Gerry LaFemina, Assistant Professor of English at Frostburg State University, has been nominated for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs 2008 George Garrett Prize for Community Service in Literature.
LaFemina is also director of the Frostburg Center for Creative Writing at FSU, which works to bring creative writing and writers to both FSU and the greater Frostburg community, including sections of Western Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The center's activities include bringing writers to campus for public readings, workshops and discussions.
LaFemina is the author of several chapbooks, four full-length collections of
poetry, a collection of prose poems, numerous published stories, essays and
poems. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, LaFemina holds an MFA in Poetry from
Western Michigan University as well as an MA in literature with an emphasis on
20th century literature from WMU.
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs hopes to recognize a few of those individuals who have made exceptional donations of care, time, labor and money to support writers and their literary accomplishments. This award is named after George Garrett, who made exceptional contributions to his fellow writers as a teacher, mentor, editor, friend, board member and good spirit. Garrett helped many young writers who are now major contributors to contemporary letters.
This year, there are 25 nominees for this award. The winner is recognized at AWP’s Annual Conference in New York City, on Thursday, January 31, 2008.
For more information on the Center for Creative Writing, call (301) 687-4024 or e-mail nightsun@frostburg.edu.
