Jean Harper, associate professor of English, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for writing (prose). The fellowship will support work on her book, Horses and Divorces.

The fellowship is designed to give writers the time and freedom to pursue their work; the creative writing fellowships are the NEA’s most direct investment in America’s artists. Harper is the only person in Indiana to receive the fellowship in literature for this year.

“Receiving a NEA Fellowship is a huge honor, and I’m incredibly thrilled to receive this,” Harper said. “ I am very grateful to Indiana University East for all the support I’ve been given over the years to do the work of writing that enabled me to earn this fellowship.”

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the federal government and has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.

“This is a significant honor and quite an accomplishment. I look forward to reading her book,” said Larry Richards, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Also, North American Review will publish a chapter from Harper’s book manuscript in its publication forthcoming in 2012. The North American Review is the oldest literary magazine in the United States.

“The School of Humanities and Social Sciences is extremely proud of Jean Harper’s work. Both the NEA Fellowship and publication in the North American Review are tremendous achievements that attest to Jean’s success as a writer and researcher.  We are all looking forward to the publication of her latest book, Horses and Divorces,” said Katherine Frank, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

North American Review is published four times each year at the University of Northern Iowa. The North American Review is well-known for its early discovery of young, talented fiction writers and poets. It also publishes creative nonfiction, with emphasis on increasing concerns about environmental and ecological matters, multiculturalism, and exigent issues of gender and class.

Harper is currently a resident of Hagerstown, Ind. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Emerson College and her Bachelor of Arts in English from Earlham College.