NCWN

Awards presented included the Irene Blair Honeycutt Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts and the Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award.

This year's recipients include:

• Irene Blair Honeycutt Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts -
• Anthony S. Abbott
• Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award -
• Mary Kratt

Irene Blair Honeycutt Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts

The Irene Blair Honeycutt Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts was established in February, 2004. The Advisory Committee for CPCC's Annual Spring Literary Festival named the award after Irene Honeycutt in recognition of her advocacy of writers and for her service to the Charlotte community and surrounding region as Founding Director of the Festival. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of literary arts, as well as community involvement in support of writers. The award is presented to a community member who is committed to the artistic life, shares skills and talents, produces exemplary art, and has achieved public recognition in the art field.

Anthony S. Abbott received this year's award. Born in San Francisco, Abbott was educated at the FaySchool, Southborough, Massachusetts, and at the Kent School in Connecticut. In 1957 he received his A.B. Magna cum laude from Princeton University. With the support of a Danforth fellowship, he acquired his A.M. in 1960 from Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in 1962. Dr Abbott spent three years instructing English at Bates College, Maine before moving to Davidson College in North Carolina as Assistant Professor of English in 1964. During his tenure at Davidson, he was named a Charles A. Dana Professor of English in 1990 and served as Department Chair from 1989 to1996. Abbott's excellence in teaching was recognized with the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1969 and the Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award in 1997.

Abbott's first book of poems entitled The Girl in the Yellow Raincoat, (St. Andrews Press, 1989), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote two poetry collections; A Small Thing Like A Breath (St. Andrews Press, 1993) inspired by a visit to the grave of his four-year-old daughter Lynn who died
suddenly in 1967. The Search for Wonder in the Cradle of the World (St Andrews Press, 2000) is reflective of his1993 trip of reawakening and self-discovery to the Middle East. His first novel, Leaving Maggie Hope (Novello Festival Press), won the Novello Award as well as the "Gold Award" from ForeWord Magazine in the literary fiction category. In 2005 his fourth collection of poems, The Man Who, (Main Street Rag Publishing Co.) won the Oscar Arnold Young Award of the N.C. Poetry Council for the best book of poems by a North Carolinian in 2005.

Dr. Abbott has been actively involved in the community serving as past president of the Charlotte Writers Club and the North Carolina Writers Network as well as past Chairman of the North Carolina Writers Conference. He won the Thomas H. McDill Award of the North Carolina Poetry Society three times, and in 1996 was honored by St. Andrews College with the Sam Ragan Award in recognition of his writing and service to the literary community of North Carolina.

Although Dr Abbott officially retired from Davidson College in 2001 to pursue his interests in modern drama, creative writing, literature and religion, he has maintained his reputation for eternal youth by remaining active as an educator, visiting artist, and lecturer. Dr. Abbott and his wife Susan have three sons and seven grandchildren - providing plenty of artistic inspiration.

Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award

The Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award was established by CPCC's Literary Festival Advisory Committee to honor a community member who has contributed outstanding service in support of local and regional writers. Charlotte author and historian Mary Kratt is this year's recipient.

Kratt, born in Beckley, West Virginia, was exposed to literature from an early age. Her father was the editor of the Beckley afternoon newspaper and her mother taught high school English. Upon moving to CharlotteAgnes ScottCollege, Georgia and an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has published 16 books of poetry, history and biography and has won the Blumenthal Writers and Readers Series twice. In 1994 Kratt won the Fortner Writer-in-Community Award from St. Andrews College. More recently her book Small Potatoes earned her the Brockman/Campbell Book Award for poetry in 2000. Her community service includes serving on the Speakers Bureau of the North Carolina Humanities Council, the board of the N.C. Writers Network and as president of the Charlotte Writers' Club. From 1992-1997, Kratt taught English and American Studies part-time at UNC- Charlotte. In 1996, Kratt won a N.C. Arts Council fellowship to the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Kratt's poems have appeared in a broad spectrum of publications including Shenandoah, Tar River Poetry, New Virginia Review, Stone Country, New Mexico Humanities Review, Greensboro Review, Nimrod, and Yankee. Her most recent book is a biography centering around an Eckerd's Drugstore story,
titled Edward M. O'herron, Jr.: An Extraordinary Life, (Loftin Printers, Charlotte, 2006).

Kratt's love of North Carolina goes back to her maternal forbears who settled in Mecklenburg County in the 1700's. She credits her love of the land, of Charlotte and gratitude to mentors as her overriding inspiration. She has three children and three grandchildren and is currently enjoying exploring New England. at age 11, her father joined the Charlotte Observor. Kratt received a B.A. degree from

CPCC is the largest community college in North Carolina, offering 100 degree and certification programs, customized corporate training, market-focused continuing education and special interest classes. CPCC is academically, financially and geographically accessible to all citizens of Mecklenburg County. In 2002, the National Alliance of Business named CPCC the Community College of the Year for its response to the workforce and technology needs of local employers and job seekers through innovative educational and training strategies.