Research project: Friulian Dialect and The Madre Lingua in Translation
Destination: Italy 
Home city: Nashville, Tennessee

“After the completion of my third semester of coursework at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, I will travel to Aviano, Italy, to conduct research for my MFA thesis in fiction–a full-length novel–as well as my Graduate Certificate in Literary Translation. My project concerns the complexities of regional dialect, linguistic identity, and the ‘Madre Lingua.’ Through this research, I hope to examine the intersection of fiction and translation in real-time–exploring the ways in which the act of translation becomes both a narrator and a character in the stories we tell. By providing me with protected time to finish my manuscript and translation certificate, the Stanley Award will function as crucial scaffolding and support at a pivotal time in my writing life.”