Congratulations to University of South Alabama Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard on winning the prestigous 2012 Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing.

Congratulations to Jesmyn Ward, Assistant Professor of English at the University of South Alabama. Her novel, Salavage the Bones, winner of the 2011 National Book Award for fiction, was reviewed in The New York Times Sunday Book Review on January 1, 2012. Read the review here.

Congratulations to Dr. John Halbrooks, Associate Professor of English at the University of South Alabama, who has been awarded a sabbatical for the 2012-2013 academic year.  John, who will be on leave in fall 2012, will spend his semester-long sabbatical developing his book project on the concept of heroism in medieval literature.

Congratulations to Carolyn Haines, Assistant Professor of English and Fiction Coordinator at the University of South Alabama. Her novel, Bones of a Feather, has been named one of the top books of 2011 by Suspense Magazine.

Congratulations to Jesmyn Ward, Assistant Professor of English at the University of South Alabama, on winning the 2011 National Book Award. Her second novel, Salvage the Bones, beat out four other finalists to take the nation’s most prestigious literary prize. Please visit http://www.nationalbook.org/ for details.

Dr. Sue Brannon Walker, Alabama's Poet Laureate and Director of Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama, has been selected by the Library of Congress to give a reading at noon, Feb., 15, at the Library of Congress. The reading will be held in the Whittall Pavilion on the ground level of the library at 10 First St., S.E., in Washington, DC. The event is free and open to the public. This reading session centers on "Love Poems" and will also feature Michael Salcman and Michele Wolf.

Congratulations to Dr. Becky McLaughlin, Associate Professor of English at the University of South Alabama, who has been awarded a sabbatical for the 2011-2012 academic year.  Becky, who will be on leave in spring 2011, will spend her semester-long sabbatical revising her book project, Chaucer's Cut.

Fiction Coordinator Carolyn Haines was awarded a Lovey Award for best short story at the 2010 Love is Murder conference in Chicago, IL. The award winning story, "The Sugar Cure," appeared in Delta Blues.

Congratulations to Dr. Cris Hollingsworth and Dr. Ellen Harrington, who were both awarded sabbaticals for the 2010-2011 academic year.  Cris, who will be on leave in fall 2010, will be pursuing research and writing towards his monograph on Lewis Carroll.  Ellen will use her spring 2011 leave to advance her book-length study of Joseph Conrad.

Congratulations to Fiction Coordinator Carolyn Haines, who has been chosen by the Alabama Writers' Forum as the 2010 recipient of the Harper Lee Award, given annually to Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year.  This is just the latest in a string of honors that have come Carolyn's way.  Her new novel, Bone Appetit, will be released in July by Minotaur Books.