by Jana Wiersema
For the past decade, being awarded an Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship by the Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For Marcia Hurlow, Ph.D., a published poet and English professor at Asbury University, it’s now a twice-in-a-lifetime honor.
According to KAC’s website, these fellowships are “$7,500 unrestricted awards given to Kentucky artists who have achieved a high level of excellence and creativity in their work.” Hurlow is one of 16 writers to be awarded the 2018 fellowship; she previously received the same honor in 1998.
Tom Musgrave, KAC’s communications director, said that the fellowship rotates between artistic mediums, depending on the fiscal year. The 2018 fellowships were awarded to writers of creative nonfiction, fiction and poetry.
Hurlow said that she was “absolutely amazed” the first time she received the fellowship and was even more shocked the second time around.
“It was actually more surprising than the first time I applied and got it,” she said, “because this was the first time I could apply a second time. I figured everybody would be applying a second time.”
Musgrave said, “In 1998, artists were able to receive up to three fellowships. Due to budget cuts, the number was cut to one award in the late 2000s and then raised to two for the Fiscal Year 2019 round.”
While Hurlow is free to spend her $7,500 however she chooses, that wasn’t the case when she applied for the 1998 fellowship (which was $5,000). Back then, she had to present a plan for how she would use the money to support her writing, and the plan was one of the aspects on which she was judged.
Hurlow added that applicants previously had to “have been published in a certain number of magazines or books” to be eligible for the fellowship. While that requirement no longer exists, she said that “the same quality of writing is getting rewarded.”
Musgrave said that, while KAC awards the fellowship, the winners “are determined by the review of a blind panel … of outside arts professionals in the same field as the application category.” He added that the number of awards given each year depends on “available funding and panel scores.”
Hurlow used her 1998 fellowship to compile a set of poems that became a book. She plans to use her 2018 fellowship to visit concerts and museums and travel both abroad and in the country. But that doesn’t mean she will be putting down the pen.
“What I’ve been doing just recently is ekphrastic writing,” Hurlow said. “What that means is … you’re basing a poem or a story or something on a piece of art.” Hurlow has already begun some of her ekphrastic work, thanks to a faculty grant Asbury awarded her last year.
While Hurlow will be required to write a report after using her fellowship money, she said that the fellowship provides “more opportunities than requirements,” and she encouraged students to apply if they’re still living in the area two years after graduation.
Musgrave said that fellowship winners “are artists we, as the state arts agency, are proud to have as ambassadors for Kentucky’s creative community.”
