Ann Neelon is a native of Boston and a graduate of the MFA Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and of Holy Cross College. She has been a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, as well as a Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer at Stanford University. Her poems and translations have appeared in American Poetry Review, Gettysburg Review, Pequod, Poetry East, Manoa, Michigan Quarterly Review, and other magazines. She lives with her husband and son in western Kentucky, where she is ... view more »
Artist Style: Literary: Poetry, Short Story
What do you do now? Has your art evolved or changed?
At the time I received the Fellowship, I was a Jones Lecturer at Stanford struggling to pay rent for a studio apartment that approached 50 percent of my take-home pay. The Fellowship really helped me to keep my head above water.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an emerging artist?
I am a professor, who is also the director of the low-residency MFA program at Murray State University and the editor of NEW MADRID journal. Yes, my art has evolved, perhaps most substantially in response to the birth of my two children since I left California. Here?s a sample of my writing: http://www.poetrysoutheast.com/fall2006/neelon.htm
Briefly, how would you describe the state of the arts locally, as well as national and beyond?
Be persistent and creative in your efforts to develop revenue sources outside of academia.
threatened due to budget cuts