The Department of
English & Modern Languages
Shepherd University
The Department of
English & Modern Languages
Shepherd University
The Department of English Writer-in-Residence Program
The Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Program was developed bythe Department of English and Modern Languages and is made possible with the financial support of the West Virginia Humanities Council. The literary residency has been designed to bring an Appalachian writer of stature to the campus and community each fall and to occur in conjunction with the Appalachian Heritage Festival, an annual weekend celebration of Appalachian artistic and cultural traditions sponsored by the Performing Arts Series at Shepherd.
The Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award
Sponsored by the West Virginia Humanities Council, the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award was established to promote and encourage a literature rich in cultural significance and tradition.
Stretching from the hills of Georgia and Alabama to Quebec Province and under the sea to the highlands of Scotland, the series of mountains referred to in North America as the "Appalachian Chain" have produced traditions and a language that have remained distinct in a world rapidly moving toward homogeneity. The music and story traditions that tie the hills of Gaelic Scotland to Appalachia have in large part remained intact, and the cultural heritage on this side of the Atlantic has grown to encompass an indigenous Native American strain that has mingled with the Scotch/Irish. The mixture is both unique and unusually rich in oral tradition and a love of language and story-telling.
The Shepherd College Department of English is proud to honor those literary artists who have found sustenance and material from this heritage. The Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award is presented annually to a writer whose work features or draws upon in some respect this cultural heritage. The recipient of the award fulfills a brief residency each fall, enriching the campus and community with lectures, workshops, and special programs as part of The Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Project, a West Virginia Humanities Council sponsored program. The award is presented as part of the Appalachian Heritage Festival, held each fall in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in connection with the Performing Arts Series at Shepherd.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 McCrumbWriter-in-Residence Bulletin Board
Appalachian Studies Literature LinksFiction Competition - West Virginia Young Writers Award
Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award
Appalachian 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 and Events Coordinator rmeads@shepherd.edu Ethan Fischer Young Writers Fiction Competition Chair ffischer@shepherd.edu David Hoffman Project Webmaster dhoffm02@shepherd.edu Barbara Maxwell Dean of Libraries and Information Sciences bmaxwell@shepherd.edu Dr. Jerry Thomas History Professor and Committee Member jthomas@shepherd.edu Stacey Renken Student Committee Member srenke01@shepherd.edu Charlotte Henning Community Committee Member charhenning76@msn.com Teresa Dunham Community Committee Member tdianedunham@aol.com For information contact sshurbut@shepherd.edu
