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Since 1997, The Leila Lenore Heasley Prize has been awarded annually to a distinguished representative of American or international letters, theater, or cinema. Each spring, the Heasley Prize recipient gives a free public lecture, reading, or performance at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. The winner also discusses his or her work with the public at a Writer's Life luncheon. |
Heasley Prize Winner 2007
The 2007 Heasley Prize winner and acclaimed American novelist Kent Haruf was born in Pueblo, Colo., and educated at Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop. Before becoming a writer, Haruf worked on a chicken farm in Colorado, a construction site in Wyoming, a rehabilitation hospital in Denver, a hospital in Phoenix, a presidential library in Iowa, an alternative high school in Wisconsin, as an English teacher with the Peace Corps in Turkey and at colleges in Nebraska and Illinois. His first novel, The Tie That Binds (1984), received a Whiting Foundation Award and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation. Where You Once Belonged followed in 1990. Plainsong, published in 1999, became an immediate bestseller. The New York Times called it “a novel so foursquare, so delicate and lovely, that it has the power to exalt the reader.” Plainsong won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award and the Maria Thomas Award in Fiction. It was later made into a film and is presently being adapted for the stage. Eventide, a sequel to Plainsong, was published in 2004. Library Journal described the writing as “honest storytelling that is compelling and rings true,” and the New York Times saw it as a “repeat performance” and “too goodhearted.” Haruf currently lives with his wife, Cathy, in Salida, Colo., and has three daughters. Past Winners of the Heasley Prize
Bret Lott, 2006 According to a book reviewer at the Los Angeles Times, Bret Lott is “one of the most important and imaginative writers in America today. His eye for detail is unparalleled; his vision – where he looks – is like no one else’s in the country.” Similar praises have been lauded by numerous other critics, including one at The Boston Globe, who claims that Lott “has a gift for making the ordinary seem luminous.” Lott is the author of the novels A Song I Knew by Heart, Jewel (an Oprah’s Book Club Selection in 1999), Reed’s Beach, A Stranger’s House, The Man Who Owned Vermont, and The Hunt Club; the story collections How to Get Home and A Dream of Old Leaves; and the memoir Fathers, Sons, and Brothers. His recent book of essays on the writing life is Before We Get Started. He lives with his wife in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he serves as editor of The Southern Review.
Tim Gautreaux, 2005 Tim Gautreaux is the author of two collections of short stories (Same Place, Same Things and Welding with Children,) and two novels (The Next Step in the Dance and The Clearing). His fiction has appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, GQ and many other magazines, and it has often been selected for annual prize anthologies such as Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, and O. Henry Prize Stories, as well as for university textbooks. Among his awards are the National Magazine Award, Southeastern Booksellers Award for best novel, Mid-South Booksellers award, and a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Fellowship. His story collection, Welding with Children, was chosen by the New York Times as a notable book of the year. His latest novel, The Clearing, published by Knopf, has made several top ten lists, including the USA Today list of the ten best books of 2003.
Lee Smith, 2004 Award-winning author Lee Smith has written over a dozen novels and short-story collections. Her works portray the richness and diversity of the modern South while exploring and illuminating the importance of personal and family history. A native of Grundy, Virginia, Smith draws on her Appalachian roots in such novels as Oral History (1983), Family Linen (1985), and Fair and Tender Ladies (1988). Her other works include Black Mountain Breakdown (1981), The Devil’s Dream (1992), and Saving Grace (1995). Her most recent novel is The Last Girls (2002).
Sena Jeter Naslund won universal acclaim for her 1999 novel
Ahab's Wife. A native of Alabama,
Naslund received the M.A. and Ph.D. from the prestigious University of Iowa Writer's
Workshop. Naslund is also the author of Ice Skating at the North Pole,
The Animal Way to Love, Sherlock in Love and The
Disobedience of Water.
Award-winning author Jill McCorkle's works include Tending to Virginia, Ferris Beach, and Carolina Moon, Crash Diet,
Final Vinyl Days, and her latest collection of short stories, Creatures of Habit.
The author of A Woman of Independent Means, Life Sentences, Joanna's Husband and David's Wife, and Home Free, Hailey's multi-faceted career also includes working as a creative consultant for the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
television show.
The author of Blue Highways, PrairyErth and River-Horse, William Least Heat-Moon
is one of the most distinct and insightful contemporary observers of American history, culture,
and customs.
Poet and novelist Fred Chappell is one of the most respected writers of our time.
His novels include Look Back All the Green Valley and Brighten the Corner Where You Are. His poetry collections include
Midquest and Wind Mountain.
Novelist Donald Harington's
works explore universal themes in the fictional Ozark town of
Stay More -- as original a literary setting as exists in contemporary literature. His books include When Angels Rest, Butterfly Weed and The
Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks.
The author of Before and After, Civil Wars and Half A Heart, critically
acclaimed novelist, poet, and dramatist Rosellen Brown was the first winner of the Heasley Prize.
The Leila Lenore Heasley Prize was established through the generosity of Dr. Martha Heasley Cox, Lyon College alumna and Professor Emerita of English at San Jose State University in California. Dr. Cox and other members of the Heasley family established the Heasley Prize in memory of Leila Lenore Heasley (Lyon College Class of 1935), and in honor of Jesse Richard Heasley, Lillian Seay Heasley, Ruthel L. Heasley (Lyon '28), Therrell Heasley (Lyon '32), Paul Heasley (Lyon '47) and his family. The Heasley Prize was established to recognize and perpetuate the strong ties between the Heasley family, the Batesville community, and Lyon College.
Please contact the Heasley Prize Committee
for information. Lyon College Homepage 2300 Highland Road Batesville, Arkansas 72501 Last revised on September 19, 2006 |
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Kent
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