The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded grants totaling $270,000 to North Carolina recipients, including $20,000 to a local poet and $10,000 to the Stecoah Valley Arts Center.

Mary Adams, a poet based in Cullowhee, received a $20,000 Literature Fellowship, which is the Arts Endowment’s most direct investment in American creativity. The grant encourages the production of new work by allowing writers the time and means to write. The agency received 1,590 applications for its Creative Writing Fellowships in Poetry. Adams was one of two North Carolinian poets chosen to receive the $20,000 award.

The Stecoah Valley Arts, Crafts & Educational Center, Inc. in Robbinsville received a Challenge America grant of $10,000 to support “An Appalachian Evening,” a series of traditional entertainment and music events connected to Appalachian heritage. Each “Appalachian Evening” is preceded by a lecture or workshop by the participating artists.