Vernon - Eileen Fanning Fisher of Vernon was recently awarded a guest artist in residency scholarship for writing at Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton. Fanning Fisher, a graduate of the BMI Lehman Engel Songwriting for Musical Theatre Workshop in Manhattan, wrote a musical and nine songs while at Peters Valley. She is the author of two books, Read for the Cure! Or How I Put God Above Cancer, which will be published later this summer, and The Watercress Girl. She has written numerous non-fiction essays, published in Hudson Valley Magazine, written features for the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., and was previously employed by the Daily News in NYC. “I like to write to try to expose what lays beneath the surfaces of things,” says Fanning Fisher. “If my work can help another to gain ground to climb to another rung of consciousness, or gather some strength to go forward, to endeavor to choose to persevere ...I would consider that the utmost privilege.” Fanning Fisher is also the editor and publisher of The Thing Magazine, a new Sussex County literary publication, which was awarded a Puffin Grant in 2005. She is currently awaiting further grant approval. “Those first issues, I was learning,” says Fanning Fisher. “Now it’s time to see if this part of New Jersey wants to get behind the enormous talent we have been hiding up here in the Highlands. I think if people are tired of all the turnpike’ jokes, then maybe we ought to do something about it.” She can be reached via e-mail at thethingmagazine@earthlink.net. Images of other artists awarded winter residencies and scholarships can be found on the Peters Valley Web site at petersvalley.org. Guest residencies at Peters Valley provide time and space for artists to concentrate and create without everyday distractions. This was the first year such residencies were offered and the response was overwhelming, said Jimmy Clark, executive director. “I cannot imagine a better environment for the creation of artwork than the surroundings and atmosphere of Peters Valley,” said Clark. Although the residency program is open to all artists across the nation, all N.J. artists were awarded scholarship stipends to help fund their stay. Peters Valley Craft Center is a non-profit educational center for the exploration, promotion and practice of the craft arts, located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The residency and scholarship programs receive support from the N.J. State Council of the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Pheasant Hill Foundation, as well as individual donors. For information, log on to petersvalley.org.