Award |
The Arizona Commission on the Arts has recently announced that Fenton Johnson has been awarded one of its prestigious Artist Project Grants, an annual award program which supports the professional development of Arizona artists practicing in a variety of artistic disciplines. Johnson will be completing Desire and Solitude: A Singular Vocation, a book of nonfiction about the lives and works of writers who completed their major work while living alone. As described by the Commission, the book “will elaborate the place of the spinster and bachelor in arts, letters and society, and celebrate the necessity and dignity of this singular calling.” Professor Johnson was one of only eighteen artists out of 175 applicants to receive this award in the 2009 funding cycle, a grant process which is described as fiercely competitive. The Commission also announced that Johnson had received the Bill Desmond Writing Award, given for the best nonfiction submission. Literature panelist Afaa Michael Weaver, the award judge, wrote, “Fenton Johnson’s deft way of capturing detail brings the reader to the intimate space that is the hallmark of exemplary writing. His choice of subject shows not only a breadth of knowledge but a depth of compassion. He chooses what to write based on a genuine desire to contribute to our lives. This is an admirable selflessness from a gifted writer.” Also in the English Department, Adela Licona, assistant professor of Rhetoric, Composition and the Teaching of English, is listed as collaborator on the ACA Arts Project Grant awarded to Tucson filmmaker Jamie Lee.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
