George Mason University English professor and poet Sally Keith has landed the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.
Guggenheim Fellowships are typically awarded at midcareer to those who have already demonstrated “exceptional creative ability in the arts” or productive scholarship, according to the Guggenheim Foundation website.
Keith, who joined George Mason’s faculty 10 years ago, says she plans to begin her fellowship in fall 2017.
“It’s fantastic. It’s something one dreams about,” she said. “It’s a tremendous affirmation [and] I feel grateful and encouraged.”
“Sally Keith is an exemplary poet. I'm thrilled her work has been recognized with the Guggenheim award,” said Debra Lattanzi Shutika, chair of Mason’s Department of English.
Keith said she submitted a body of work to the foundation when she applied for the fellowship.
She supposes her latest book of poetry, “River House,” inspired in part by her mother’s death, was the reason she received the Guggenheim.
At that time, the necessity to write was really strong, Keith said. “River House” is important to her because it marks a break in writing style. It’s more plain-spoken and true to her speaking self.
“I felt a kind of freedom,” she said. “The occasion called for a different kind of poetic utterance.”
Keith teaches both graduate and undergraduate classes at Mason. She urges her poetry students to pay attention to the world around them, to explore and to develop their own idiosyncratic sense.
Keith said she’s also trying to keep that in mind for her own fellowship, when she will work on a new collection of poems.
“Poetry has to do with not knowing and exploring,” she said. “What I hope is that I can write out into the empty space before me.”