
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994                   TAG: 9407260001
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOLLINS PROFESSOR WINS WRITING RESIDENCIES

Hollins College English professor Rita Ciresi was recently awarded two writing residencies this summer.

In recognition of her prize-winning short story collection and her novel-in-progress, Ciresi will be attending the Ragsdale Foundation, an artists community in Lake Forest, Ill. The Ragsdale residency allows visual artists, writers and composers to concentrate on their work in a secluded setting.

Ciresi will also spend time this summer at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a working retreat for artists, at Mount San Angelo, near Sweet Briar College.

Ciresi, who has taught literature and creative writing at Hollins for two years, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times book award for "Mother Rocket," a collection of short stories. "Mother Rocket" also won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction.

by CNB