Four Maine writers awarded Martin Dibner scholarships

ELLSWORTH – Martin Dibner Memorial Fellowships in fiction have been awarded to Ronald Currie of Waterville, Andrea Jarrell of Camden, Elisabeth Schuman of Searsmont and Amity Stoddard of Hulls Cove. The Maine Community Foundation awards the fellowship annually to Maine writers seeking to develop their writing skills. A volunteer committee composed of three novelists selected the winners from 32 applicants.

Currie, a graduate of Waterville High School, has published short stories in Carve Magazine and The Paumanok Review; “Visiting Your Grave” will appear in “Glimmer Train Stories” in the fall. He is working on a book-length manuscript of short fiction.

A communication consultant in higher education, Jarrell is working on a “novel-in-stories” titled “Traveling Companions.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in British and American literature from Scripps College and a master’s in writing and literature from Bennington College.

Schuman has published stories in the Sycamore Review and the Northwest Review. Cheri Mason read an abridged version of her literary essay “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating” on “Wildlife Journal” on WERU. Schuman, free-lance consultant and writer, graduated from Goddard College with a bachelor’s in writing, editing and publishing.

A graduate of Medomak Valley High School and College of the Atlantic, Stoddard attended the master’s writing program at the School of Art Institute of Chicago. She was awarded a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant in 2000. Her story “A Common Form of Dementia” appeared in “Literary Latte.”