Annual Corrington Award at Centenary to recognize author George Singleton
SHREVEPORT, LA — George Singleton, dubbed "the unchallenged king of the comic Southern short story" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is the 2016 recipient of Centenary College's John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence. The award presentation featuring a reading from Singleton is Monday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. in the Whited Room of Bynum Commons. The presentation and reading are free and open to the public.
Singleton, who has lived almost all of his life in South Carolina, has published seven collections of short stories, two novels, and an advice book for writers entitled Pep Talks, Warnings, and Screeds. He has also contributed more than 200 short stories to publications such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Book, Playboy, Zoetrope, Georgia Review, Southern Review, and others. A 2009-2010 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Singleton was also inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2010 and named the 2011 Hillsdale Award winner by the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He was inducted into the Fellowship of Southern Writers in 2015.
Singleton holds the John C. Cobb Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His newest story collection, Calloustown, was published in November 2015.
"Singleton's work is hard to categorize," says Steve Shelburne, Centenary Professor of English, "though everyone seems obliged to give it a try. He's sly, and what's overt in his stories—the kind of thing that makes us guffaw or blush—often creates the opportunity for some subtle recognition, both for characters and readers. And sometimes these realizations are a little uncomfortable. After all, as Singleton puts it in the title of one of his collections, 'these people are us.'"
The Corrington Award is named for novelist and Centenary alumnus John William Corrington '56 (1932-1988), best known for his short novel Decoration Day. The Corrington Award recognizes writers who are critical but not necessarily commercial successes whose careers are dedicated to literary excellence and artistic accomplishment. Each recipient is presented with a bronze medal designed by Louisiana sculptor Clyde Connell.
The inaugural recipient of the Corrington Award in 1991 was Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty. Other Corrington medalists include Elizabeth Spencer, James Dickey, Richard Wilbur, Eavan Boland, Michael Longley, Alice McDermott, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Tim O'Brien. The 2014-2015 recipient was Amy Hempel.
Since 2001, funding for the Corrington Award has been generously provided by the Corrington family, the Attaway Family, and the Provost's Office at Centenary College.