Dierking received the grant to assist in promoting her second book of poetry, “Northern Oracle,” scheduled for publication this summer by Spout Press. Prior to the Jerome Foundation grant, Dierking received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Loft Literary Center. Her first book of poetry, “One Red Eye,” was published in 2001, and she is widely published in journals and anthologies.

Dierking has taught humanities courses, from the Renaissance to post-modernism, and women's studies, at ARCC for three years. She sees the grant as beneficial to not only herself but her students as well.

"Grants such as this one help keep my creative writing career viable and enable me to bring my experience as a working artist into the classroom,” says Dierking. “As a working artist, I hope I demonstrate to my students that art and artists are all around, not only found in museums or in textbooks, and that they should value their own creative potential."

Watch for a public reading from Dierking’s new book in the Fall 2007 at ARCC. For more information about Anoka-Ramsey Community College award-winning faculty members and the courses they teach, visit www.AnokaRamsey.edu.