As every writer knows, life at the desk can get lonely and fraught with uncertainty. We often don’t know when our work is good and whether it moves and interests others. This fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts not only gives me much needed affirmation and confidence, but also a sense that my work has meaning and has been recognized by a group of my peers. I’d go further and say that the NEA not only affirms the work of individual writers but literature and the arts in our culture. I’m hugely thankful for that, both as an individual artist and as a citizen of this country.

My most recent book, The Flounder and Other Stories, deals with material in my own life that comes from being an expatriate several decades ago, from experiencing disappointment, and growing older. What does it mean to be American? What makes a life valuable and worth living? How does life and what matters to us change as we age? How do we acknowledge failures and shortcomings and nonetheless move forward? These same questions are showing up in the work I’m undertaking now for my next book. A new project is always intimidating. I feel as if I’m starting over and writing that first, most difficult book again. This recognition and financial support from the NEA will allow me to find time, focus, and resolve to keep writing. I couldn’t be more excited and grateful for this opportunity.