Wendell Berry, a member of the Chattanooga-based Fellowship of Southern Writers, received the 2010 National Humanities Medal from President Obama last week. Mr. Berry, who is scheduled to attend the Arts & Education Council’s Conference on Southern Literature in April, received the Fellowship’s Lifetime Achievement Medal in 2009.
Mr. Berry was one of 10 recipients of the National Humanities Medal. President Obama praised him for “his achievements as a poet, novelist, farmer, and conservationist. The author of more than 40 books, Mr. Berry has spent his career exploring our relationship with the land and community.”
Others honored with the 2010 National Humanities Medal are:
Daniel Aaron
Bernard Bailyn
Jacques Barzun
Roberto González Echevarría
Stanley Nider Katz
Joyce Carol Oates
Arnold Rampersad
Philip Roth
Gordon Wood
More than 50 writers will take part in the AEC Conference on Southern Literature on Apr. 14-16 in the Tivoli Theater. The literary festival will include readings, panel discussions and lectures.
New fellowship members will be inducted, and Fellowship prizes will be awarded to outstanding writers.
For more information or to register, call the AEC office at 267-1218.