2017 Residents Announced!

We made it to year three! In a competitive process that drew 238 applicants from throughout the United States as well as Canada, our jury made up of Northwest writers blindly read submissions. They selected 18 literary writers who will come live and work for two-week stints in Mineral this summer, advancing their work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Additionally, we will also welcome two visual artists.

“Our jurors had a tough job this year, in the best way,” said Nicole Hardy, a board member (as well as poet and memoirist) who led the readers. “The caliber of writing they read, from an international pool of writers, working in a wide range of genres, was impressive. So we’re thrilled to host such a talented group of residents this year.”

This summer’s writing residents include three June Dodge Fellows, a program which fully funds writers who hail from the Northwestern United States (Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, or Washington) or western Canada; one Erin Donovan Writing Fellow, a residency spot created in memory of Erin Donovan, a fiction writer and teacher in Oregon who passed away during 2015 and whose friends and family support a residency in her memory; and eight Sustainable Arts Foundation fellows, who will spend a fully-funded shorter one-week period in residency to accommodate parenting schedules.

Fellowship attendees include:

• Sufiya Abdur-Rahman (Silver Spring, MD), SAF fellow in nonfiction, is writing an essay collection dealing with contemporary issues of race in America and other topics.
• Michele Bombardier (Bainbridge Island, WA), June Dodge fellow in poetry, is at work on new poetry as well as works in translation. She recently completed her MFA.
• Marjorie Celona (Eugene, OR), SAF fellow in fiction, wrote the novel Y (Simon & Schuster) and is at work on a new manuscript about a murder in a family and the complex conflict that led to it.
• Shawna Ervin (Denver, CO), SAF fellow in nonfiction, is working on a memoir about her experience in foster care and the process of becoming a parent through adoption.
• Margaret Lee (San Francisco, CA), SAF fellow in nonfiction, is working on Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, about her inquiry into the life of her grandfather, a Korean revolutionary.
• Kelly Morse (Ashland, WI), SAF fellow in poetry, is working on a hybrid-genre manuscript called Exonym, examining cultural and political themes in Vietnamese culture.
• Marina Petrova (New York, NY), SAF fellow in fiction, is a recent MFA graduate of The New School and is working on a collection of short stories.
• Rena Priest (Bellingham, WA), SAF fellow in poetry, has a chapbook forthcoming from Moonpath Press this summer and is at work on new poems.
• Emily Tuszynska (Fairfax, VA), SAF fellow in poetry, is a Master Naturalist as well as an arts facilitator currently completing a poetry manuscript, many of which have appeared in journals.
• Clare Johnson, (Seattle, WA), June Dodge fellow, is a writer and visual artist working on a memoir comprised of interwoven sections of poetry and prose.
• Gabrielle Bates (Seattle, WA), June Dodge fellow in poetry, is working on a book that investigates childhood memory, myth, and the American South
• Putsata Reang (Burien, WA), Erin Donovan Fellow in creative nonfiction, is working on a book about her family’s escape from Cambodian genocide.

Writing and visual artist residents include:

• Brittney Corrigan (Portland OR) poetry resident, is working on poems that reimagine characters from mythology, folklore, fairy tales, and pop culture from the perspective of their daughters.
• Karen Finneyfrock (Seattle, WA) fiction resident, is at work on her third YA novel about a girl learning to trust her inner wisdom, and eventually getting loud.  
• Kelly Froh (Seattle, WA) visual arts resident, is at work on a graphic novel about a girl moving out west from Wisconsin, led by the siren song of grunge music.
• Emily May (Jamaica Plain, MA) creative nonfiction resident, is working on a memoir described as a “unique and timely elegy to the American dream.”
• Meghan McGrath (Poughkeepsie, NY) is an ethnographer/folklorist working on a project investigating the cracks in her cultural/religious community.
• Lou McMillan (Olympia, WA), visual artist resident, is a longtime nature photographer who will spend time shooting outdoors in and around Mt. Rainier National Park.
• Kelly Sundberg (Athens, OH) creative nonfiction resident, is at work on a memoir that challenges traditional notions of victimhood, women, violence, and nature.
• Urban Waite (Seattle, WA) fiction resident, is at work on his fourth novel.

Residents will receive room and board, with meals prepared by five culinary volunteers working with produce from Best Family Farms, and many will present work at a free public presentation each month. Board members and alumni including Gretchen Schrafft, Kirsten Lunstrum, and Laura Lampton Scott will hostess residents. In addition, Mineral School will host visiting authors during each month at evening readings that are free and open to the public. Our summer author series is offered with support from The Chronicle in Centralia. Information on these events is available on our web site and Facebook.

“We’re honored to host our third year of residency, and grateful to our hard-working board, volunteers, donors, and to Mineral,” said Jane Hodges, Mineral School founder. “We continue to breathe new life into the school that is the backdrop for our vision, while sharing this process with the community.”