I got the scholarship!!!!!! I'm going to Prague!!!!!!
I never wrote about this opportunity (superstition coming to the forefront?) but now I can happy announce that I am a John Woods scholarship recipient to Western Michigan University's Prague Summer Creative Writing program. The 2010 theme is called
Scribbling on the Ether: The Changing Nature of Writing and Publication
The full theme description can be found here, but this is a quote from the conclusion:
"Are we moving toward a “paperless” textuality? Are books, as such, becoming anachronisms? Will it mean the same thing to “publish,” to be a “writer,” when all or most texts will be virtual? May the process by which texts are brought to prominence, through wise and scrupulous editorial discretion, maintain its integrity in the virtual dimension? When anyone can “publish” at anytime, what is the value of publication?"
I am so excited! I will be taking a poetry workshop and a class on Czech literature, as well as attending the program lectures (the mandatory ones for all attendees) and some reading lectures by the professors and other authors. Sounds like a full schedule, but I can't wait! I will be spending a whole month there, and will be living in a dorm with a random roommate. I won't have a meal plan, so that will be interesting-- grocery shopping in the Czech Republic. I hope there won't be too many culinary misadventures waiting for me.... Dishearteningly, some are inevitable.
Hopefully I will get to travel a little bit as well. Several friends are abroad at the same time, and we may try to meet up. I would also like to venture into new places, and perhaps even revisit Romania, since it would be summer and a good chance to visit Transylvania. But most of the bordering countries I haven't visited, so maybe I should stick with those first! Ah, possibilities...
Anyways, I am so excited that I have accomplished a scholarship on my writing merit! It feels good to be recognized in that sense- to have someone else say "You're worthy." It's somehow other than the praise of peers or even the feeling from publication. It's seems more artistic, less commercial in a sense to be recognized this way. I can't really explain it, but in any case, I'm thrilled to be part of this program. I can't wait for July!
Right now:
What I'm listening to: Can't. In the library
What I want most: this paper to be researched and written for me. Any takers?
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2 comments:
Oh my gosh! Congratulations! That sounds like such an amazing opportunity. You're going to have so much fun! I have a good friend that did a summer in Prague, he really liked it; he says beer is cheaper than water there, which might be why they consume the most beer of any country! Anyway, I hear it's beautiful.
Congrats Shelly, came to your blog from answering your question on yahoo answers. So that method worked :). Western Michigan huh? I live in Michigan and have had family and friends attend Western. Good Luck sounds fun and exciting.
I wish that I would have taken up a writing degree in college, I still may.
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