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PLU Alumna receives prestigious writer’s award
December 03, 2008
Jennifer Culkin, a 2007 graduate of PLU and its Rainier Writing Workshop, received a 2008 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award in the amount of $25,000 on Sept. 18 in New York City. She was one of six women to receive this honor, which is given annually to six women writers who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers.
Culkin’s first book, which will be published by Beacon Press in 2009, is a collection of essays that focuses on her nearly 30 years of experience in the medical field. Her essays have appeared in “The Georgia Review,” and “The Utne Reader.” Upon completion of her first book, Culkin says that the Rona Jaffe Writer’s Foundation Award will give her time to focus on her next project, which she describes as a “genetic” memoir.
“I want to trace my family back several generations, when they arrived in Boston from Ireland and Italy,” Culkin said.
The Rona Jaffe Writer’s Foundation Awards program was founded by novelist Rona Jaffe (1931-2005) and is the only national literary awards program of its kind dedicated to supporting women writers exclusively. Since the program’s inception 14 years ago, it has awarded more than $850,000 to 92 women.
“I want to trace my family back several generations, when they arrived in Boston from Ireland and Italy,” Culkin said.
The Rona Jaffe Writer’s Foundation Awards program was founded by novelist Rona Jaffe (1931-2005) and is the only national literary awards program of its kind dedicated to supporting women writers exclusively. Since the program’s inception 14 years ago, it has awarded more than $850,000 to 92 women.