The IAP Experience from a Recipient's Point of View: Writer Shari Wagner
In light of the opening of the Individual Artist Program (IAP) grant for fiscal year 2012, we communicated with Shari Wagner, a writer and IAP grantee from fiscal years 2008 & 2010. Here's what Shari has to say about her art and the IAP process.
Indiana Arts Commission (IAC): Tell us a little bit about your work as an artist.
Shari Wagner (SW): Although in recent years I’ve written some essays and helped my father compose A Hundred Camels, his memoir of Somalia, most of my work has been in poetry. Five years ago, my book of poems, Evening Chore, was published, and soon, I will be submitting another manuscript for publication—a collection of poems inspired by my visits to what I consider sacred places throughout the state, from Angel Mounds in Evansville to an Amish farm in Northern Indiana; from Levi and Catherine Coffin’s home on the Underground Railroad to West Baden Springs Hotel. Hopefully, this book will form a mythology that connects folklore, history and personal memory to the Indiana landscape.
IAC:
SW: I needed some financial support as I concentrated on finishing my manuscript of Indiana place poems, a project that began in 2001 with a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Half of the poems for the book seemed finished and had been published in literary magazines, but the remaining poems still needed varying degrees of revision. This project grant gave me the time and focus I needed to revise thirty place poems and submit them to magazines.
IAC: You have received more than one IAP grant, what made you apply often?
SW: The other IAP grants helped me afford travel, research and living expenses while working on a second poetry collection, one that my research of Indiana places inspired—a book of poems in the voices of historical people connected to Indiana. It’s been a huge advantage to actually visit sites associated with the people I’m writing about, people such as John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), Squire Boone (Daniel Boone’s brother) or Belle Gunness (the “Bluebeard of LaPorte”).
IAC: How long have you been a writer?
SW: When I was thirteen, my family moved to Somalia for a year and I became obsessed with writing a poem that would capture the desolate beauty of the guban—the desert that surrounded our village. It wasn’t a very good poem, but I spent months on it and when I returned to Indiana, I discovered that I had picked up a second language—that of poetry. I saw the landscape in new, imaginative ways that inspired me to write more poems. Fortunately, my high school had a poet-in-the-schools my junior year who taught me a great deal about the elements of poetry and encouraged me to keep writing. Eventually, I earned an M.F.A. at I.U.
IAC: What is your process when writing?
SW: I begin writing every morning, as soon as my youngest daughter gets on the school bus and I usually continue until that bus drops her off in the afternoon. I’m a big believer in the efficacy of the unconscious, so if I get stymied by one poem or essay, I don’t worry about writer’s block—I just concentrate on another piece until my unconscious makes a break through. That’s one of the great advantages I find in having several writing projects going at the same time. The disadvantages are that it sometimes takes me longer to finish a project and that I can feel like one of those jugglers who keeps lots of plates spinning on tall sticks. With most of my writing projects, including the Indiana place poem collection, research and travel are also components of the creative process. Of course, revision is important and so is feedback from other writers.
IAC: Are you a full-time writer? If not, what else do you do?
SW: I’m pretty much a full-time writer, but I also teach poetry writing classes for the Writers’ Center of Indiana and, right now, I’m also teaching some memoir classes at branches of the Marion County Library. Over the years, I’ve taught workshops to many diverse groups—including grade school children, college students and residents of nursing homes. Last year, I had the pleasure of teaching elementary and middle school students through IAC’s Artist-In-Education program and last winter, a visual artist and I co-taught a class through VSA (Very Special Arts) of Indiana.
IAC:
How long did it take you to apply for the IAP program grant?SW: I usually begin an IAP grant proposal about a month before I submit it. That gives me plenty of time to consider whether the budget and scope of the proposed activities are reasonable and to edit my essay responses. If I counted up the sum of hours, it might be about eight to ten.
IAC: Besides the money, are there other benefits of receiving an IAP grant?
SW: Definitely. An IAP grant insures that I will focus intensely on a writing project and meet my goals within a specific time period. Receiving an IAP grant is also helpful in establishing my credentials as a writer.
Hoosier artists have until February 14, 2011 to submit applications for the Arts Commission's IAP grant. Eligible projects will only be considered in the areas of: dance, theatre, literature, music and folk arts related to the traditional disciplines listed here.
