The Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award and Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Project were developed by the Department of English at Shepherd University in 1998 to celebrate and honor the work of a distinguished contemporary Appalachian writer. The literary residency was designed to function in concert with the Appalachian Heritage Festival, an annual celebration of Appalachian artistic and cultural traditions, sponsored by the Performing Arts Series at Shepherd (PASS).

To encourage aspiring West Virginia writers and to promote the kind of networking that fosters literary achievement, Shepherd University developed, in fall 2001, the West Virginia Fiction Competition. Fiction submissions from across the state of West Virginia are judged by a panel of teachers and writers, with final selection of the winning works of fiction made by the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence. The first-prize winner of the fiction competition will receive a cash prize of $500.

 

2008 WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE
ADRIANA TRIGIANI

"The Voice of the 'Ferriner': The Fiction and Film of Adriana Trigiani"

SCHEDULE

Monday, September 29, 2008
7:00 p.m. Screening of award-winning documentary Queens of the Big Time, Reynolds Hall, sponsored by the Shepherdstown Film Society.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
7:00 p.m. "The Critics Corner and Talking about Big Stone Gap," Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, sponsored by the Friends of the Shepherdstown Library and the Center for Teaching and Learning at Shepherd.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008
8:00 p.m. Scarborough Society Lecture and Awards Ceremony, "The Voice of the 'Ferriner': An Expatriate's View of the Appalachians in Literature," (Ms. Trigiani will receive the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award and present her keynote address at Erma Ora Byrd Hall, followed by McMurran reception and book signing). The WV Fiction Writers awards will also be presented by Ms. Trigiani.

Thursday, October 2, 2008
10:30 a.m. Reading at Martinsburg Public Library and Reception.
3:00-4:30 p.m. Writers' Master Class with Adriana Trigiani, Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies.
6:00 p.m. "The Writing Life, with Adriana Trigiani," Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies.

Friday, October 3, 2008
8:00 p.m. Evening reading of award-winning work of fiction at The Appalachian Heritage Festival Concert.

Saturday, October 4, 2008
8:00 p.m. Appalachian Heritage Festival and Festival Concert.

 

WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE COMMITTEE

Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt
Project Director
sshurbut@shepherd.edu

Monica Lingenfelter
Project Fiscal Manager
mlingenf@shepherd.edu

Rachael Meads
PASS Director/Events Coordinator
rmeads@shepherd.edu

Ethan Fischer
West Virginia New Writers Fiction Competition Chair
ffischer@shepherd.edu

Dr. Heidi Hanrahan
Faculty Committee Member
hhanraha@shepherd.edu

Susan Hayden
West Virginia Center for the Book
haydens@wvlc.lib.wv.us

David Hoffman
Education and Cultural Resources Coordinator
david.hoffman@loudoun.k12.va.us

Megan Moore
Webmaster
mmoore06@shepherd.edu

John Sheridan
Dean of Libraries and Information Sciences
jsherida@shepherd.edu

Dr. Timothy Nixon
Faculty Committee Member
tnixon@shepherd.edu

Dr. Alan Tinkler
Faculty Committee Member
atinkler@shepherd.edu

Charlotte Henning
Community Committee Member
charhenning76@msn.com

David Porterfield
Community Committee Member
porterd@martin.lib.wv.us

Brenda Feltner
English Department Secretary
bfeltner@shepherd.edu

 
 

PAST RESIDENCIES

2007 Writer-in-Residence
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

2006 Writer-in-Residence
Terry Kay

2005 Writer-in-Residence
Jayne Anne Phillips

2004 Writer-in-Residence
Fred Chappell

2003 Writer-in-Residence
Robert Morgan

2002 Writer-in-Residence
Denise Giardina

2001 Writer-in-Residence
George Ella Lyon

2000 Writer-in-Residence
Marilou Awiakta

1999 Writer-in-Residence
Sharon McCrumb

 

 

 

Appalachian Culture and Studies Links


The Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Project is made possible with financial support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, in partnership with Shepherd University, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Shepherdstown Public Library, the Scarborough Society, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

 
For more information:
Dr. Sylvia Shurbutt
304/876-5207 or 5220
sshurbut@shepherd.edu

Department of English and Modern Languages
304/876-5220 www.shepherd.edu/englweb/

Shepherd University
304/876-5000
www.shepherd.edu

 

Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence
Shepherd University | P.O. Box 3210 | Shepherdstown, West Virginia | 25443-3210
(304) 876-5207 | (800) 344-5231
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