Laura Pritchett, of Fort Collins, Colo., has agreed to be the judge for the 2009 Wyoming Arts Council creative writing fellowships. She’s the author of the novel Sky Bridge (2007) and the 2001 collection of short stories, Hell’s Bottom, Colorado, both from Milkweed Editions. She is also the editor of two collections: The Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache la Poudre and Home Land: Ranching and a West that Works. Her third collection, The Gleaners: Eco-Essays on Recycling, Re-Use, and Living Lightly on the Land, is due out in spring 2009. Her work has also appeared in numerous magazines, including The Sun, Orion, High Country News, Colorado Review, 5280, and the book Comeback Wolves: Western Writers Welcome the Wolf Home and Social Issues Firsthand: The Environment.
At the Equality State Book Festival Sept. 18-20 in Casper, Laura will read from her work together with the fellowship winners on Thursday at Casper College. She also will serve on Saturday’s fiction panel at the bookfest.
As with all WAC fellowships, you have to apply with a paper application. A printable version will be available on the web site by May 2. Applications will be mailed from the WAC offices the following week. Postmark deadline is June 20.
Postmark deadline for applications to the Wyoming Arts Council’s visual arts fellowships is Wednesday, April 30. Forms are available on the WAC web site at wyoarts.state.wy.us or by mail by calling the WAC offices in Cheyenne at 307-777-7742.
The competition is open to Wyoming residents only. You must be 18 or older. Full-time students pursuing high school, college or university art-related degrees are ineligible.
Judging the submissions will be Colorado artists Lawrence Argent, Mary K. Connelly and Patty Ortiz. They will select up to three winners who will each receive a $3,000 stipend. Winners will be announced in early June.
I am recruiting judges for the 2008 performing arts fellowships in musical performance. Those judges will be in place by May 16 and the applications will be available by June 2. The postmark deadline will be in mid-August.
For more info, contact Michael Shay, individual artist program specialist, at 307-777-5234 or mshay@state.wy.us.
--Mike Shay
