Award-winning poet and author Barbara Fant will lead Thurber House.
Fant brings years of writing experience and nonprofit leadership in Columbus and Los Angeles to the literary hub and museum on Jefferson Avenue in downtown Columbus.
She will make an appearance at the organization's ceremony for the Thurber Prize for American Humor Thursday night and will officially start in her new role in September.
WOSU's Allie Vugrincic talked with Fant about her writing journey and her vision for Thurber House's future.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: Start off by telling me about your background and experience.
BARBARA FANT: So, I'm a writer. I'm a poet. I've been writing and performing for almost 20 years. Educator — been teaching, more so like healing-informed poetry workshops. Yeah, nonprofit and the arts.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: Are you from Columbus originally?
BARBARA FANT: I'm from Youngstown, Ohio originally and went to college in Columbus. I have been in Los Angeles for the last five years, but most of my poetry cultivation comes from Columbus.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: So, what drew you specifically to Thurber house and this position?
BARBARA FANT: Thurber House has always had a special place in my heart. I started out really as a teaching artist at Thurber House years ago. And then over time, as my books would come out, they would invite me back to do the author series. And then I actually served on Thurber House's board for about a year.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: Can you speak a little bit about Thurber House's mission and how you see your new role in carrying out that mission?
BARBARA FANT: So, Thurber House's mission is really to cultivate a space for writers and authors in the community. And anyone who is really like a lover of creativity and humor. I feel like writing is super important for me. Writing saved my life. It's always been like this healing space for me and I wanna be able to do that and showcase that for others.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: Can we expect any changes under your leadership with Thurber House?
BARBARA FANT: I think that a huge part of my role is to sustain the mission in the way that it's been going. It's been going strong, but I also want to maybe brighten it a little bit, kind of push into spaces where we haven't necessarily gone, connect with some organizations that maybe we haven't necessarily connected with.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: Now, the arts and humanities took a lot of hits since the pandemic. A few years ago, Thurber House was talking about attendance being down and it taking a long time to recover. What is Thurber House's current situation as far as attendance and finances?
BARBARA FANT: I think that, you know, we've been doing really well. And I know that Thurber Prize has also...it's always a big fundraiser for us and we've done really well, that's tonight. So, I'm excited to see how folks show up in numbers.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: And speaking of fundraising, with the prices of everything up, a lot of people feel like they don't have a lot of extra money in the budget. What is your fundraising strategy given the current climate?
BARBARA FANT: We'll continue to do what we have done in the past. I think maybe we'll be a little bit more creative, you know? And I think that we're just continuing to build new bridges with organizations and funders.
ALLIE VUGRINCIC: Broadly speaking, what do you think Thurber House's future looks like?
BARBARA FANT: Oh, I think Thurber House's future is extremely bright, especially given our core mission with the literary arts and serving folks who need to heal through writing, who strive to write, to create and to laugh. And I think that's something that we're always gonna continue to do. We just get the opportunity to do it all the more.
