I’ve been awarded the Apicius Scholarship to attend the Symposium for Professional Food Writers at the Greenbrier. This is a big deal, and I’m truly excited to be going–and receiving a scholarship to go!
According to the Symposium’s website, the Apicius Scholarship is “awarded to a professional food writer whose prose rings with a clear voice and reflects the delicious joys of the table. In the spirit of Apicius, the first Roman to write cookbooks, the goal is to grant this award to that writer whose work will stand the test of time.”
This profoundly gratifies and humbles me. I won for writing “Not Your Granny’s Aspic,” which appeared in the spring 2010 issue of Edible Memphis. As is often the case with my assignments, I had so much fun doing the work that I forgot it was supposed to be work! So this is icing on a really yummy cake.
The timing of the award is propitious, since I’ve just completed my “52 Cuisines in 52 Weeks” blogging project and begun work on a book proposal based on it. The Symposium is the perfect place to carry my ideas.
I just wanted to share this news with you. Tomorrow I head to West Virginia to the Greenbrier, a stunning estate set in the Allegeny Mountains. I look forward to hobnobbing with other professional food writers and with publishers, editors and agents. Who knows what will happen? I feel like this is the next step up the ladder of my career as a food writer.
