MOUNT VERNON — Knox County is home to two writers selected for 2020 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards: playwright Anton Dudley and novelist Jamie Lyn Smith.
Dudley and Smith will present their work-in-progress as part of the Brown Bag Chat series at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County. The conversation between writers was filmed in advance at the Bolton Theatre, and will “go live” on the Library’s website on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at noon.
Anton Dudley is Lambda Literary Award Finalist and Helen Hayes Award winning playwright. He received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for Fiscal Year 2020 for his full-length play, Song of the Wind. Set on a lonely beach in the North Channel Islands, the boundaries of dream-life and waking-life blur, as two men travel through time to find their future in the past.
Song of the Wind is a love song to the vanishing rural lives of two soul mates who believed they had found Tír na nóg, the mythical Land of Youth. The play was developed at both The Lark Play Development Center, New York, and Off-Broadway’s Irish Repertory Theater.
Dudley states that “Receiving an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award has made me feel more connected to both Ohio’s arts community and the state, at large. The funds enabled me to invest in the development of my work, creating studio demos of my new musical and an online reading of the recipient play. I am grateful to be acknowledged with a group of diverse and talented artists that represent the exciting work happening in this state.”
Smith’s novel, Hometown, begins in 2000 when three teens — Amanda, Jesse, and Tyler — form an unlikely friendship the summer after high school. The friends go their separate ways until 2018, when recently widowed Amanda returns to her hometown; she and her children attend Jesse’s church, and Tyler serves as a well-regarded deputy after mustering out of the service.
When Tyler’s teenage kid flees to Jesse’s house after being outed, Amanda’s advocacy job at the domestic violence shelter puts her in charge of the case. The former friends must navigate family and personal tensions in a community already staggering under political divisions inflamed by protests from a “traditional values” alt-right group — the same group underwriting Tyler’s campaign for county Sheriff.
“I am so thankful to the Ohio Arts Council for their support,” Smith says. “The grant was critical in providing me with the time and resources to work on my novel. It’s a great testament to the value of the arts in Ohio that these opportunities are available, and I encourage every Buckeye to apply.”
Any artist with a two-year residency in Ohio is eligible. The Ohio Arts Council selects artists for exceptionally strong work in each discipline, to “… support artists’ growth and development and recognize their work in Ohio and beyond.”
Information about the Individual Excellence Awards is available on the Ohio Arts Council website at https://oac.ohio.gov/grants. Anyone seeking assistance with an OAC grant application is encouraged to sign up for an appointment with the Writing Clinic at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, where patrons can seek assistance with applications for funding, educational opportunities, and writing projects.
All library programs are free and open to the public, although registration is required. Visit http://www.knox.net/literary-writing.html or email knoxwrites1@gmail.com for more information.
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