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Posted by: David Bunch

Scott Cairns is a poet and faculty member in the creative writing program at Missouri University, and he has won this year's Guggenheim Fellowship.

The prestigious award is given to recognize a recipient’s exceptional achievements and promise. The accompanying cash prize — which fluctuates based on need but in 2005 averaged at $38,236 — is intended to allow winners to further develop their talents, abilities and interests with as little constraint as possible.

Cairns is a poet who has published six volumes of poetry. He writes about faith and spirituality.

Much of Cairns' work is religious in tone or inspiration, owing to the fact that he is a former Baptist and Presbyterian who converted to Orthodox Christianity. However, his poems are anything but safe. His work blends the religious and sensual with humor and fierceness in what he describes as his desire to glimpse God in creation and other people.

This past April, Ninety and Nine editor and MU alumnus Kent Curry blogged live from Calvin College while listening to Cairns (and others) speak about creative writing. (Follow the link and scroll down to view).