EUGENE CROSS WINS 3RD ANNUAL DZANC PRIZE
January 19, 2010, Ann Arbor, MI—Dzanc
Books is pleased to announce that Eugene Cross of Erie, Pennsylvania is the
winner of the third annual $5,000 Dzanc Prize. Cross was selected from more
than 100 applicants for both the quality of his fiction writing, as well as his
proposal to set up and run a progressive series of creative workshops for
refugees from Nepal, Sudan and Bhutan, in Erie.
For his community service, Cross will conduct three 4-month workshops in concurrence with an
ESL class currently being taught. We at
Dzanc found Eugene’s conviction in the importance of providing the tools for
self-expression to these displaced individuals to be a monumentally significant
undertaking. Eugene’s work will help
people going through an extremely tough time find a means of expression and a
way to share their experiences. Throughout the workshop there will be an
exploration of the personal histories of the students, as well as that of
language. Cross, a Lecturer in English/Creative Writing at Penn State Erie, The
Behrend College, will begin his service within the next month, and will have with
half of the prize awarded in February and the other half awarded once the
service is completed.
Steven Gillis, Publisher of Dzanc Books, notes:
“Eugene's writing has
that perfect blend of modernism and classic storytelling, is at once humorous
and sexy, intelligent and provocative, and is at the same time composed and
controlled. We were also very much moved by Eugene's service program.
With all that is going on in the world, and in particular as the devastation in
Haiti this past week is front page news,
we found Eugene's desire to work with refugees in the telling of their
stories a wonderful and timely idea. All taken together, we at Dzanc are
proud to have
Cross,
a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh,
is currently working on a short story collection, Fires of Our Choosing, and plans to complete that. He says, "I'm excited
and extremely honored to have been selected for the 2009 Dzanc Prize. The award
will give me the opportunity to work closely with Nepalese, Bhutanese, and Sudanese refugees as
they write and share their amazing stories
even as they continue to unfold. I'm also deeply grateful for the opportunity
to continue working on my manuscript while engaging in literary outreach with a
civic- minded organization such as Dzanc."
ABOUT EUGENE CROSS
Eugene
Cross teaches English and Creative Writing at Penn State University - Erie,
where he received the 2008 Faculty Scholarship.
His stories have appeared in Storyglossia,
Guernica, Hobart, Third Coast and other literary journals. Currently, he is completing a collection of
short fiction tentatively titled Fires of
Our Choosing. To interview Eugene,
please contact Dan Wickett at dan@dzancbooks.org.
ABOUT DZANC
BOOKS AND THE DZANC PRIZE
Dzanc Books was created in 2006 by Steven
Gillis and Dan Wickett to advance great writing and to champion those writers
who do not fit neatly into the marketing niches of for-profit presses. As a
non-profit, 501(c)3 organization, Dzanc Books not only publishes literary
fiction, but works in partnership with literary journals to advance their
readership at every level. Dzanc is also fully committed to developing
educational programs in schools and organizes workshops and Writer-In-Residence
programs in Michigan and elsewhere to meet that goal.
In 2007, to further its mission of fostering literary
excellence, community involvement, and education, Dzanc Books created the Dzanc
Prize, which awards $5,000 annually to a writer working toward completion of a
novel or short story collection who is also interested in bettering their community
through literary community service. For further
details and more information on Dzanc Books, its mission, titles, authors,
awards, and programs, please visit www.dzancbooks.org .
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