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Contact:
Tom Davis
Troy Office of University Relations
334/670-3196
tomdavis@troy.edu
Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)
| Pulitzer Prize-winning author to be honored by Troy State University April 18 |
| Shirley
Ann Grau, who won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, will be presented
the first Hall-Waters Southern Prize for her career writing achievements
by Troy State University on Thursday, April 18. The general public as well as faculty, staff and students of TSU are invited to attend the prize award ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Adams Center Ballrooms on the TSU campus. The public is also invited to attend a reception and book-signing event beginning at 2:30 p.m. Grau, whose novel “The Keepers of the House” was chosen for the Pulitzer, will also be the guest of honor at the TSU Department of English’s annual Writing Festival on Friday, April 19. She will make a presentation to high school and middle school students participating in the festival beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Adams Center Theatre. “We are pleased to offer TSU students, the Troy community and our students visiting for the Writing Festival the opportunity to hear a major American writer,” Dr. Harold Kaylor, Chair of the Department of English, said. “We are also pleased that Shirley Ann Grau will be our first recipient of the Hall-Waters Prize. We are indebted to Dr. Wade Hall for his generosity to his alma mater in establishing this award. The Hall-Waters Southern Prize is endowed by TSU alumnus Dr. Wade Hall, an author and Professor Emeritus of English at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky. Dr. Hall founded the prize as a memorial to his parents, Wade Hall, Sr. and Sarah Elizabeth Waters Hall. The award will be presented annually to a person who has made significant contributions to Southern heritage and culture in history, literature or the arts. The annual Writing Festival is designed to encourage students to develop writing skills, Dr. Kaylor said. Cash prizes will be awarded to students in three age groups for critical essays and creative writings. SHIRLEY ANN GRAU'S BIO Shirley Ann Grau was raised primarily in New Orleans, but she attended Booth Academy in Montgomery before returning to her hometown to complete high school at Ursuline Academy and college at Sophie Newcomb College, a division of Tulane University. Grau married James Kern Fiebleman, a Tulane professor, and has four children: Ian, Nora, William and Katherine. She is the author of three collections of short stories, including “the Black Prince and Other Stories” published in 1955. She has written seven novels. Her first novel, “The Hard Blue Sky,” was published in 1958. Her best-known work for which she won the Pulitzer Prize, “The Keepers of the House,” was published in 1964. Her most recent novel was “The Condor Passes,” published in 2000. She has also contributed stories and articles to publications such at Atlantic, New Yorker, Redbook and Mademoiselle. She holds honorary doctorates from Rider College and Spring Hill College. ABOUT DR. WADE HALL AND THE HALL-WATERS SOUTHERN PRIZE Dr. Wade Hall, a graduate of Troy State University, is a native of Union Springs. He has lived in Louisville, Ky., since 1962, and is Professor Emeritus of English at Bellarmine College. He is the author of books, monographs, articles, plays and reviews relating to Southern history and literature. His most recent books include “Conecuh People: Words of Life from the Alabama Black Belt” and “High Upon the Hill: A History of Bellarmine College.” He is currently editing an anthology of 200 years of Kentucky writing for the University Press of Kentucky. Dr. Hall has funded an endowment at TSU to support the Hall-Waters Southern Prize, awarded annually to a person who has made significant contributions to Southern heritage and culture in history, literature or the arts. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Thursday, April 18
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