St. Louis Writer Eileen G'Sell Wins $50K Art Prize

St. Louis-based arts and culture writer Eileen G'Sell has been awarded the Rabkin Foundation Prize for Arts Journalism, which comes with a $50,000 cash prize. The annual award is given to eight arts journalists across the U.S.

The prize is given by the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation. Writers don't get to apply; they have to be nominated. Sixteen eminences in the visual arts field around the U.S. are asked to identify “the essential visual art journalist working in your part of the country.” Candidates are asked to submit two recent published articles and a CV — and a distinguished panel of judges takes it from there.

In addition to writing about visual arts for Belt Magazine and Hyperallergic, G'Sell is a respected film critic whose work has recently appeared in the Riverfront Times and its sister papers. (You can read her take on Barbie here, or Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. here.) She's also the official film critic at the Hopkins Review.

G'Sell's second book of poetry, Francofilaments, will be out next year from Broken Sleep Books. She also works as a senior lecturer at Washington University.

G'Sell says this is the second time she was nominated. And yes, she's ecstatic to win. She knows it's a huge honor and the money doesn't hurt, either.

"It's not going to change my day-to-day life so much as my overall sense of financial security," G'Sell tells us via email. "Arts writing (as you know!) pays very, very little; some of it doesn't pay at all. As a freelancer who earns a living in a non-tenured academic teaching position, this prize means that I can afford to turn down extra adjunct courses that takes time away from my writing.

"I also plan to donate more money every year to anti-carceral organizations like Arch City Defenders. Last but not least, refresh my footwear and splurge on a pair of boots for the fall!" This being Eileen G'Sell, we know they're going to be fabulous.



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