NEWS RELEASE                     

For Immediate Release 

 
Contact:   
 
  Eric Davis,  Marketing & Communications Director
                505.424.2351, or [email protected]
  Jennifer Foerster, Interim Director IAIA MFA Program
                 505.424.2365, or [email protected]

 
IAIA MFA in Creative Writing Program Awards 
Stacie Denetsosie (Diné) 
with the 2019-2020 MFA Alumni Scholarship
 
 
SANTA FE, N.M. - April 29, 2019.

 
The Institute of American Indian Arts' (IAIA) Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing program has announced the recipient of the 2019-2020  MFA Alumni Scholarship .  

The MFA Alumni Scholarship is awarded to an applicant in any genre who is enrolled in a Federally-recognized Tribe or First Nation and whose work exhibits particularly strong merit. This full-tuition scholarship is awarded for the student's four semesters of study in the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing program.

Stacie Denetsosie will begin in the MFA program, specializing in Fiction, in the Fall 2019 semester. Stacie follows Jennifer Brady (Pyramid Lake Pauite), second-year Screenwriting student, as only the second recipient of this prestigious scholarship.
Stacie Denetsosie is Navajo poet and fiction writer. Her clan is Todích'íí'nii (Bitterwater), born for Naakai Dine'é (Mexican-Navajo). She was born in Kayenta, Arizona, but currently resides in Logan, Utah with her family. She received her Bachelors of Science from Utah State University in English with a Creative Writing emphasis. During her time at Utah State, she excelled in their English department and published several works in Sink Hollow their undergraduate anthology. Following graduation, she applied and was accepted to Utah State's English Literature and Writing Program where she taught English composition to incoming first-year students. This Spring, she was awarded "Master's Researcher of the Year" for her creative thesis entitled "Redefining Ceremony and the Sacred: Short Stories from the Dinétah." In addition to her research, last summer she accepted a Poetry Fellowship with the prestigious Prague Summer Program where she workshopped with Joshua Mensch and Stuart Dybeck for a month in the Czech Republic. 

IAIA Interim MFA Program Director  Jennifer Foerster [Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma]    commented "We're excited for Stacie Denetsosie to join our IAIA community of writers and pleased to recognize her achievements and potential with this scholarship. Her enthusiasm for and commitment to writing will be a wonderful contribution to the program."


Stacie Denetsosie

Offering undergraduate degrees in Studio Arts, Creative Writing, Cinematic Arts and Technology, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, and Performing Arts -- an MFA in Creative Writing -- along with certificates in Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History -- IAIA is the only college in the nation dedicated to the study of contemporary Native arts. The school serves 495 full time equivalent (FTE) Native and non-Native American college students from across the globe.  IAIA is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission -- and is the only college in New Mexico accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. 
    

# # #

About IAIA  -- For over 50 years, the Institute of American Indian Arts has played a key role in the direction and shape of Native expression. With an internationally acclaimed college, museum, and tribal support resource through our Land Grant Programs, IAIA is dedicated to the study and advancement of Native arts and cultures -- and committed to student achievement and the preservation and progress of their communities.  Learn more about IAIA and our mission at   www.iaia.edu . 

The Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.  To make a donation on-line, please click here -- or call toll free: 1.800.804.6423.