On August 24th, the UH Creative Writing Program started things off for the Fall 2016 semester by allowing long time chair, J. Kastely, to quit his job.

Kastely, who suffered through what must have seemed like a million (it was only 14) years of whiny writers of the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty persuasion, was ceremonially unchained and allowed to roam free from his office, to pursue his varied philosophical interest.

The Creative Writing Program was reluctant to let Kastely go, because Professor J. Kastely was truly excellent at this job—no joke, sublimely so—and none of the subjects interviewed for this blog post could imagine a Creative Writing Program without him. And yet novelist Alexander Parsons has generously agreed to step into that role, at least until one of our bear traps proves successful.

While Professor Kastely was widely considered the Larry Bird of academic administration, he was given a Bob McAdoo Detroit Pistons jersey as a parting gift, in honor of Kastely’s ability to use his knowledge of failed NBA management techniques to create winning university faculties.

Professor Kastely was also given a bottle of single-malt scotch, as comfort for when he misses us.

Bon Voyage, Professor Kastely! Run! Be free!

-UH CWP

Addendum: We regret to report that Professor Kastely has been recaptured. He is now, sadly, the Chair of the entire UH English Department.

The post Bon Voyage, Professor Kastely! first appeared on An Open Book - The Inprint Blog.

Inprint is proud to be awarding $201,500 in direct support during the 2015-2016 academic year to some of the nation’s top emerging creative writers in Houston. The money is awarded as prizes and fellowships to University of Houston Creative Writing Program (UH CWP) graduate students and a prize for an undergraduate at Rice University.

This year marks Inprint’s highest single-year amount of support for these creative writing students. Since 1983, Inprint has provided more than $3 million dollars in direct support to more than 500 students. Recipients of these fellowships and prizes are changing the face of contemporary literature and have gone on to publish books, win literary awards, serve as educators, and enrich the cultural life of Houston and other communities nationwide. The collaboration between Inprint and the UH Creative Writing Program—a community-based literary arts nonprofit and a university-based creative writing program—is unique in the country, benefiting both the writers and the Houston community.

J. Kastely, director of the UH CWP, which ranks as one of the best creative writing programs in the country, says, “The Inprint awards not only provide important recognition of student achievement but they also further student achievement.  By providing financial support, the awards make available that precious time in which a writer can have the freedom to allow a work to emerge in the way that it should.  The awards open up a rare space that is essential to the creative process, and they have proved invaluable to students as they develop work that will help shape their future lives as writers.  Finally, it is impossible to underestimate the importance of validation for a writer, and the awards provide this needed validation, which is often crucial if a writer is to undertake the risks that are necessary for truly original work.  The Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston is deeply indebted to Inprint for these awards and the multitude of ways in which Inprint supports both students and faculty.”

Finally, it is impossible to underestimate the importance of validation for a writer, and the awards provide this needed validation, which is often crucial if a writer is to undertake the risks that are necessary for truly original work.  The Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston is deeply indebted to Inprint for these awards and the multitude of ways in which Inprint supports both students and faculty.

Inprint Executive Director Rich Levy says, “These talented writers infuse Houston with their energy and vision, giving readings, teaching workshops, working in schools, universities, colleges, hospitals, community centers, collaborating with other artists, and enriching this city in countless ways. We are honored and dedicated to support them.”

Funds for the fellowships and prizes come from both the Inprint Fellowship Endowment (which the organization created in 1991 and works hard to manage and augment) and Inprint’s annual operating budget (through revenues generated by specific gifts for named prizes and fundraising events such as the Inprint Poets and Writers Ball).

Winners of the 2015-2016 Inprint Prizes are:

• Selena Anderson, Inprint Joan and Stanford Alexander Prize in Fiction ($10,000)
• Matthew Salesses, Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing ($10,000)
• Meghan Martin, Inprint Paul Verlaine Prize in Poetry ($10,000)
• Carlos Hernandez and Michelle Nereim, Inprint Donald Barthelme Prizes in Fiction ($2,500)
• Luisa Muradyan and Martin Rock, Inprint Donald Barthelme Prizes in Poetry($2,500)
• Dana Kroos, Inprint Donald Barthelme Prize in Non-Fiction ($2,500)
• Carlos Hernandez, Inprint Marion BarthelmeGulf Coast Prize ($1,000)

The winners of these prizes were chosen in blind competition by outside judges (some of whom are UH CWP alumni and published writers). The Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing at Rice University was chosen by a visiting Rice scholar.

In addition to the prizes, in fall 2015, Inprint awarded recruiting fellowships (to help the UH CWP attract a great group of new students) and international fellowships. New this year: a recruiting fellowship established in memory of Edgar M. Larsen, former Inprint Board President and a devoted and beloved Inprint Board member for many years. These fellowship recipients include:

• Amanda Casolo and Daniel Chu, Inprint Brown Foundation Fellowships
• Lauren Espinoza, Wanjiku Ngugi, Aza Pace, Samantha Thilen, and Lani Yu, Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellowships
• Thomas Cardomone, Inprint C. Glenn Cambor/M. D. Anderson Foundation Fellowship
• Catherine Cleary, Inprint C. Glenn Cambor/Brown Foundation Fellowship
• Corey Campbell, Inprint C. Glenn Cambor/James A. and Isabel M. Elkins FoundationFellowship
• Carol Ann Madden, Inprint C. Glenn Cambor/Fondren Foundation Fellowship
• Joshua Foster, Inprint C. Glenn Cambor/Michael and Nina Zilkha Fellowship
• Christopher Liek and Josephine Mitchell, Inprint Mary Gibbs and Jessie H. Jones Foundation Fellowships
• Alexandra Naumann, Inprint Edgar M. Larsen Fellowship
• Christopher Hutchinson, Wanjiku Ngugi, and Henk Rossouw, Inprint International Fellowships

Last year, former Inprint Fondren Foundation Fellowship recipient Lacy Johnson, author of The Other Side: A Memoir, was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award; former Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellowship recipient Tiphanie Yanique was listed in the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” and was named one of BookPage’s “14 Women to Watch in 2014”; and former Inprint Brown Foundation Fellowship and Inprint Donald Barthelme Prize recipient Nina McConigley won the 2014 PEN Open Book Award for her story collection Cowboys and East Indians.

Congratulations one and all, we look forward to seeing these writers in print!

The post Inprint awards more than $200,000 in prizes and fellowships to creative writing students in Houston first appeared on An Open Book - The Inprint Blog.