PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
1 appearances
-
Edition 12 (1987) Winner
Mary Ward Brown
メアリー・ウォード・ブラウン
Mary Ward Brown
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1917-06-18 （Hamburg, Alabama, U.S.）
- Died
- 2013-05-14 （Marion, Alabama, U.S.） age 95
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
Career
- Occupations
- short story writer, memoirist
- Active Years
- 1986-2009
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judson College (Alabama) | — | — | — | — | United States |
Judson College (Alabama)
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | PEN/Hemingway Award | Tongues of Flame | — | PEN/America | 受賞 |
| 1987 | Alabama Author Award | Tongues of Flame | — | Alabama literary organizations | 受賞 |
| 1991 | Lillian Smith Book Award | Tongues of Flame | — | Lillian Smith Book Award committee | 受賞 |
| 2003 | Hillsdale Fiction Prize | Tongues of Flame / It Wasn't All Dancing | — | Hillsdale prize organization | 受賞 |
| 2002 | Harper Lee Award | It Wasn't All Dancing | — | Harper Lee Award committee | 受賞 |
| 2003 | Alabama Library Author Award | It Wasn't All Dancing | — | Alabama libraries | 受賞 |
PEN/Hemingway Award
1987
Work:
Tongues of Flame
Organization:
PEN/America
Result:
受賞
Alabama Author Award
1987
Work:
Tongues of Flame
Organization:
Alabama literary organizations
Result:
受賞
Lillian Smith Book Award
1991
Work:
Tongues of Flame
Organization:
Lillian Smith Book Award committee
Result:
受賞
Hillsdale Fiction Prize
2003
Work:
Tongues of Flame / It Wasn't All Dancing
Organization:
Hillsdale prize organization
Result:
受賞
Harper Lee Award
2002
Work:
It Wasn't All Dancing
Organization:
Harper Lee Award committee
Result:
受賞
Alabama Library Author Award
2003
Work:
It Wasn't All Dancing
Organization:
Alabama libraries
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Tongues of Flame
1986 Short story collectionA collection of short stories set largely in rural Alabama, quietly depicting relationships, memory, and social tensions in everyday life.
rural Alabamafamilymemoryinner life
It Wasn't All Dancing and Other Stories
2002 Short story collectionA short story collection that reflects characters' inner lives through details of daily life and past events, blending regional specificity with universal themes.
communitypast and presentpersonal conflict
Fanning the Spark: A Memoir
2009 MemoirA memoir recounting the author's life, memories, and experiences in the American South, portraying regional culture through personal recollection.
memory and recollectionSouthern culturefamily history
Bibliography
- Tongues of Flame (1986)
- It Wasn't All Dancing and Other Stories (2002)
- Fanning the Spark: A Memoir (2009)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- direct and unaffected proseunsentimental emotional expression with deep interior depictionregionalist narration reflecting Southern settings
- Recurring Motifs
- rural Alabamafamily and generationsmemory and timedetails of everyday life
Health
-
Pancreatic cancer2013Contributed to cause of death
Legacy
Mary Ward Brown was highly regarded for her quiet yet powerful short stories set in rural Alabama, and is considered an important regional writer. She won multiple literary awards and influenced later writers with her delicate portrayals of the Southern interior life.
Quotes
-
Her writing was ...direct, unaffected, unsentimental, and powerful for its simplicity and for its revealing the inner life of rural Alabama...
Source: Paul Theroux, Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads (2015)
Trivia
- Published a memoir, Fanning the Spark, late in life.
- Her story "Cure" was included in The Best American Short Stories 1984.
- Set much of her writing in Alabama throughout her life.