Dec. 14, 2009
Contact:
Elizabeth Klipp, 404-413-1356
University Relations
ATLANTA – Georgia State University associate professor of creative writing and fiction Sheri Joseph was awarded a $25,000 literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Joseph was selected out of more than 1,000 national prose writer applications for the competitive and prestigious individual grant award. She will use it to finish her current novel, tentatively titled “The Cloud Forest,” which is about a troubled American family in Costa Rica.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Joseph said of winning the NEA grant. "And it's a nice boost of confidence for this book I'm working on, because the first chapter was my submission."
Joseph joins her colleagues David Bottoms, professor of English and Poet Laureate of Georgia, and Josh Russell, associate professor of English, who have also received NEA grants.
In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate fiction writing classes, Joseph serves as fiction editor of “Five Points” literary magazine. She plans to take a leave of absence in fall 2010 to finish her novel.
A writer of literary fiction, Joseph has received acclaim for her previous publications. Her novel, “Stray,” was awarded the Grub Street National Book Prize. Her cycle of stories, “Bear Me Safely Over,” was a Booksense 76 selection in both hardcover and paperback. “The Elixir,” a story included in “Bear Me Safely Over,” was a finalist for the National Magazine Award.
"Sheri Joseph's latest award further enhances her national reputation as an outstanding fiction writer,” said Matthew Roudané, chair of the English department at GSU. “The department is honored to have such a talented professor on board.”
For more information, visit http://www.arts.gov/grants/recent/10grants/litFellows.php.