Dzanc Gives Author $5,000 for Prison Writing

Back in April, I told you about the Dzanc Prize, a $5,000 award for a writer with “an interest in performing some form of literary community service.” Now, Dzanc has selected its first recipient: Laura van den Berg will use her grant money to teach creative writing in Boston-area prisons. Van den Berg is currently working on an MFA at Emerson, finishing up her first collection of short stories and teaching at Boston’s Grub Street writing center. She describes herself as “astonished and deeply honored” at the selection, and will be working with Dzanc to produce an anthology of writing from participants in the prison workshops, which she’ll begin teaching early next year.