By Tammy Ruhle, Daily Forty-Niner May 1, 1997
Cal State Long Beach alumna Millicent C. Borges recently won a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts' grants for writing poetry.
The Long Beach native will receive $20,000, which will allow her to continue projects in the coming year, according to Borges.
The poet graduated from CSULB in 1988 as an English major and began her graduate work in literature before receiving her M.A. in professional writing from USC in 1993.
While at CSULB, she received scholarships including the Professional Writers League of Long Beach, The State of California Pre-doctoral Grant Fund and the Ron Foote Prize for Poetry.
As an active writer, Borges' work has been published in literary publications such as, Seattle Review, Southern California Anthology Madison Review and G.W. Review.
Finalists are chosen through a three-step process, according to NEA officials.
First, applications are reviewed by experts in the field.
Second, the National Council of Arts, a 26-member council comprised of patrons, administrators and creative and artistic persons within the art community serving six-year terms, reviews applications and selects finalists. Finally, the chairman of NEA approves or rejects the councils selections.
Applicants must submit a written explanation of why they need the grant and what they plan to do with the money.
"For instance, if a writer plans to use the money to finish a book, they need to put that in the application," an NEA representatives said.
In addition to an essay, applicants must be published in several literary publications.
Poetry is the most competitive category of the NEA grants, with only 40 grants awarded out of the 737 applicants.
"Because of recent [congressional cuts of NEA grants], the process for choosing finalists is stricter.
Only about half as many applications were accepted because of requirements for applying are more difficult [due to fewer available grants and cuts in NEA staff]," an NEA representative said.
Congress has cut funding by 40 percent and eliminated almost all grant categories including those for painters, choreographers and sculptors. Creative writing and literature has been the only category saved from the cuts.
"Unfortunately, [the NEA] is that last hope for writers," an NEA representative said.