Matthew J. Bruccoli, a Professor of English at the University of South Carolina, was instrumental in the decision by the University of South Carolina Press to publish or reprint ten of Mary Lee Settle’s books. Dr. Bruccoli has published extensively on numerous authors including serving as co-editor of The Sons of Maxwell Perkins: Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and Their Editor (2004).
Thomas Caplan, a founder of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, is the author of three novels, most recently Grace and Favor (1998) from St. Martins. He lives in Maryland and frequently travels to England.
Fred Chappell served as Poet-Laureate of North Carolina from 1997-2004. A founding member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, he is a recipient of the Bollingen Prize in Poetry given by the Yale University Library. Chappell is the author of dozens of books in many genres including A Fred Chappell Reader (1987) from St. Martin’s Press.
Ron Day grew up in Harlan County, Kentucky, and serves as Assistant Director of Bell County Libraries, based in Pineville, Kentucky.
Janice Delaney served as the Executive Director of the PEN/Faulkner Awards for twenty years. She is co-editor of The Curse (1988) published by the University of Illinois Press and teaches English at Georgetown University.
Thomas E. Douglass has written extensively on West Virginia literature, and is the author of A Room Forever: The Life, Work and Letters of Breece D’J Pancake (1998) published by the University of Tennessee Press. He is Professor of English at East Carolina University and Editor of the Appalachian Echoes Series for the University of Tennessee Press.
Sidney Saylor Farr grew up on Stoney Fork of Straight Creek in Bell County, Kentucky, and served as editor of Appalachian Heritage from 1985-1999. She is the author of seven books including More Than Moonshine (1995).
George Garrett is the author of Understanding Mary Lee Settle (1988) and the subject of Understanding George Garrett (1988) by R. H. W. Dillard. Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia, he has recently been given lifetime achievement awards by the Fellowship of Southern Authors and the Library of Virginia. He has published books and articles in practically every genre.
Denise Giardina was born, raised and educated in West Virginia and has run for governor of that state. She is the author of five novels with settings in West Virginia, England and Germany including The Unquiet Earth (1992) set in West Virginia. She teaches at West Virginia State University.
James B. Goode grew up the son of a coal miner and went on to found the Appalachian Center at Southeast Community College near his hometown in Harlan County, Kentucky. He is the author of six books of poetry and non-fiction, including Up From the Mines (1993). Currently he teaches at Lexington Community College in Kentucky.
Nancy Carol Joyner is Professor Emerita of English at Western Carolina University. She has written several articles on Mary Lee Settle and other Appalachian women writers.
Chuck Kinder is a West Virginia native who serves as Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of works in multiple genres including, most recently, The Last Mountain Dancer: Hard-Earned Lessons in Love, Loss and Honky-Tonk Outlaw Life (2004).
Gretchen Laskas won both the Weatherford Award and the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year Award for her first novel, The Midwife’s Tale (2003). Her family has deep roots in West Virginia.
Starling Lawrence was Mary Lee Settle’s editor and is editor-in-chief at W.W. Norton. He is also the author of a novel and a story collection. HarperCollins is scheduled to release his latest novel, The Lightning Keeper, in April 2006.
Kate Long is a producer for West Virginia Public Broadcasting and the writing coach for the Charleston Gazette. She produced a series of interviews with West Virginia authors for West Virginia Public Radio.
Keith Malliard is a West Virginia native who is now a Professor of English at the University of British Columbia. His novels are set primarily in West Virginia including The Clarinet Polka which was reprinted in paperback in 2004 by St. Martins.
Phyllis Moore is the creator of the West Virginia Literary Map and a frequent presenter on West Virginia authors. She is currently a graduate student at Fairmont State University.
Katherine Neville is a best-selling novelist who was a close friend to Mary Lee Settle at the end of her life. The Magic Circle (1998), Calculated Risk (1992), and The Eight (1988) are currently in print in several languages.
Brian Rosenberg serves as President of Macalester College. He is the author of Mary Lee Settle’s The Beulah Quintet: The Price of Freedom (1991) as well as a book on Dickens and numerous scholarly articles.
Justin A. Sarafin is Project Coordinator for the Restoration of the Dependencies at Monticello. He got to know Mary Lee Settle while she was working on her book about Jefferson. Sarafin is the author of a chapter in Dining at Monticello (2005) published by the University of North Carolina Press.
Mary Lee Settle (1918-2004) was a founder of the PEN/Faulkner awards and the author of over twenty books in several genres. She is best known as the author of Blood Tie which won the National Book Award in 1978 and the five novels of the Beulah Quintet which portray West Virginia history from its antecedents in England through the middle of the 20th Century.
Susan Richards Shreve is a former President and Co-Chair of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. She has over a dozen books in print including youth novels and Dream Me Home Safely: Writers on Growing Up in America (2003). She serves as Professor of English at George Mason University.
Mary Silver was born and raised in Kingsport, Tennessee. She is currently a senior at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where she is studying outdoor education. This is her first published poem.
Gordon Simmons works for the
West Virginia Division of Culture and History
as an editorial assistant at Goldenseal. He is a former bookseller
and a part-time philosophy professor.
Patty Tompkins is the Managing Editor of The Charleston Gazette. She is also the widow of Roger Tompkins, Mary Lee Settle’s “beloved cousin” to whom she dedicated Addie.
Meredith Sue Willis is a West Virginia native who has published novels, short story collections, and books on the writing process. Her novel Oradell at Sea (2002) was West Virginia University Press’s first-ever new fiction. She currently teaches novel writing to adults at New York University and works as a writer-in-residence with young children.