The Western North Carolina Historical Association presents the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award Tuesday, December 13 from 5:00-6:30PM. This event will be held live and in person at the Reuter Center at UNC Asheville. It will also be livestreamed via Zoom and recorded for those who cannot attend in person.

Originated by the Louis Lipinsky family, WNCHA has presented the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award annually for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina since 1955 when Wilma Dykeman was presented the award for The French Broad. 

The December 13 ceremony will celebrate the five finalists for the 2022 award with readings and remarks by each author.

This year’s finalists were chosen from an original group of nearly 50 nominations. The finalists, listed below, encompass a broad range of genres and forms.

Anne Chesky Smith – Murder at Asheville’s Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger’s Killer

Lance Greene – Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community’s Resistance to the Trail of Tears

Brent Martin – George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina

Heather Newton – McMullen Circle

John Ross – Through the Mountains: The French Broad River and Time

Location: 5:00 – 6:30pm at the Reuter Center at UNCA, 300 Campus View Rd, Asheville, NC 28804

Tickets: This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and a ticket/Zoom link will be emailed to attendees. If you are able, please consider making a donation with your registration. Donations are placed into a community fund and help us offer tickets to other events at no-cost for those who would be otherwise unable to attend.

Viewing: Please register for either in-person or virtual attendance. If you register to attend in person and are unable, you will still receive a link to attend virtually via Zoom. Recordings will also be sent to registrants the following day, and available on our website wnchistory.org

Note: Please check your spam/social folders for the order confirmation and other emails as they are often directed there.

Find your copy of these books at Asheville’s Malaprop’s or City Lights in Sylva.

This event is brought to you in part by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

For questions, please email Trevor Freeman at education@wnchistory.org