Panel Report Literature

Memorandum

TO: Florida Council on Arts and Culture
FROM: Sandy Shaughnessy, Panel Chair
DATE: September 11, 2015
SUBJECT:

Literature Panel, Meeting Report and Recommendations

The Literature grant panel meeting was held via teleconference on September 11, 2015. Eleven (11) eligible applications were reviewed and all were recommended for funding.

A complete list of all reviewed applications, with the request amounts and final scores, is provided in the following sections.

Panel comment was as follows:

A panel member suggested the Division find ways to encourage more rural applicants. A panelist from another state arts agency felt that serving on the panel was a very educational process. The process was very well organized, and the staff is a pleasure to work with.

Public comment was as follows:

There were no public comments.

Panel Biographies

Lee Baird

Nashville, Tenneseee

  • Grants Analyst/Director of Literary Arts, Tennessee Arts Commission, Nashville, Tennessee
  • Previously worked in the wireless communications industry
  • B.A., Psychology, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Kaye Byrnes

St. Johns County

  • Director, Florida Storytelling Festival
  • Past President and Board member, Florida Storytelling Association.
  • Professional storyteller, focusing on fairy tales, fables, myths, legends, original takes, and classic literature
  • Selected venues: Ritz Carlton at Amelia Island, Limelight Theater, Florida StoryFest, Florida Folk Festival, Alachua County Storytelling Festival, Ocala Storytelling Festival, Cracker Storytelling Festival, Northeast Florida Library Information Network, Tampa Bay Library Consortium, Panhandle Library Access Network, Southwest Florida Library Information Network, Florida Association for Media in Education, Florida Library Association
  • B.F.A., Theatre, University of Wisconsin

Paola Fernandez Rana

Miami-Dade County

  • Program Manager and Author Liaison, Miami Book Fair, Miami Dade College, Miami, Florida
  • Previously Director of Publicity at several publishing houses and created marketing and public relations strategies for a wide range of high profile authors
  • B.A., Communications and Political Science, University of New Hampshire

John Fink

Escambia County

  • Associate Professor and Director of Creative Writing, University of West Florida
  • Editor, Panhandler Magazine and PanhandlerBooks
  • Poems and essays published in Poetry, New England Review, TriQuarterly, Slate, Witness, The Southern Review, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications 
  • Recipient of the Editors’ Prize in Poetry from The Missouri Review, the McGinnis-Ritchie Award for Nonfiction/Essay from Southwest Review, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and Emory University, among other institutions
  • Two books of poetry forthcoming from Dzanc Books
  • M.F.A., Syracuse University; B.A., Trinity University

John Fleming

Hillsborough County

  • Professor, University of South Florida
  • Author of The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman, a novel, Fearsome Creatures of Florida, an eco-conscious literary bestiary, The Book I Will Write, a novel-in-emails originally published serially, and Songs for the Deaf, his recent story collection
  • Received Literature Fellowship, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs
  • Ph.D., University of Louisiana-Lafayette; M.A., Creative Writing, The University of Southern Mississippi; B.A., Psychology, The University of Virginia

Lamar Garnes

Leon County

  • Assistant Professor, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida
  • Writes about African American literature and Popular Culture as well as fiction
  • Previously, Instructor, Florida State University and Volunteer for Tallahassee Council on Culture and Arts
  • B.A., Creative Writing, University of South Florida; Ph.D., English Language and Literature, Florida State University 

Virgil Suarez

Leon County

  • Professor, Creative Writing, Florida State University
  • Author of over twenty books, among them several novels, story and poetry collections, edited anthologies, and numerous stories, translations, essays, and poems
  • Conducted readings, workshops, and lectures in many universities, colleges, schools, book fairs, libraries, prisons, and community groups nationally and internationally.
  • M.F.A., Creative Writing, Louisiana State University

 

Panel Recommendations

Date & Time September 11, 2015 9:00 AM - to conclusion
Application Types

GPS - Discipline-Based (Literature): Level 1
GPS - Discipline-Based (Literature): Level 2
GPS - Discipline-Based (Literature): Level 3
SCP - Discipline-Based (Literature)

This list contains the panel recommendations to the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. This is not a final funding recommendation. Panel review is step 2 in a 4 step review process.

# App Num Applicant
Project Title
County
Application Type Request Recommendation Avg Score
1 17.6.110.394 Miami Dade College
Miami-Dade County
GPS: Discipline-Based
Literature (Level 3)
$103,156 $103,156 96.500
2 17.6.110.294 Urban Think Foundation, Inc.
Orange County
GPS: Discipline-Based
Literature (Level 1)
$24,567 $24,567 93.000
3 17.6.110.431 Key West Literary Seminar, Inc.
Monroe County
GPS: Discipline-Based
Literature (Level 2)
$55,100 $55,100 93.000
4 17.6.110.420 University of Wynwood, Inc.
Miami-Dade County
GPS: Discipline-Based
Literature (Level 1)
$20,000 $20,000 92.714
5 17.5.110.134 Florida Literary Arts Coalition, Inc.
Florida Literary Arts Coalition Writers' Circuit Tours
St. Johns County
SCP: Discipline-Based
Literature
$19,300 $19,300 92.667
6 17.5.110.456 The Miami Foundation, Inc.
Promoting Arts Publishing in South Florida (PAPSF)
Miami-Dade County
SCP: Discipline-Based
Literature
$25,000 $25,000 92.571
7 17.5.110.540 Palm Beach Poetry Festival, Inc.
13th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
Palm Beach County
SCP: Discipline-Based
Literature
$25,000 $25,000 92.286
8 17.5.110.382 Orange County Library Board of Trustees
Sunshine State Reading Series
Orange County
SCP: Discipline-Based
Literature
$24,120 $24,120 91.143
9 17.6.110.334 Miami Rail Publishing Corporation
Miami-Dade County
GPS: Discipline-Based
Literature (Level 1)
$9,500 $9,500 89.857
10 17.5.110.241 The Florida Heritage Book Festival, Inc.
Florida Heritage Book Festival
St. Johns County
SCP: Discipline-Based
Literature
$25,000 $25,000 89.143
11 17.5.110.460 The Library Foundation of Martin County, Inc.
2017 BookMania!
Martin County
SCP: Discipline-Based
Literature
$10,500 $10,500 86.000