Novelist and North Carolina native Charles Frazier, this year’s Appalachian Writer-in-Residence, is pictured with Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, professor of English and director of the program. Frazier, the author of “Cold Mountain,” “Thirteen Moons,” and “Nightwoods,” participated in a series of readings, lectures, and events on campus and in the community in September.
The Appalachian Heritage Writer’s Award and Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Project were developed by Shepherd University, the Shepherd University Foundation, and the West Virginia Humanities Council 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).