all worth the trouble. Kylie paints on oil paper, canvas on stretched panels and canvas stapled directly to the wall. It was interesting seeing Kylie’s recent work after looking at a catal...

Author Francine Prose will be the featured author at the New York debut of  Conversations/ Conversazioni: From the American Academy in Rome on October 15 at 6:00PM. At Patricia H. Labalme Friends of the Library Lecture at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Francine will read from her highly acclaimed novel   Lovers at the Chameleon Club: Paris 1932 and discuss her creative process including her use of historical events in fiction. Francine’s novel Blue Angel won her National Book Award finalist status. She is visiting professor of Literature at Bard College, and is the former president of PEN American Center. Her most recent works of nonfiction include Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife , and the New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer .