Mike Chitwood is Finalist for Library of Virginia Literary Award
In July 2019, the Library of Virginia announced finalists for the 2019 Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Among this year’s finalists is E&H alumnus Michael Chitwood, Class of 1980.
Only 10 authors are among the finalists for the 22nd annual awards, and finalists are chosen by an independent panel of judges from more than 120 books nominated for the awards. Nominees fall into 3 categories (fiction, non-fiction, poetry) and a winner is selected in each category. Chitwood is nominated for his most recent book of poetry, Search and Rescue.
A native of Rocky Mount, Virginia, Michael earned a BA from Emory & Henry College and an MFA from the University of Virginia. He is known for exploring themes of Appalachia in his work. Additional published works include Salt Works (1992), Whet (1995), The Weave Room (1998), Gospel Road Going (2002), From Whence (2007), Spill (2007), and Poor-Mouth Jubilee (2010).
His collections of essays include Hitting Below the Bible Belt: Baptist Voodoo, Blood Kin, Grandma’s Teeth, and Other Stories from the South (1998) and Finishing Touches (2006). Michael is also a freelance writer and a lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His work has received numerous awards including the Roanoke-Chowan Award (twice); Chapman Fellow, Institute of Arts and Humanities; NC Arts Council Writers Fellowship; L.E. Phillabaum Award.
Winners of the awards will be announced at a gala celebration at the Library of Virginia on Saturday, October 19, 2019.
Michael will present a reading of his poetry at the inaugural event of the Larmore Poetry Series on September 10 at 7:30 pm in the McGlothlin Center for the Performing Arts.
- Michael Chitwood, E&H Class of 1980.