Olivia Kate Cerrone

Winter 2012.

Cerrone is a writer and educator. She recently won the 2012 Mason’s Road Literary Award (sponsored by Fairfield University’s creative writing MFA program). Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in a wide variety of literary magazines, including New South, War, Literature & The Arts, The Portland Review, The Dos Passos Review, Gigantic Sequins, Word Riot, and Italian Americana, where she won first place in the journal’s 2012 short story contest. She is currently at work on The Hunger Saint, a novel set in contemporary Sicily. Chapter excerpts have appeared in Hot Metal Bridge and were translated in the Italian literary journals El-Ghibli and ScrittInediti. She earned an MFA from New York University, where she studied under E.L. Doctorow, Francine Prose and Chuck Wachtel, among others.

Curatorial Statement of Intent:

Human understanding is the impetus behind why I produce literary fiction. As a writer who believes in positive social change through the arts, I strive to create through a lens of compassion. Since completing my MFA in creative writing from New York University, I have been fortunate enough to participate in residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Jentel Artist Residency Program, the Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency, the Gloucester Writers Center, Art Farm, The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center. Through each of these amazing residency experiences, I’ve been fortunate enough to engage with nurturing communities of professional artists. This involvement has greatly helped enhance my artistic development and led to significant advancements in my career. I am proud to serve as a curator for Nola Studiola, and help direct the spotlight to individuals who foster great opportunities for creating community among writers and artists.