1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305
Telephone: 304.558.3978 or 800.642.9021
Fax: 304.558.1612
FOR RELEASE:
12:00 p.m. EDT, Friday
February 5, 2010
Lori Smuthkochorn
Communications–Public Information Specialist
West Virginia Library Commission
(304) 558-2534 / lori@wvlc.lib.wv.us
West Virginia Fiction Competition Deadline
Submissions must be received by May 1, 2010, for consideration
Charleston, W.Va.--Submissions for the eighth annual West Virginia Fiction Competition are currently
being accepted until the May 1 deadline. Award-winning Kentucky writer Bobbie Ann Mason will select
the winning short stories, as well as offer full critiques of all finalists’ stories. For full submission details
and guidelines, writers should visit the website at http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/new_writers.html.
The WV Fiction Competition is funded by the West Virginia Center for the Book and The Shepherd
University Foundation. Part of the Appalachian Heritage Writers Project, the competition is a component
of the Writer-in-Residence Program. This year the residency project, “In My Country: the Fictional
World of Bobbie Ann Mason,” will feature Mason’s award winning novel In Country, the One Book, One
West Virginia 2010 selection by the Center for the Book.
Mason’s In Country looks at the cost of war as it affects both families and returning soldiers. The book is
a coming-of-age story for young Sam Hughes, whose father was killed in the Vietnam War, whose
mother has moved on to another life, and whose Uncle Emmett has returned wounded in a different way
from Sam’s father by the war. This is a book about the “collateral damage” caused by war, about the
costs and casualties of war—to the country, to the men and women who fight for us, and to the families
who must remain at home . . . and then pick up the pieces when loved ones return. This is likewise a
book about learning to adjust to and make sense of the consumer, commercial world around us, which
sells us products, life-styles, and sometimes war.
For information about the WV Fiction Competition, the Writers Project, or the Appalachian Heritage
Writer-in-Residence, contact Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, Department of English, Shepherd University, at
sshurbut@shepherd.edu.
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West Virginia Center for the Book Celebrates Black History Month
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About the West Virginia Center for the Book www.wvcenterforthebook.lib.wv.us
Established in 2001 as an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the West
Virginia Center for the Book celebrates the rich literary heritage of West Virginia through its projects and
programs. It is hosted by the West Virginia Library Commission in partnership with the West Virginia
Humanities Council and is located in Charleston, West Virginia.
For additional information about the program in West Virginia, contact WVCFTB Coordinator Karen
Goff at 304-558-3978.
About the West Virginia Library Commission http://librarycommission.lib.wv.us
The mission of the West Virginia Library Commission is to promote, assist, and support the development
of effective and efficient library services that ensure all citizens in the state access to the highest quality
library services and information resources to meet their needs.
For further information, please contact: Susan Hayden, Adult Services Consultant at the West Virginia
Library Commission, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, 1.800.642.9021 option #2 or 304.558.3978.
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