Bennington Writing Seminars Announces the Donald Hall Scholarship for Poets
Thanks to a generous and sustaining gift from an anonymous donor, the Bennington Writing Seminars is pleased to announce it will begin offering the Donald Hall Scholarship for Poets.
One full scholarship will be awarded to the top poetry candidate, as identified by Bennington’s admissions readers, for the January 2019 Masters of Fine Arts in Writing residency. Another full scholarship will be awarded in June 2019. Applications are open now. The deadline to apply for the January term is Sept. 1, 2018. The deadline to apply for the June 2019 residency is March 1, 2019.
Hall, former United States poet laureate, and longtime Bennington Writing Seminars writer-in-residence, recently passed away at the age of 89. Hall’s involvement with the Seminars extends to the program’s very beginning. Hall was an old friend of Liam Rector, the Seminars’ founder and first director, and he remained deeply involved with the program.
“Poetry is embedded in the soul of the Writing Seminars,” said Mark Wunderlich, director. “Our poetry alumni have gone on to win the National Book Award, the Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award, Pushcart Prizes, Stegner Fellowships, and Rona Jaffe Awards, among other accolades. We are grateful to this generous donor for investing in the genre specifically, at a critically important time, and in the program in general.”
Bennington’s publications rate, like its program, is robust. To view a sampling of books by Bennington poetry alumni and faculty members, visit the publications page.