I just got back from the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award Ceremony, which was tiring but very exciting. I’ve got my check for $25,000 and my sabbatical begins today! Highlights: the five other recipients were wonderful, and we got to hear each other’s work during the reading at NYU on Friday night. Also, the guest speaker for the award ceremony was Elizabeth Alexander, who wrote Obama’s inaugural poem. For a picture of all of us together, click here. (This is also where you click to see me wearing a rose corsage…)