News Detail
James Hall Honored with Award by Southern Writers Association
03.17.11
Dr. James Hall, an assistant professor in SUNY Potsdam’s Department of English and Communication, is set to receive the 2011 George Garrett New Writing Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers.
Hall will accept the award during the Chattanooga Arts & Education Council’s (AEC) Conference on Southern Literature, on April 14 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Hall is the author of “Now You’re the Enemy,” a book of poems, which won the University of Arkansas Press Poetry Series Prize. The collection explores themes of loss, the intersections of grief and desire, and the ways politics and culture shape selfhood. Throughout the book of poems, he examines the charged, archetypal figure of the mother in contemporary society and tempered in autobiographical impulse with a slightly surreal aesthetic.
Poems from “Now You’re the Enemy” have appeared in numerous journals including TriQuarterly, Boston Review, American Poetry Review and American Letters and Commentary. Since its release in 2008, the collection has garnered awards from the Lambda Literary Organization, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Texas Institute of Letters.
In addition, Hall has received fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, the Sewanee Writer’s Conference and the University of Arizona Poetry Center. He has been a member of the SUNY Potsdam faculty since 2008.
Founded in 1987, the Fellowship of Southern Writers (FSW) is a not-for-profit organization that recognizes and encourages excellence in southern literature. The FSW commemorates outstanding literary achievement, encourages young writers through awards, prizes and fellowships, and recognizes distinction in writing by election to membership.
Humorist and author Roy Blount, a frequent guest on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me” and “Prairie Home Companion,” is among the speakers at the literary festival. Featured writers also include novelist Charles Frazier, who received the National Book Award for his novel, “Cold Mountain.”
For more information about the conference, visit www.southernlitconference.org.
To keep track of the many achievements by SUNY Potsdam’s talented faculty and staff, visit www.potsdam.edu/newsandevents.
Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America’s first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts.