Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

SU faculty, alumni recognized at CNY Book Awards Nov. 29

Thursday, October 25, 2012, By Rob Enslin
Share
AwardsCollege of Arts and SciencesEventsSyracuse Symposium

More than a dozen Syracuse University professors and alumni are among the nominees for the first CNY Book Awards, sponsored by the Downtown Writers Center (DWC) of the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse. Winners will be announced at a special ceremony hosted by the DWC on Thursday, Nov. 29, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Chancellor’s Residence. The event is open to the public, but seating is limited.

Tickets are $85 each, and must be purchased by Friday, Nov. 16. Proceeds benefit the Arts Branch. For more information, call the YMCA at 315-474-6851, ext. 328.

“Central New York has a long tradition of excellence in the literary arts,” says Phil Memmer, executive director of the Arts Branch and founding director of the DWC. “That almost half of this year’s nominees have ties to SU speaks to the importance of good writing on campus.”

The awards will recognize published books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and will be judged by prominent authors from around the nation. A “People’s Choice” category will also be decided by the audience at the ceremony, and will include all titles nominated for the genre awards.

The SU nominees are as follows:

POETRY

Jennifer Fortin ’01: “Mined Muzzled Velocity” (Lowbrow Press, 2011)

Patrick Lawler ’81: “Underground (Notes Toward an Autobiography)” (Many Mountains Moving Press, 2011)

Charles Martin, former part-time English instructor: “Signs and Wonders” (The John Hopkins University Press, 2011) and “The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation” (W. W. Norton and Company, 2012)

Bruce Smith, professor of English: “Devotions” (University of Chicago Press, 2011)

Martin Willits Jr. ’82: “Secrets No One Must Talk About” (Dos Madres Press, 2011)

FICTION

Dana Spiotta, assistant professor of English: “Stone Arabia” (Scribner, 2011)

Christine Anne Wenger ’77: “How to Lasso a Cowboy” (Harlequin, 2011)

David R. Witanowksi ’02: “Reynard the Fox” (Calliope Press, 2012)

NONFICTION

Ruth J. Colvin ’59, H’84: “Off the Beaten Path: Stories of People Around the World” (SU Press, 2012)

Ben Kuebrich, a graduate student in the composition and cultural rhetoric doctoral program of the Writing Program, nominated on behalf of Gifford Street Community Press for “I Witness: Perspectives on Policing in the Near Westside” (Gifford Street Community Press, 2012)

Steve Parks, associate professor of writing and rhetoric and director of the CCR Program, nominated on behalf of the Gifford Street Community Press Editorial Board for “Home: Journeys to the Westside” (Gifford Street Community Press, 2011)

Martin A. Sweeney G’81: “Lincoln’s Gift from Homer, New York: A Painter, an Editor and a Detective (MacFarland, 2011)

Harvey Teres, associate professor of English and Judaic studies: “Word on the Street: Linking the Academy and the Common Reader” (University of Michigan Press, 2010)

Virginia P. Tilden ’62: “Footprints of Schulyer Fassett Smith: A Civil War Survivor” (Tilden Publishing, 2012)

For more than a decade, the Arts Branch has been a national leader in the YMCA Arts and Humanities Movement, providing high-quality, reasonably priced programs at locations throughout Onondaga County. The Arts Branch is home to the following:

 

  • the DWC, the only community-based literary program in Central New York;
  • the Arts Studio at the East Area Family YMCA, one of the busiest of its kind in the United States;
  • the YMCA After-School Arts Program, which provides free arts education to more than 900 children a week;
  • the Y-Arts Camp, a series of one-week summer programs for school-age children;
  • GallerY, an art gallery at the Downtown YMCA; and
  • a private music lesson program, serving more than 150 people.

“The University is proud of its association with the Arts Branch,” says Mark Nerenhausen, founding director of the Janklow Arts Leadership Program and an Arts Branch board member. “Many of our faculty members have read or taught at the Downtown Writers Center. Also each fall, Syracuse Symposium (organized and presented by the SU Humanities Center) collaborates with the Arts Branch to bring nationally renowned authors to campus. I see this partnership growing stronger with time.”

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • Meet Michael Bunker, the New Leader of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services
    Tuesday, August 5, 2025, By Kiana Racha
  • Rethinking Research Through Visual Storytelling
    Tuesday, August 5, 2025, By Dan Bernardi
  • A Legacy of Caring: Robin Berkowitz-Smith’s 38-Year Journey at Syracuse University
    Tuesday, August 5, 2025, By Kelly Homan Rodoski
  • Syracuse University and University of Bergen Host Transatlantic Alliance for Law, Outreach and National Security Conference
    Monday, August 4, 2025, By Robert Conrad
  • National Grid Summer College Scholars Program Invests in Energy Literacy
    Thursday, July 31, 2025, By Hope Alvarez

More In Arts & Culture

Rethinking Research Through Visual Storytelling

The Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is embracing innovative approaches to media engagement. One such method is called videographic criticism, a growing scholarly practice that uses sound and moving images (video) to explore and…

How New Words Enter Our Language: A Linguistics Expert Explains

From “yeet” to “social distancing,” new words and phrases constantly emerge and evolve in American English. But how do these neologisms—newly coined terms—gain acceptance and become part of mainstream dialect? We interviewed Christopher Green, associate professor of linguistics in the…

Art Museum Acquires Indian Scrolls Gifted by SUNY Professor

The University Art Museum has received a monumental gift of more than 80 traditional Indian patachitra scrolls, significantly expanding its collection of South Asian art and material culture. The scrolls were donated by Geraldine Forbes, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita at…

Architecture Students’ Project Selected for Royal Academy Exhibition

In a prestigious international honor, a project by three students from the School of Architecture has been selected for inclusion in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025, currently on view in London. The work, titled “Evolving an Urban Ecology,” was…

Vintage Over Digital: Alumnus Dan Cohen’s Voyager CD Bag Merges Music and Fashion

Bucking the trend of streaming music platforms and contrary to what one might expect of a member of his generation, musician Dan Cohen ’25 prefers listening to his favorite artists on compact disc (CD) and record players. His research and…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.