Sozopol Fiction Seminar, 2015
Fellows: Blake Sanz, Dessislava Dimora, Erica Martz, Ivanka Mogilska, Jekwu Anyaegbuna, Lara Palmquist, T.M. De Vos, Verginie Ovanesyan, Vladimir Poleganov, Zornitsa Garkova
2015
Ginette Vagenheim
Ginette Vagenheim, of the University of Rouen, used the the Italian Architectural Drawings Photograph Collection to investigate Polidoro da Caravaggio’s influence on the Pirro Ligorio’s early drawings, focusing on the motif of landscapes.
Yolonda Kerney
Public Affairs Officer at the US Mission to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Kearney exhibited consummate skill in forging partnerships among alumni of the Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs, reinvigorating programs, cultivating new audiences, and establishing a broad base of influential contacts. Her innovative and forward-leaning social inclusion …
Mauro Mussolin
Mauro Mussolin, Professor at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and New York University Florence, conducted a research project at CASVA entitled Michelangelo and Paper as Palimpsest. In his book, Mussolin seeks to investigate both the sources of Michelangelo’s graphic work, and the lifecycle and uses of paper in the studios of Italian Renaissance artists. …
Lorie Nierenberg
In recognition of contributions over a distinguished 23-year career with the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the Department of State as Attorney-Advisor for Public Diplomacy in the Office of the Legal Advisor, providing consistently valuable and insightful advice in a time when the number and complexity of issues are growing steadily, Lorie Nierenberg was …
Monica Alcalde
In recognition of her contributions over 38 years as Cultural Specialist at the US Embassy in Santiago, Chile. The programs she runs include traditional exchange programs, and long-term initiatives in justice, democracy, economics and social issues, many of which she created and sustained over decades. Focusing on legal reform, these programs helped move Chile’s inquisitorial …
Hélène Hinfray
In recognition of her masterful translation of Bill Bryson’s At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Une histoire du monde sans sortir de chez moi, éditions Payot-Rivages). Describing the volume, Marc Chénetier writes: “There is humor, immense erudition. There is delicacy, the abolition of expected distances: in time, in space, between an American and …
William Lempert
His research in cultural anthropology looks at Indigenous media as an essential element for engaging and supporting some of the most culturally rich, yet vulnerable peoples of the world. In the Kimberley region of Australia, he explored the stakes involved in different Indigenous visions of Aboriginality by comparing two media organizations, following the social lives …
Ethelene Whitmire
In support of her research on African American and women’s history, specifically the history of African Americans in Denmark. Intended as a combination travel memoir and history, this work interweaves her own experiences in Denmark with the experiences of other African Americans who traveled, studied, and lived there during the last 100 years. Whitmire has …
Taylor Tyger
Taylor Tyger (Georgia Institute of Technology) conducted research on the health benefits of urban aquatic environments. She was based at the Finnish Environment Institute, at Aalto University, and worked as part of an ongoing national project focusing on “Environmental Justice and Ecosystem Services” in the Helsinki region. She presented her findings on the little-studied “blue …
Michael Brown
Based at the Arctic Center in Rovaniemi, Michael Brown (University of Washington) sought to evaluate Finland’s new arctic policy in order to construct a comparative assessment of Finnish and US approaches to environmental issues in the arctic. This project is timely, as the U.S. is currently chairing the Arctic Council (2015-17), after which Finland will …
Haley Peterson
As costume designer undertaking a Master’s at Norway’s innovative Oslo National Academy of the Arts, she worked with Christina Lindgren, internationally known for her costumes for musical theater, opera, theater, and dance performances. In Norway, Peterson had her designs for the world premiere of Charles Mee’s play soot and spit in Arizona accepted, and was …
Clare Benson
A photographer interested in the intersections of art and science, Clare Benson (Central Michigan University) worked with Sámi filmmaker Hans-Olof Utsi and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics—both in Kiruna, Sweden—in exploring the intersection of current astronomical investigations and ancient traditions and mythologies of indigenous Sámi culture. With her award she developed an inclusive event …
Melanie Aronson
Aronson went to Sweden to create a social documentary film about Syrian refugees. By the time she applied for our support in fall 2014, Sweden had become the largest host country of Syrian and Syrian-Palestinian refugees outside of the Middle East and the only country to promise permanent residency to all Syrians seeking asylum. A …
Svetlozara Leseva
Svetlozara Leseva was awarded first place for her translation of the novel In the Shadow of Banyan, by Vaddey Ratner (Hermes Press 2013). It tells the story of Raami’s struggle to survive under the Khmer Rouge. Ratner’s first novel was a New York Times bestseller and finalist for the 2013 PEN/Hemingway Award and the 2013 …
Nadezhda Rosova
Nadezhda Rosova was awarded second place for her translation of Ruth L. Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being (Millenium 2014). It is the story of the diary of Nao—a 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, who declares herself a “time being”—which washes up in British Columbia many months after the great tsunami. Read an Interview with Nadezhda …
Georgina Archibald
New Zealander Georgie Archibald has begun her two-year Master’s program in English at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she plans to focus her research on the effects of digital media on reading and writing practices. Her award will help offset the cost of books and software necessary for her project.