‘Wait’ Wins Faulkner Prize for a Novel in Progress

I’m so excited that Judge Janette Turner Hospital has announced my manuscript, ‘Wait,’ this year’s winner of the Faulkner Prize for a Novel in Progress! ‘Wait’ retells the Odysseus myth from the perspective of a soldier’s wife in the Deep South during the Vietnam War:

“My clear choice for winner, this manuscript in progress is stunning for a number of reasons. It is a retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey that, quite frankly in my opinion, puts it up on the level of Derek Walcott’s Omeros. That is, while it follows Homer quite closely, it manages at the same time, in a completely natural and believable way, to portray American culture and politics in the 20th century, especially as they pertain to the Deep South. Even the names sound like normal Southern names: Penny (Penelope) has her husband Odell (Odysseus) shipped off to combat in Vietnam shortly after the birth of their son Teller (Telemachus). The writing itself is gorgeously lyrical, culturally hyper-observant, and acerbically intelligent. A real tour de force.”