SFSU Creative Writing Grad Student Awarded Fulbright

SFSU grad student, Nicole Pollentier was recently selected as a 2004/05 Fulbright student award recipient. The MFA in creative writing candidate departs for Reykjavik, Iceland in September. The $1,000 per month stipend will allow Pollentier to study the native language at the University of Iceland as well as visit traditional fishing villages to investigate the details of the indigenous culture.

A native of Texas who received her undergraduate degree in art history, Pollentier is a second generation Mexican American who has backpacked her way through Europe, South America and North America. A 1995 trip to Kodiak, Alaska, which is close in latitude to Reykjavik, provoked her interest in fishing cultures and resulted in her first published chapbook, "smolt" (Wings Press, San Antonio, Texas, 1998). Pollentier expects that her creative exploration during the Icelandic polar night will produce a cross-genre work, perhaps a book that incorporates poetry, correspondence, and found materials with a supplemental DVD that encompasses video and sound.

Fulbright Awards are given to seniors and graduate students as well as developing professionals and artists who will spend a year overseas. The Fulbright program, established in 1946 through an act of Congress spearheaded by Senator J. William Fulbright, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. To date, nearly 100,000 Americans have held Fulbright grants.

Contact: Denize Springer, 415.405-3803 denize@sfsu.edu