BUFFALO, NY –The Contemporary Writers Series at Canisius University is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant will be used during the 2015-2016 season and enable Canisius to expand its programming of the Contemporary Writers Series “to include even more community outreach with a particular focus on underserved communities,” says Mick Cochrane, PhD, founder and director of the Contemporary Writers Series. He explains, “Two of our visiting writers will participate in events at local libraries, schools and community centers in addition to their free-and-open-to-the-public appearances on the Canisius campus.”
The Contemporary Writers Series brings nationally and internationally acclaimed writers to Canisius to share their expertise with students. Among the writers the series has hosted in recent years are Seamus Heaney, Joyce Carol Oates, Junot Diaz, Tracy K. Smith and Phil Klay.
“The NEA is committed to advancing learning, fueling creativity and celebrating the arts in cities and towns across the United States,” said NEA Chair Jane Chu in announcing the Canisius grant. “Funding these projects, like the one at Canisius University, represents an investment in both local communities and our nation’s creative vitality.”
Through its grant-making to thousands of nonprofits each year, the National Endowment for the Arts promotes opportunities for people in communities across America to experience the arts and exercise their creativity. The NEA made 1,023 awards totaling $74.3 million, nationwide, this funding round.
The Contemporary Writers Series was founded with a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation and continued through the Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professorship Program. In addition to the most recent NEA grant, the Contemporary Writers Series is generously supported by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Hassett and Scoma Endowments, and with the cooperation of The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Just Buffalo Literacy Center, the Western New York Writing Project and Talking Leaves Books.
Canisius is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.
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