UW–Madison’s Kate Vieira, a professor with the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, has won another writing award for her creative nonfiction work.
Vieira, who holds the Susan J. Cellmer Distinguished Chair in Literacy, was honored by the international Sustainable Arts Foundation (SAF), which supports artists and writers with children, for work on an in-progress memoir in essays about parenting across borders and languages.
“Your writing is sharp, funny, and revealing: a potent mixture,” the reviewers wrote in Vieira’s award notification letter. “We also really admire the work you do in the community — both at home and with your collaborators in Colombia.”
As Vieira wrote in her application to the Sustainable Arts Foundation: “I see this activism and my own creative production as fully integrated. I tell my story and work to help others tell theirs because I believe in the power of all our voices.”
Reviewers of Vieira’s writing sample were impressed with its style and transparency.
“This was a genuine pleasure to read. Vivid prose, apt metaphor, well-paced, and full of feeling,” one reviewer said.
Another stated: “There’s such a lovely honesty here… mistakes are made, owned, mocked, maybe even repeated, but still a sense that things can keep moving forward.”
Reflecting on the award, Vieira says, “I feel seen in the best way. It is especially meaningful that SAF recognized both my collaborative, community engaged, scholarly work, and the craft of my writing sample.”
“The English language arts are arts,” Vieira adds. “Human arts, interpersonal arts, peace-building arts. When we listen to our own voices and desire for expression, we can also listen to those of others.”