Release Date: January 27, 2006

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Chad Simpson, Monmouth College lecturer in English, has received one of eleven $7,000 Illinois Arts Council Fellowships awarded in 2006 in the prose category.

The agency’s major program for individual artist support, the annual competition recognizes Illinois artists of exceptional talent in recognition of their outstanding work and commitment within the arts. Awards are made based upon the quality of the works submitted and the evolving professional accomplishments of the applicant.

While fellowships are awarded annually, the program’s categories rotate on a two-year basis. Other fellowships awarded in 2006 included choreography, crafts, ethnic and folk arts, media arts, new performance forms and scriptworks. Simpson was the lone $7,000 recipient in any category from west central Illinois.

A 1998 graduate of Monmouth, Simpson earned his MFA in creative writing from Southern Illinois University last May. He received an honorable mention in the fiction category in The Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Contest for 2004 and has published short stories in McSweeney’s, Sycamore Review and Gulfstream.

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