Struggles and Sorrow Shape Award-Winning Essay: University of Idaho Creative Writer Earns Prestigious Carter Prize
Monday, March 3 2008
Feb. 29, 2008 Photo is available at www.today.uidaho.edu/PhotoList.aspx MOSCOW, Idaho – Joy Passanante, author and University of Idaho associate director of creative writing, has been awarded The Thomas H. Carter prize for her powerful essay “Visitations.” The prize is awarded annually by editors of the literary magazine, Shenandoah, produced by The Washington and Lee University Review. Prizes are awarded for best essay, short story and poem or group of poems published in Shenandoah annually. Passanante’s essay offers a deeply compelling and candid look at her father’s struggles with dementia and death; her daughter’s simultaneous fight with cancer; and the precarious balance she maintains while ministering in both battle fields. “I wrote the essay several years ago, using notes I had taken while my father was dying of Alzheimer’s,” said Passanante. “I was taking care of him while my mom rested. I had a word processor, and writing gave me something to take my mind off the sorrow that pervaded the house. My father had lived a full life. It was much harder to write about my daughter. My daughter was only 25 when she was diagnosed. Writing about both of them did help me. Making art out of the things that are hurled our way brings a sense of order and is cathartic.” In May, Passanante will travel to Palermo, Sicily, to complete research on a book she began writing with the support of an Idaho Humanities Council Fellowship and a University of Idaho sabbatical. The book, in part, is about her father’s life there as a surgeon during World War II. The Carter Prize was accompanied by a $1,000 cash award, and a little kismet. “It was amazing,” said Passanante. “It was almost exactly the price of the ticket.” Passanante has published work in numerous literary journals, including The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review and Alaska Quarterly Review. Her collection of stories, “The Art of Absence,” was published by Lost Horse Press, and her novel, “My Mother’s Lovers,” was published by Nevada Press. The 2007 Washington and Lee University Review winners in other categories include: Pam Durban, the Doris Betts Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, who won the Goodheart Prize for Fiction for her story, “The Jap Room”; and David Bottoms, founding editor of the Five Points Journal of Literature and Art, who won the James Boatwright Prize for Poetry for his poem “First Woods.” He has served as Poet Laureate of the State of Virginia since 2000. Previous recipients of the Thomas H. Carter prize include: Paul Crenshaw, Paul Zimmer, Margot Singer, Jeffrey Hammond, Rebecca McClanahan, Judith Yarnall, Tony Whedon, Andrew Hudgins, Reginald Gibbons, Sidney Burris, Carol Ascher and Karl A. Plank. Contact: Joni Kirk, University of Idaho Communications, (208) 885-7725; joni@uidaho.edu # # # About the University of Idaho Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s flagship higher-education institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year; the University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation ranking for high research activity. The university’s student population includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars. Offering more than 150 degree options in 10 colleges, the university combines the strengths of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu. DE-2/29/08-CLASS
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho helps students to succeed and become leaders. Its land-grant mission furthers innovative scholarly and creative research to grow Idaho's economy and serve a statewide community. From its main campus in Moscow, Idaho, to 70 research and academic locations statewide, U-Idaho emphasizes real-world application as part of its student experience. U-Idaho combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. It is home to the Vandals. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu.