CINTAS Foundation and MDC Museum of Art + Design Announce 2015-16 Fellowship Competition in Creative Writing
Winners to be announced at Museum at MDC's National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower.
- (1888PressRelease) June 24, 2015 - Miami - The Miami Dade College (MDC) Museum of Art + Design and the CINTAS Foundation have announced the ongoing 2015-2016 CINTAS Foundation Award in Creative Writing.
All submission materials must be received by Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
Marking its 51st year, the one-of-a-kind competition serves as a platform to promote and support visual artists, writers, architects and composers of Cuban descent from across the globe. Aside from a monetary prize, CINTAS fellows also carry the prestige that accompanies such an award.
CINTAS Foundation has granted its fellowships and its prestigious recognition to Cuban artists, composers, creative writers and architects, assisting them in their work often at critical times in their careers. "CINTAS Fellows offer elements of creative writing which are rich in characters and plot as well as dialogue. And their forms range from autobiography/memoirs to novels, to poetry and playwriting," said Hortensia Sampedro, President of CINTAS Foundation. They are recipients of numerous prizes and honors including Pulitzer, Faulkner, Schupes, Neruda and Newbery among others. We are proud to support them.
In addition to supporting Cuban writers, many early in their careers, the CINTAS Foundation also maintains a growing collection of works by past awardees and other esteemed Cuban artists.
Past Creative Writing Fellows include:
Oscar Hijuelos whose Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, was made into a film starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas, has won a Breadloaf Writers Conference scholarship as well as grants from the Creative Artists Programs Service, the Ingram Merrill Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Adrian Castro is the recipient of fellowships and awards from the state of Florida, New Forms Florida, the Academy of American Poets and NALAC, and has had commissions from Miami Light Project and the Miami Art Museum.
Achy Obejas, whose second novel, Days of Awe, was selected for the Los Angeles Times' Best Books of 2001 list. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Studs Terkel and the Peter Lisagor awards in journalism and the Lambda Literary Awards.
Daniel Castro is a Dean's Graduate Fellow in Fiction who won the Schupes Prize for Excellence in Fiction and the Novella Prize from the Faulkner Society
José Kozer has published more than 30 books of poetry, including Padres y otras profesiones, Y así tomaron posesión en las ciudades, El carillón de los muertos, Trazas del lirondo, Et mutabile and Una huella destartalada. In 2013, he won the Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Prize.
Margarita Engel is the winner of a Pura Belpré Medal and the San Diego Book, Newbery Honor, Americas and Jane Addams awards.
MDC Museum of Art + Design will host a variety of events to showcase the works of this year's finalists, including the Visual Arts Finalists exhibition. The awards announcement for Creative Writing will be made on Saturday, October 10, at MDC's Freedom Tower.
The winner will receive a $10,000 award and the opportunity to complete the project outlined in his or her proposal and will be announced by CINTAS Foundation Board President, Hortensia E. Sampedro at the event.
Competition details and all program requirements and application forms can be found at www.cintasfoundation.org.
About the CINTAS Fellowship Program
The CINTAS Fellowship Program encourages creative development in architecture, literature, music composition and the visual arts. The Foundation was established with funds from the estate of Oscar B. CINTAS (1887-1957), the former Cuban ambassador to the United States, a prominent industrialist and patron of the arts. In June 2011, the CINTAS Foundation entered into an extended loan to MDC's Museum of Art + Design of the CINTAS Fellows Collection, comprised of nearly 300 pieces by artists of Cuban descent living outside Cuba who have received prestigious CINTAS Fellowships, awarded since 1963. www.cintasfoundation.org
About MDC's Museum of Art + Design
MDC Museum of Art + Design is Miami Dade College's flagship institution dedicated to the presentation and exhibition of visual art and design, located within the historic MDC Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. With more than 13,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Museum of Art + Design presents year-round exhibitions and educational programs, and is known for its presentation of exhibitions by emerging artists, designers, as well as major figures in modern, post-modern and contemporary art. With a mission to promote the appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement, original works of art, design, and related creative processes; the Museum provides residents and visitors access to unique cultural, historical, and educational exhibitions that enrich our community, while building and preserving its expansive permanent art collection. Available to the public five days a week, and as an admission FREE institution with a diversity of patrons and visitors, the MDC Museum of Art + Design is one of the largest and most accessible institutions in the South Florida area devoted to visual arts and design.
More information can be found on the Museum & Galleries website: www.mdcmoad.org
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