New author given chance to write, teach through Axton Fellowship

Heather Slomski worked at a bakery and taught classes to make ends meet.

But she yearned to get her thoughts onto paper. A young writer, she had already won some contests and critical praise for her very personal, poetic narrative style of telling a story.

Yet, she needed the money, independence and time to pursue her passion, and to perfect her skills.

Fortunately, she and other budding literary talents have been able to turn to the Axton Fellowship program in the English department at UofL. The program invites two promising talents to the university for two-year stints and offers a generous stipend to support them while they gain time to hone their writing as well as gain teaching experience in creative writing settings.

The fellows program was created and is supported by the generosity of Anne Axton, a writer and former English teacher.

She created it in 2003 and also previously established the Anne and William Aston Reading Series in 1999 to bring distinguished literary figures from across the country to share their work and conduct masterclasses. The programs also honor the memory of her late husband, William F. Axton '51GA, a Dickens scholar and UofL English professor who died in 2000.

Axton describes herself as a "caregiver" who understands the need to nurture creative writers, especially in a world geared toward more "practical" pursuits.

"Creative writing is like painting or sculpture or music," Axton says. "It teaches people to express themselves, to broaden their reading and appreciation of the arts, and makes you more conscious of life around you."

The creative writing fellowships are divided into two categories: fiction and poetry. For 2008-2010, Slomski is the fiction fellow and Derek Mong is the poetry fellow.

"The fellowship is really beneficial because I don’t have to wait tables or teach five different classes and try to squeeze in writing time on top of that, when I might be exhausted," Slomski explains.

Now, instead of waiting tables in cafes, Slomski says she takes her laptop to cafes instead—and writes.

"riting requires discipline, but also freedom, and this fellowship allows you these things,"Slomski says. "I have a light teaching load and work with talented faculty like Paul Griner (director of UofL's creative writing program) and students on creative writing, and I'll have time to finish a manuscript and get published. There are so many benefits to this program for me."

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Fiction writer and Axton Fellow Heather Slomski/span>