Senate Resolution 21

(As Adopted by Senate)

A RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE MISSISSIPPI SENATE TO ACCOMPLISHED WRITER, POET AND EDUCATOR DR. ANN FISHER-WIRTH AS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2023 GOVERNOR'S ARTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LITERATURE AND POETRY.

WHEREAS, the Governor's Arts Awards Program has announced its 2023 recipients, which include accomplished writer, poet and educator Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth as the 2023 Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Literature and Poetry; and

WHEREAS, established in 1988, Governor's Arts Awards are given to individuals and organizations to recognize outstanding work in the artistic disciplines, as well as arts-based community development and arts patronage in Mississippi. The awards are presented in partnership with the Governor's Office and signify the important relationship between government and the arts; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth is an accomplished writer and educator recognized internationally for her poetry, scholarly works, and commitment to ecological causes. In 1988, she and her husband, Peter Wirth, moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where both would begin long tenures at the University of Mississippi. Fisher-Wirth's sixth book of poems, The Bones of Winter Birds, was published by Terrapin Press in February 2019. Her fifth book, Mississippi, is a poetry/photography collaboration with Delta photographer Maude Schuyler Clay, a 2015 Governor's Arts Award recipient. Her other books of poems are Dream Cabinet, Carta Marina, Blue Window, and Five Terraces, and the chapbooks The Trinket Poems, Walking Wu-Wei's Scroll, and Slide Shows. With Laura-Gray Street she coedited The Ecopoetry Anthology, published by Trinity University Press in 2013. Her poems appear widely and have received numerous awards, including a Malahat Review Long Poem Prize, the Rita Dove Poetry Award, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Award, three Mississippi Arts Commission fellowships, and thirteen Pushcart nominations including a Special Mention. A senior fellow and board member of Black Earth Institute, Fisher-Wirth was the 2017 Anne Spencer Poet in Residence at Randolph College; and

WHEREAS, Fisher-Wirth has had a senior Fulbright lectureship to the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and has held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Uppsala University in Sweden. In 2006, she was President of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment; and

WHEREAS, before her recent retirement, Fisher-Wirth taught poetry and other subjects for 33 years at the University of Mississippi. In addition to her work as a poet, educator, and scholarly writer, she has dedicated both time and energy to community causes and the environment. She taught poetry writing to incarcerated men at Parchman Penitentiary and led the university's minor in Environmental Studies; and

WHEREAS, she is married to Peter Wirth; between them they have five children and six grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we pay tribute and express appreciation for the talent of a Mississippi author, poet, educator and mentor who has made Mississippi a better place and exemplifies the artistic and literary traditions of our great state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby extend the recognition of the Mississippi Senate to accomplished writer, poet and educator Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth as the recipient of the 2023 Governor's Arts Award for excellence in literature and poetry and extend our congratulations to an artistic-literary leader on this auspicious occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth as part of the Governor's Arts Awards presentation and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.