Originated by the Louis Lipinsky family, we have presented the annual Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award since 1955 for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina.

The December 16, 2020 award ceremony will celebrate six finalists for the 2020 award with short readings by each author from their publication. The winner of the award will be announced in early December.

This year’s six finalists were chosen from an original group of 40 nominations. The finalists, listed below, encompass a broad range of genres and forms.

Leah Hampton
F*ckface and Other Stories

Sandra Muse Isaacs
Eastern Cherokee Stories: A Living Oral Tradition and Its Cultural Continuance

Susan E. Keefe, Junaluska Heritage Association
Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community

Courtney Lewis
Sovereign Entrepreneurs: Cherokee Small-Business Owners and the Making of Economic Sovereignty

Rose McLarney, Laura-Gray Street, and L.L. Gaddy, editors
A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia

Dale Neal
Appalachian Book of the Dead

Cost: WNCHA Members – By Donation (Suggested $5); General Admission – $10
Note: A link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to all those registered prior to December 16.

The WNC Historical Association presented the first Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to Wilma Dykeman in 1955 for The French Broad. Last year winners were George Ellison and Janet McCue for their biography of Horace Kephart, Back of Beyond. Other authors who have received the award include Charles Frazier, Robert Morgan, John Parris, Gail Godwin, John Ehle, Robert Brunk, Michael McFee, Lee Smith, Ron Rash, Wiley Cash, Wayne Caldwell, Fiona Ritchie, and Doug Orr.

The Award Panel this year consists of: Catherine Frank, Chair, Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville; Brandon J. Johnson, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area; Leslee Johnson, English Department, UNC-Asheville; Tom Muir, Historic Site Manager, Thomas Wolfe Memorial; Gordon McKinney, PhD, former president, Appalachian Studies Association; Terry Roberts, PhD, Director, National Paideia Center; Jim Stokely, President, Wilma Dykeman Legacy.