JOSEPHINE HUMPHREYS CHOOSES WINNER FOR REINSTATED THOMAS WOLFE PRIZE Sherry Shaw of Gastonia, NC is the winner of the 2006 Thomas Wolfe Fiction prize.Humphreys, the distinguished author of four widely acclaimed novels, most recently Nowhere Else on Earth (2000), also named two honorable mentions, “The Descent” by Lis Anna of Asheville, NC, and “Outside the Lines” by Therese Fowler of Raleigh, NC. A former student of Doris Betts at UNC-CH, she received her M.A. in English and Creative Writing from Hollins University, where her fiction took top honors. Shaw has won a Fellowship in Literature from the NC Arts Council and a grassroots artist grant from the United Arts Councils of Mecklenburg /Gaston County. She lives in Gastonia with her husband and has recently completed a novel. “To win is a great honor,” Shaw said. “This competition is but one example of how the North Carolina Writers Network is a great resource for writers and book lovers across our state. Conferences, author readings and other events create a feeling of community that inspires me to write. You know they are there for you and they want to help you to succeed. Whether you’re a writer or simply love books, their work is key to promoting literature.” The first honorable mention winner, Lis Anna, is a prize-winning writer, film maker, and photographer. Her films have been screened internationally, and her photography published in Asheville Through the Seasons, a coffee table book by Twin Lights Publishers. Therese Fowler, the second honorable mention winner, is a 2005 graduate of North Carolina State University’s new creative writing MFA program. She works as editorial assistant for the literary journal, Obsidian III. The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, one of the N.C. Writers Network’s most popular and successful competitions , had been suspended for several years, but was re-instituted in 2005 by the Board of Directors, and will be continued annually. The final judge for the 2007 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize has not yet been selected, but will be announced in the coming months.
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