UNION — USC Union will host the third-annual Upcountry Literary Festival on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23.
Several awards will be presented, with the most prestigious being the William “Singing Billy” Walker Award for Achievement in Southern Letters. The recipient of this year’s Walker Award is also the keynote speaker — novelist and Hendersonville native Robert Morgan.
Along with prize winning novels, Morgan has also published many essays, short stories and poems. He utilizes Appalachian culture in both his poetry and style, even though he has lived the majority of his adult life in New York.
Morgan is a professor of English and creative writing at Cornell University and currently resides in Ithaca.
Morgan, an Academy Award winner in Literature, is best known for his books, “Gap Creek” and “Boone.” “Gap Creek” was Book of the Year by the Association of Appalachian Writers, selection of the Oprah Book Club in January 2000 and a New York Times Bestseller. It is about a poor young couple living in the Carolina mountains during the 1900s, the hardships they face and the strength of a young woman who refuses to give up. “Boone,” a national bestseller, comes strongly recommended as it tells the story of Daniel Boone, his complex character and his heroic life.
Along with Morgan, the Literary Festival is also conveying in an assortment of authors, poets, and a Grammy Nominated banjo player. You can find more information by visiting facebook.com/upcountryliteraryfestival or uscunion.sc.edu.
From staff reports.
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