Fisher receives prose fellowship

VERNON — Eileen Fanning Fisher of Vernon has received a 2009 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award in the prose category, for her recently published a memoir: “Read for the Cure,” an inspirational book for cancer patients and their families. Fisher was a previous recipient of two Puffin Grants for her newsprint literary publication, “The Thing Magazine,” which was distributed throughout Vernon, Newton, Sparta and Warwick, N.Y. It featured the works of artists from all of those towns. Her newest publication has been recommended by cancer survivors to others who need help coping with the disease. “That book has its own audience,” said Fisher. “People who need to know that what we believe can be as much a part of the healing process as pharmaceuticals. I wrote it because I thought that a great gift to give a cancer patient was the gift of hope.” Fisher is now currently at work on another book: “A Memoir in the Third Person,” which details the experience of a patient in a nursing home/physical rehabilitation center. Her progress on this book, she added, will be helped by the support of the award. “I had submitted to the council parts of a novel I had written and I was quite honored to have received that award.” said Fisher. “Any time an artist’s work is acknowledged it gives them a great boost to continue to create.” Fisher can reached at readforthecure@earthlink.net