Poet Rose McLarney received the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Achievement in Appalachian Writing Tuesday, Oct. 11, in a ceremony held at the Kentucky Folk Art Center.
Currently an assistant professor of English at Auburn University, her second book “Its Day Being Gone” was selected as a National Poetry Series Winner in 2015 and published by Penguin Books.
A native of North Carolina, she also serves as co-editor-in-chief and poetry editor of Southern Humanities Review.
Administered through the Department of English at Morehead State University, the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing includes a cash prize of $1,000, and recognizes outstanding Appalachian writers in poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
Past winners include: 1996, James Still; 1997, Chris Holbrook; 1998, Sharyn McCrumb; 1999, Chris Offutt; 2000, Denise Giardina; 2001, Karen McElmurray; 2002, Crystal Wilkinson; 2003, Silas House; 2004, John Sparks; 2005, Ron Rash; 2006, Sharon Hatfield; 2007, Erik Reece; 2008, Diane Gilliam; 2009, Mark Powell; 2010, Ann Pancake; 2011, Alex Taylor; 2012, Donald Ray Pollock; 2013, Jesse Graves; 2014, George Ella Lyon and Scott McClanahan; and 2015, Charles Dodd White.
The award is supported by the Buckner and Sally S. Hinkle Endowment for Humanities, Morehead State Public Radio, Department of English and the Caudill College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Additional information is available by calling Tom Williams, English chair, at 606-783-9448.
