News From the Department
North Carolina Authors Honored With Awards
For more information
contact Mike Hill at (919) 807-7288 or
Fay Mitchell Henderson at (919) 807-7389.
( RALEIGH—Oct. 9) – Authors who grapple with the complexities of growing up, overcoming obstacles and being true to place are among those being honored by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. The North Carolina Book Awards will be presented at the N.C. Museum of History on Friday, Oct. 27. Reservations for the evening awards program are being accepted now.
Clyde Edgerton of Wilmington will receive The Ragan Old North State Award for Nonfiction for his book “Solo: My Adventures in the Air.” It details Edgerton’s fighter pilot training, and combat missions and losing comrades in Vietnam. It examines the nature of courage. Edgerton is only the second writer, after Tim McLaurin, to receive the non-fiction and fiction awards from the Literary and Historical Association. He is on the creative writing faculty at UNC-Wilmington.
The Shelton Laurel Massacre, involving the deaths of 13 men and boys during the Civil War, demonstrates hard truths explored in “The World Made Straight,” by Ron Rash of Cullowhee. He will receive the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. It is the tale of Travis, a modern teen-aged high school drop-out in Madison County, who discovers a marijuana field, takes some plants to sell, and becomes friends with the farmer who rescues Travis from the farmer’s bear trap. His rescuer becomes teacher and friend. Lyrical and poetic, the book examines human dilemma directly and intelligently. Rash is the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University.
Painful truths also abound in “Blue,” by Joyce Moyer Hostetter of Newton, who will receive the American Association of University Women Award for Juvenile Literature. Ann Fay Honeycutt, at age 13, is anointed “the man of the house” by her father as he leaves to fight in World War II. Ann has to cope with a horribly depressed mother, twin little sisters, and a brother who contracts polio. The disease is rampant in western North Carolina, and she gets it as well. Ann discovers the healing power of friendship when sent to a polio hospital in Hickory. The book rings true, has regional flavor, and offers striking scenes and thematic development. Hostetter has run a preschool program, and has taught special education and drama camp.
“Selected Poems” by James Applewhite, of Durham, chronologically arranges selections from his nine earlier books of poetry. For the anthology he will receive the Roanoke –Chowan Award for Poetry. White’s poetry is deeply rooted in the rhythms and history of rural North Carolina, where he was raised. His work is imbued with an appreciation for the rivers, trees and flowers that define the region that he loves, yet is mindful of the distortions, denials and prejudices that confound the region. Applewhite brings perspective and rich focus to his native South. He is on the English faculty of Duke University.
The R. Hunt Parker Memorial Award, in recognition of contributions to Tar Heel literature, will be presented to Laurence Avery, English professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Christopher Crittenden Memorial Award for contributions to North Carolina history will be presented to the UNC Press in recognition of that publisher’s long record of issuing scholarly work about the state’s past. The Newsome Award for Local History for outstanding programs in local history will be presented to the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society in Wilmington and to the Cashiers Historical Society in Cashiers.
The Literary and Historical Association also awards student literary magazines. In the high school division, Enloe High School in Raleigh is first place winner for Stone Soup. Providence High School of Charlotte is second place winner for Roars and Whispers. Third place will go to Northern Vance High School of Henderson for Crinkum-Crankum. Myers Park High School of Charlotte will receive honorable mention for The Pegasus.
Middle School awards will be presented to Christ Covenant School in Winterville for Soli DeoGloria, Seventy-First Classical Middle School of Fayetteville, for Classical Quill, and third place to LeRoy Martin Middle School of Raleigh, for Illusions.
Registration is at 12:30 p.m. at the Museum of History for the free afternoon program. The dinner program starts at the museum at 6 p.m. and will include a lecture, Paul Green’s Legacy, by Laurence Avery, and presentation of the Newsome, Roanoke-Chowan, Sir Walter Raleigh, Old North State, R. Hunt Parker, and Christopher Crittenden awards. To register, contact Parker Backstrom, 919-807-7280 or parker.backstrom@ncmail.net. Registration is $40 and due by Thursday, Oct. 19.
The Office of Archives and History is within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. For more information about the Department of Cultural Resources visit www.ncculture.com.
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