Fanonne Jeffers, a tenured full professor of creative writing at the University of Oklahoma, is the winner of the 2018 Harper Lee Award from the Alabama Writers’ Forum. The award is named after the author of the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
The award is made to a living, nationally recognized writer who has made a significant lifelong contribution to Alabama letters. Jeffers will receive the honor during a gala dinner at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville, Alabama, on April 19.
“I am beyond thrilled and honored to receive this prestigious award,” Professor Jeffers said upon receiving the news. “The people and rich culture of the state of Alabama are very beloved to me, and the work of the great Harper Lee has been so essential to my growth as a writer and human being.”
Professor Jeffers is the author of the collection of poetry The Glory Gets (Wesleyan University Press, 2015) and the prize-winning and The Gospel of Barbecue (Kent State University Press, 2000), among other books.
Professor Jeffers is a graduate of Talladega College in Mississippi. She holds a master of fine arts degree in creating writing from the University of Alabama.