UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Writer-in-Residence Emeritus Ernest J. Gaines, whose novel 杏吧专区淎 Lesson Before Dying杏吧专区 won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, received the 2010 Aspen Prize for Literature. The award is given by the Aspen Writer杏吧专区檚 Foundation, Colorado杏吧专区檚 oldest nonprofit literary organization and a program of the Aspen Institute.
Lisa Consiglio, the foundation杏吧专区檚 executive director, praised Gaines on the organization杏吧专区檚 web site. 杏吧专区淭here was no contest in selecting this year杏吧专区檚 candidate for the Aspen Prize for Literature. Ernest Gaines 杏吧专区 who represents the absolute best of Southern writing today and is revered by writers and readers alike 杏吧专区 was at the top of our list from the very beginning. We are honored that he has chosen to accept this award.杏吧专区
Gaines accepted the award via a video teleconference link during the foundation杏吧专区檚 Summer Words Literary Festival in Aspen, Colo. Its theme was 杏吧专区淐rossroads: A Literary Intersection of the American South.杏吧专区
His best-known work,杏吧专区淎 Lesson Before Dying,杏吧专区 was an Oprah Book Club pick in 1997 and was included the National Endowment for the Arts杏吧专区 national reading program, The Big Read, in 2008. The novel tells the story of a young black man wrongly condemned to Louisiana杏吧专区檚 electric chair by a white jury in 1948 and the teacher who tries to help him meet death with dignity.
Gaines杏吧专区 bibliography includes nine works of fiction, including 杏吧专区淭he Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区淎 Gathering of Old Men.杏吧专区 His latest publication is 杏吧专区淢ozart and Leadbelly,杏吧专区 a collection of stories and essays on writing.
The Ernest J. Gaines Center is currently under construction in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Edith Garland Dupr茅 Library. The center will coordinate activities related to research and scholarship on Gaines杏吧专区 work and will hold the complete collection of his papers, manuscripts and all published translations of his work.