Dunkelberg receives Mississippi Arts Commission Fellowship

JACKSON, Miss. – Dr. Kendall Dunkelberg of Columbus has been awarded a $4,500 Artist Fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) to continue his work on new poems for his fourth book.

This grant is a portion of the $1.5 million in grants the Commission awarded in 2016-2017. The grants are made possible by continued funding from the Mississippi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“Artists of all kinds are the heart of the Mississippi Creative Economy,” said Malcolm White, executive director of MAC. “They significantly contribute to the economic growth of their communities and our state, and the Mississippi Arts Commission is honored to support their outstanding work.”

Dunkelberg directs the low-residency MFA and undergraduate creative writing programs at Mississippi University for Women, where he also directs the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium. He has published three books of poetry, “Barrier Island Suite” (2016), “Time Capsules” (2009), and “Landscapes and Architectures” (2001). His work has appeared in literary magazines such as The Texas Review, Poetry South, Valley Voices, Town Creek Poetry, China Grove, Switched-On Gutenberg, and many others, and his poems have appeared in “The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume 2: Mississippi” and “Down to the Dark River: Contemporary Poems about the Mississippi River.” He has also published Dutch translations, “Hercules, Richelieu, and Nostradamus,” poems by the Belgian poet, Paul Snoek.

“I am incredibly honored to be selected for one of the top arts awards in the state. I’m looking forward to using it to create more dedicated writing time as I work on the manuscript of my next book of poems and travel around Mississippi to read from ‘Barrier Island Suite,’” said Dunkelberg.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency serving residents of the state by providing grants that support programs to enhance communities; assist artists and arts organizations; promote the arts in education and celebrate Mississippi’s cultural heritage. Established in 1968, the Mississippi Arts Commission is the funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson and other private sources. The agency serves as an active supporter and promoter of arts in community life and in arts education.

For information from the Mississippi Arts Commission, please contact Melia Dicker, communications director, 601-359-6546 or mdicker@arts.ms.gov.