Mississippi Valley State University News July 15, 2016 Zheng Receives Mississippi Arts Commission Minigrant John Zheng of Greenwood, a professor of English at MVSU, has been awarded a mini-grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) in July 2016. This mini-grant is a portion of the $1.61 million in grants the Commission awarded in 2016-2017 and the grants are made possible by continued funding from the Mississippi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. "Artists of all kinds are the heart of the Mississippi Creative Economy," said Malcolm White, executive director of MAC. "They significantly contribute to the economic growth of their communities and our state, and the Mississippi Arts Commission is honored to support their outstanding work." Zheng has published five books including The Other World of Richard Wright and African American Haiku: Cultural Visions with the University Press of Mississippi. He also won an award in an ekphrastic haiku competition in Japan in March 2016. Having been active in exchanging ideas about haiku poetics with scholars and poets at home and abroad, Zheng is looking forward to using the grant to travel to the Haiku Society of American South Region conference. "I am grateful to MAC for its support of arts and of my writing career. This is the fourth time I have received a mini-grant from MAC. In the past years, I also was a two- time recipient of the top literary artist fellowship and one writer-in-residence grant," said Zheng. The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency serving residents of the state by providing grants that support programs to enhance communities; assist artists and arts organizations; promote the arts in education and celebrate Mississippi's cultural heritage. Established in 1968, the Mississippi Arts Commission is the funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson and other private sources. The agency serves as an active supporter and promoter of arts in community life and in arts education. For information from the Mississippi Arts Commission, please contact Susan Liles, 601/359-6031 or sliles@arts.ms.gov<mailto:sliles@arts.ms.gov> SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) 404-577-5158 (fax) Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/ 7th Biennial Membership Meeting: Register here http://hbculibraries.org/html/2016meeting-form.html for the October 10,11 Membership Meeting in Atlanta. NEW DIGS!!!! The HBCU Library Alliance has relocated to the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library. Transition process is near completion. Stay tuned!!! Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314-4207 www.auctr.edu Honor the ancestors, honor the children.