by Emma Duvall, Graduate Photographer
The department of English and Comparative Literature is pleased to announce the 2019 Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence Reading, featuring Tayari Jones. An acclaimed novelist, teacher, public speaker, and blog writer, Tayari Jones describes herself as “a woman writer, a black writer, an American writer, and a southern writer.” Her stories of love, southern life, and loss have captured the public imagination; as Oprah Winfrey said of Jones’ most recent book, An
American Marriage, “it’s one of those books I could not put down. And as soon as I did, I called up the author, and said, ‘I’ve got to talk to you about this story.”
Jones is the author of four novels, Leaving Atlanta (2002), The Untelling (2005), Silver Sparrow (2011), and An American Marriage (2018). She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Lillian Smith Award, and the United States Artist Fellowship. As Professor Randall Kenan states: “Reclaim. Restore. Remember. Rejoice. These are the watchwords in Tayari Jones’s writings.” Her reading will take place on the UNC campus on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:30 pm in the Genome Sciences Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required to attend. More more information and to RSVP, click here.
About the Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence Program:
Frank Borden Hanes, Sr. (Class of 1942) was a longtime supporter of creative writing at UNC- Chapel Hill. A passionate author in his own right, he promoted the growth of the creative writing program through many generous gifts. He endowed the Thomas Wolfe Scholarship, which brings talented young writers to Carolina annually, and he was devoted to supporting the teaching and work of the creative writing faculty. In memory of his commitment to creative writing at UNC, the Frank B. Hanes family and Department of English and Comparative Literature sponsor the Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence program, which brings talented and innovative authors to campus to celebrate their work and to inspire current creative writing students. In its fourth year running, the Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence program continues the creative writing program’s commitment to writer residencies as a means of enriching the lively literary culture on campus.
