Scholarship winners have been selected for each of the five writing workshops scheduled for this summer by the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild (CVWG).
This is the first year that the CVWG is awarding scholarships, according to B. J. Hollars, the group’s director. The five scholarship winners will constitute 10% of the total attendance at the 2018 workshops, according to a CVWG press release.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Hollars said. “One day I dream of being accessible to 100% of participants. We welcome any and all local businesses, organizations, and individuals who’d like to help us reach this goal.”
The four-day workshops will be held for a third year at Cirenaica, a writers retreat near Fall Creek, starting on June 21.
Scholarship winners and their awards include Katy Hackworthy, Eau Claire, who received the Dotters Books scholarship; Sarah Merrill, Sarasota, FL, the recipient of the Sultan scholarship; and Dan Lyksett, Eau Claire, who received the CVWG’s Alumni Achievement award.
Two anonymous donors funded undergraduate student creative writing awards. These went to Caleb Rosenthal from Lawrence University in Appleton, and Andee Erickson from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Elizabeth de Cleyre, Margaret Leonard and Jill Heinke Moen of Dotters Books said they are “excited about this opportunity to support a local woman writer and her literary work at the Cirenaica Writers Retreat.
“As women owners, we aim to promote literacy and equality in literature by creating spaces for other women to creat,” they said in the press release. “It is our belief that supporting the literary community will help foster collaboration and creativity within the Chippewa Valley.”
Hackworthy, the recipient of their scholarship, said she feels “incredibly humbled to receive this honor from a group of women who I respect and who truly display a passion for literacy and equity in the Chippewa Valley. This award will help me continue to create works that highlight issues I am passionate about, as well as give me the opportunity to further engage with a community of artists that motivate and inspire me.”
Local author Cathy Sultan, commenting on the award which she funded, said “I was very fortunate to have had someone offer help and encouragement in my early writing career. Now it is my turn.”
Merrill, who received the Sultan award, said she hopes to use her time at Cirenaica to generate new material for a collection of short stories, set mainly in her home state of Florida.
“This will be my first time visiting Wisconsin, and I’m excited to broaden my horizons by spending time in a new region of the country,” she said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to connect with fellow writers, as we all strive to delve deeper into our craft.”
Lyksett, the recipient of the CVWG Alumni Achievement Award – funded by the organization – said the group’s generosity will enable him “to participate in another Cirenaica workshop.
“The retreat experience not only directly impacts my writing, but more importantly connects me to new friends and mentors in our growing writing community,” he added.
Rosenthal said she looked forward to having time at her workshop “to focus on growing as an artist and person” in an inspiring atmosphere “generated by the presence of other passionate writers. Erickson said she expected the retreat to help her “expand the way writing exists in my life.
“Writing creatively is a passion I’ve kept to myself and I’m excited to celebrate the process with a supportive community,” she added.
Both the Dotters Book scholarship and the two undergraduate awards were selected by a blind submission process. The CVWG’s Alumni Achievement Award was selected by Cirenaica staff and Hollars made the choice for the Sultan scholarship.
More information about the workshops and the CVWG is available at www.cvwritersguild.org.
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