A few years ago, I maintained an ongoing debate with a friend about the merits of applying to artist fellowships. His view was that, prestige and confidence-building aside, writers are better served dedicating their time to creative effort, rather than expending several weeks to compose essays and fill in the details on application forms in the hope of acceptance. My stance was that while it is frustrating to dedicate so much time and effort to apply for honors I’ll almost certainly not receive, the benefits are so important to me that it’s worth taking a chance. I should point out that my friend is unmarried, has no kids; I became a husband and father relatively young, in my mid-20s. These facts seemed to direct our perspectives, which allowed us to both be correct in our own ways.

For me, I know that if it wasn’t for a previous fellowship, I wouldn’t have been able to finish my first two novels to any degree of satisfaction. My being awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship comes at a great time, as I’ve been struggling for over a year to begin an ambitious novel that will require focused time to write, extensive travel, and detailed research. As with most authors, so much of my time is dedicated to keeping up with deadlines that my creative, family, and personal lives almost always take a back seat. At this point in my life, I’m not sure I could write a novel of significance without the help of organizations like NEA. I’m grateful for the opportunity to do good work, and am very pleased I took a chance to hit this shot.