In recognition of a novel I’ve been working on—it’s in the final stages, and my agent will be sending it out soon—the Ohio Arts Council has awarded me an Individual Excellence Award for FY 2020.
That’s the sober language of the OAC. I’d put it this way: Hooray! I’m pumped! The money is most welcome, and so is the recognition. I can write without that, of course, but how lovely to have it: how much easier it is to dive into the manuscript each morning, knowing that the OAC panelists found my chapters engaging.
And how well, year after year, the State of Ohio treats its writers, dancers, and artists of all kinds. Indeed, Ohio is one of the top ten states in Arts Council funding, and the OAC has been a wonderfully responsive organization for over fifty years, awarding grants to both artists and art organizations. (I’ve been awarded a couple of earlier grants by them, and for an account of the more recent, click on the Essays section of this website and read “The One One One Story.”)
Hey, I see that Athens poets Becca Lachman and Christina Veladota have also been awarded grants this year. Hooray! Good deal! And those are not their first, either. When they give their next readings, I’m going.