Faulkner-Wisdom Award Edgartown resident Michael Ditchfield won the Faulkner-Wisdom award for his essay Zen and the Art of Dementia.

The judge, author Rodger Kamentz, commented on the winning essay: “Applying humor, wit and wisdom to a very difficult situation, the author grounds us in a narrative full of affecting incidents. Through particulars he brings us to a deeper felt understanding of what it is like to tend a parent suffering from dementia.”

Mr. Ditchfield holds a master’s degree in social work and a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and political science. As a social worker on the Island, he founded and ran a poetry-writing group for seniors with dementia at The Anchors Senior Center, publishing their short book of poetry Full Circle: Poems of Vineyard Elders.