Dwight Yates Receives Award
by My Nguyen, Student Intern of CHASS College Computing

UCR Creative Writing Lecturer, Dwight Yates was among the 42 recipients of the prestigious 2008 Literature Fellowships in Prose from the National Endowment for the Arts.

"Obviously, I feel very fortunate to have submitted a couple of stories that clicked with this year's judges.  Other judges may well have chosen other applicants," said Yates about the award.

Winners from 22 states were selected by a panel of 11 professional writers. This year's prize of $25,000 is an increase from previous awards of $20,000. 

"The award is a lovely thing, yet simultaneously it is a charge to write something of value.  With validation comes responsibility, I guess you'd say," Yates said. 

With the prize money, Yates plans to take a quarter off to work on a novel.