Gurney Norman

Gurney Norman is an American writer, documentarian, and professor.

Gurney Norman speaking at University of Kentucky event

Biography

Gurney Norman was born in Grundy, Virginia in 1937. He grew up in the southern Appalachian Mountains and was raised alternately by his maternal grandparents in Southwest Virginia and his paternal grandparents in Eastern Kentucky in several towns, but primarily in the small community of Allais, near Hazard, in Perry County.[1] He attended Stuart Robinson School[2] in Letcher County, Kentucky, from 1946-1955. Norman attended the University of Kentucky from 1955-1959 graduating with a degree in journalism and English.[3] In 1960, he received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing at Stanford University where he studied with literary critic Malcolm Cowley and the Irish short story writer Frank O'Connor[4]

After Stanford, Norman spent two years in the U.S. Army. He returned to eastern Kentucky in 1963 to work as a reporter for his hometown newspaper, The Hazard Herald. Leaving newspaper work to concentrate on his fiction writing, Norman took a job with the U.S. Forest Service as a fire lookout in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon in the summers of 1966 and 1967.[5] In 1971, his novel Divine Right's Trip was published in The Last Whole Earth Catalog and subsequently by the Dial Press and Bantam Books.[6] Norman was one of the founders of the Briarpatch Network in 1974, with Richard Raymond and Michael Phillips.[7] In 1977, his book of short stories Kinfolks, which received Berea College's Weatherford Award, was published by Gnomon Press.[8]

In 1979, Norman joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky as an associate professor of English. He currently serves as Director of the English Department's Creative Writing Program.[9] In 1996 his work as a fiction writer, filmmaker, and cultural advocate was honored at the Fifteenth Annual Emory and Henry College Literary Festival, which celebrates significant writers in the Appalachian region.[10] In 2002 he was honored by the Eastern Kentucky Leadership Conference for outstanding contribution to the advancement of regional arts and culture.[11] In 2007 the Appalachian Studies Association awarded Norman the Helen M. Lewis Community Service Award, which recognizes exemplary contributions to Appalachia through involvement with and service to its people and communities.[12] He serves as Senior Writer-in-Residence at Hindman Settlement School's annual Appalachian Writers Workshop.[13] Norman was selected to serve as the 2009-2010 Poet Laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was officially installed as Laureate on April 24, 2009.[14] On May 8, 2011, Norman was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Berea College.[15] He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Writing

Divine Right's Trip follows DR Davenport and Estelle, a pair of hippie stoners who leave California for eastern Kentucky, where they settle on a farm raising rabbits. The novel was originally serialized in The Last Whole Earth Catalog.

Kinfolks is a book of short stories concerning young Wilgus Collier and his relationships with his family members.[16]

Filmography

As writer and presenter

Based on Norman's work

Publications

Fiction

Nonfiction

References

  1. ↑ "University of Kentucky News". news.uky.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Stuart Robinson School Collection | Special Collections : Hutchins Library - Berea College". Berea.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  3. ↑ Archived November 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Gurney Norman | Appalachian Heritage - Berea College". Community.berea.edu. 1937-07-22. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  5. ↑ webeditor. "Living by Words | Gurney Norman Interview". KET. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  6. ↑ Malcolm Jones (2007-03-18). "Baby Boomers and Books: A Love Affair With Literature - The Daily Beast". Newsweek.com. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  7. ↑ Claude Whitmyer (2007-01-01). "History of The Briarpatch Network aka The Briarpatch Society aka The Briarpatch". Briarpatch.net. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  8. ↑ "Past Winners | Appalachian Center : Weatherford Award - Berea College". Berea.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  9. ↑ Courier, The (2009-03-16). "Local News | The Courier-Journal". courier-journal.com. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  10. ↑ Archived March 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Past Award Winners :: ASA ::". Appalachianstudies.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  13. ↑ "Gurney Norman New Kentucky Poet Laureate | Hindman Settlement School". Hindmansettlement.org. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  14. ↑ "Kentucky.gov: Kentucky Arts Council Home Page". Artscouncil.ky.gov. 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  15. ↑ Buckner, Jay (2011-05-08). "Appalachian author Gurney Norman tells Berea College graduates to find wisdom in unexpected places". Bcnow.berea.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  16. ↑ webeditor. "April 2000 bookclub@ket". Ket.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  17. ↑ webmaster. "Time on the River". KET. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  18. ↑ webmaster. "From This Valley". KET. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  19. ↑ webmaster. "Wilderness Road". KET. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  20. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090307074657/http://www.itvs.org/wilgus/stories.html. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Further reading

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