| COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., Jan. 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- Ursinus College is seeking the next J.D. Salinger - a gifted young writer who could thrive in a  literary atmosphere. Ursinus, where Salinger spent the fall 1938 semester, is offering the selected student writer Salinger's old third floor room in Curtis Hall, a fieldstone residence hall overlooking the front lawn of the Collegeville, Pa., campus, along with a $25,000 annual four-year scholarship.
The award was developed by Ursinus English Professors, Jon Volkmer and Matthew Kozusko. "Whenever I have a young writer struggling to find a voice," says Volkmer, Director of Creative Writing, "I open Catcher in the Rye to page one. The student reads it and says, 'Yeah, I get it.'"
Salinger's short stay at Ursinus, where he took English literature, composition, biology, history and French III, is documented in the Ian Hamilton biography, "In Search of J.D. Salinger," and in a 1997 BBC commentary, which aired on PBS and was filmed partially at Ursinus. A memoir written by his daughter discloses that her father admired the "lack of pretension" at Ursinus. For one semester, Salinger, who stands among the freshman class in a group yearbook photo, was the drama critic for the Ursinus student newspaper. He wrote a column called "Musings of a Social Soph: The Skipped Diploma," copies of which remain in the library archives.
The Salinger Scholarship will be awarded every year, and is renewable for four years, for a total of $100,000. "If we'd had that kind of money to give to J.D.," says Volkmer, smiling, "Maybe he wouldn't have dropped out." But the exciting part for Volkmer is the dorm room. "The room has been renovated several times since the 1930's, but still has the same character. When I looked out the window on exactly the view he would have seen, it gave me chills." The scholarship winner will only get that view for one year, however, before having to make way for the next year's recipient.
 The college asks high school teachers or guidance counselors to nominate creative writers of "outstanding originality and potential," and asks them to look for "an unusual perspective, for quirky brilliance, for a voice." Application for the Salinger Award requires students to submit a portfolio of creative writing and a recommendation letter from a high school creative writing teacher. Finalists are invited to campus for an interview. Candidates should also be able to achieve admission to Ursinus.
"As many great writers, including Salinger, have shown, the best writers are often not the best students. In the spirit of Holden Caulfield, we're looking to help out the quirky kid with unique vision. This is not just another award for the high SAT crowd," Volkmer explains.
The scholarship is an extension of Ursinus' creative writing program, which offers fiction and poetry writing, as well as seminars in travel writing, playwriting, script writing, creative nonfiction, spoken word, and writing in the community.
While Kozusko was recruited to Ursinus as a Shakespeare scholar, the Salinger connection was important to him. He teaches seminars on Salinger and is working to collect and classify the Salinger memorabilia on campus. "There's actually a surprising amount," he says
Meanwhile, when prospective students to Ursinus are asked to name their favorite book, Catcher in the Rye wins, hands down. "The book's continuing influence," Volkmer notes, "is just amazing." What would J.D. himself make of all this? The reclusive writer isn't saying. But a framed letter in the lobby of the school's admissions office, dated March 15, 1963, and signed by Salinger, notes that he looks back "with a great deal of pleasure on my own days at Ursinus."
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CONTACT: Wendy Greenberg, Ursinus Media Relations, 610-409-3300
ABOUT THE COLLEGE: Ursinus College, founded in 1869, is a highly selective, nationally ranked, independent, coeducational liberal arts college, located on a scenic, wooded, 165-acre campus, 28 miles from Center City Philadelphia. Known for quality programs in the arts and sciences, it is one of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges to possess a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The college's web site is located at http://www.ursinus.edu. |
