Sarah Minor, doctoral student in creative writing
by Kristin M. Distel
Sarah Minor, doctoral student of creative writing, will spend 10 weeks this summer in Iceland, where she will write a “visual essay about the historic and modern relationship between literature and landscape in Iceland.”
Minor’s research will examine “Beinakerling,” which, she explains, refers to “‘bone crone’ literature, the tradition of inserting subversive notes into rock cairns written from the voice of the ‘hag on the mountain.’”
The trip is funded in part by a competitive fellowship that Minor has received from the American Scandinavian Foundation, an organization that awards research funds to scholars who examine the “intellectual and creative influence between the United States and Nordic countries.”
“They don’t often fund arts grants, so I’m really excited that they decided my project was worthy,” Minor notes.
In addition to conducting primary research, Minor’s trip to Iceland will also include a scholarly presentation of her work. In early June she will present at the NonfictioNow conference in Reykjavik.
Minor notes that her attendance at the conference will be funded by a competitive scholarship she has been awarded by Ohio University’s English Department. Each year, the department awards summer research funding to eight graduate students whose respective dissertations require travel and primary research.
Minor’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Normal School, Passages North, the Object Lessons series from The Atlantic, and Unstitched States, a digital quilt publication. Minor’s book, “The Persistence of The Bonyleg: Annotated,” won the 2015 Essay Press Chapbook Contest. You can see more embroidered works from her twitter handle @sarahceniaminor.
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