The Western North Carolina Historical Association is now accepting nominations for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.
Originated by the Louis Lipinsky family, the Award has been presented by the WNC Historical Association since 1955. The Award is now a partnership between WNCHA and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Board. The deadline for submission of nominated works is July 15, 2015.
To be considered, an entry must be a published work of fiction, nonfiction, drama or poetry. It must be a first edition work; revised editions of published works will not be considered for the Award. The publication date must be in the calendar year 2014 or no later than July 1, 2015. The author must be a native of the western North Carolina region, or a resident of western North Carolina for at least twelve months prior to the closing date for the Award. Or, an author may also qualify if the work submitted has a focus on or setting in western North Carolina.
Western North Carolina includes the Qualla Boundary and the following 25 counties: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey.
The Award Panel this year consists of Michael Sartisky, PhD, Chair, President Emeritus of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities; Richard Graham, PhD, President, WNCHA; Wayne Caldwell, former Wolfe Prize recipient; Jim Stokely, board member, Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Committee; Dan Pierce, PhD, chair, Dept of History, UNCA and WNCHA Board member; Gwin Jones, Immediate Past Chair WNCHA; Tom Muir, Director, Thomas Wolfe Memorial; Ellen Carr, board member, Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Committee ; Mimi Fenton, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School, WCU, Thomas Wright, Owner, Battery Park Book Exchange, and Kay Manley, former book store owner.
An awards ceremony and reception, in honor of the 2015 Award recipient, will be held in early 2016.
The Association presented the first Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to Wilma Dykeman in 1955 for The French Broad. The Award has continued to be funded, in part, by Mrs. E. Frank Edwinn, a member of the Lipinsky family and for the next five years by WNCHA, and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Board, both with support from Michael Sartisky, PhD. Other recipients of this prestigious Award include John Paris, Gail Godwin, John Ehle, Charles Frazier, Robert Brunk, Michael McFee, Lee Smith, Ron Rash, and Wayne Caldwell.
Robert Morgan was the recipient of the 2014 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to for his novel The Road From Gap Creek.