The Department of English is delighted to announce that at least twelve English alumni and four faculty members have received the $5,000 Ohio Arts Council (OAC) Individual Excellence Award this year in fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry.

Fiction

• Seth Borgen (BA '03)
• Valerie Cumming (BA '00)
• Billy Hallal (BA '11)
• Michelle Herman (faculty)
• Lee Martin (faculty)
• Doug Ramspeck (faculty)
• Jamie Lyn Smith (MFA '15)
• Gina Ventre (MFA '10)

Nonfiction

• James Fox (MFA '01)
• Jenny Patton (faculty)
• Eliza Smith (MFA '18)

Poetry

• Ruth Awad (BA '09)
• Akhim Cabey (MFA '01)
• Babette Cieskowski (MFA '18)
• James Ellenberger (MFA '12)
• Ann Townsend (PhD '91)

According to the official OAC press release, this award is bestowed through “an open panel review process focused on the basis of exceptional merit of an artist’s past body of work.” This grant gives “artists the resources to experiment and explore their art forms, develop skills and advance their careers.”

“The Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Excellence Awards give artists the opportunity to be recognized and rewarded for their exemplary artistic achievements,” said OAC Executive Director Donna S. Collins. “Through their art, the individuals selected for these grants have expressed visionary ideas, spoken in a diversity of voices and explored thought-provoking topics and themes from a variety of viewpoints. We congratulate the Individual Excellence Award recipients and thank them for enriching Ohio’s creative community.”

By Avery Samuels