Writers James Longenbach and Joanna Scott are spending part of this spring in the fishing village of Bogliasco, near Genoa, Italy. They鈥檙e recipients of fellowships from the Bogliasco Foundation, awarded for notable achievement in the arts and humanities. The fellowships will provide a one-month residency to further their work.
Longenbach is the James Henry Gilmore Professor of English. A poet and critic, he has a new book of poetry, Earthling, forthcoming this year. The fellowship will support work on his new critical book, Lyric Knowledge: How Poems Get Made, which is scheduled for publication next year.
With 11 novels and short story collections to her name鈥攊ncluding, most recently, De Potter鈥檚 Grand Tour (Farrar, Scott & Giroux, 2014) and Follow Me (Little, Brown, 2009)鈥擲cott is the Roswell Smith Burrows Professor of English. Her next novel, Careers for Women, will be published by Little, Brown in August. During her stay at Bogliasco, she鈥檒l be working on a new project, 鈥淭he Knowledge Gallery,鈥� a collection of tales about books that can鈥檛 be found in any library.
The pair aren鈥檛 only colleagues鈥攖hey鈥檙e married, too. 鈥淭he Italian landscape and language have been a part of our lives鈥攐ur whole family鈥檚 life鈥攆or decades,鈥� Longenbach says, calling the work each of them has created 鈥渋nextricably bound up with experiences we鈥檝e all had there, but also with the history of certain places, the vistas, the smells the weather, and the people.鈥�
He welcomes the opportunity the fellowship in April offers, calling the time 鈥渢o read and write and simply to be,鈥� crucial. But 鈥渦ncommonly invaluable,鈥� he adds, 鈥渋s this chance to be there.鈥�
The award is available to people in a wide range of disciplines including dance, film and video, humanities scholarship, literature, music, theater, and visual arts. Kenneth Gross, the Alan F. Hilfiker Professor of English, is a previous Bogliasco Fellowship recipient, as is Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, a professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music. This spring鈥檚 fellowship winners number 26, and come from 13 countries.
