Olympia Vernon (born May 22, 1973) is an American author who has published three novels: ''Eden'' (2002), ''Logic'' (2004), and ''A Killing In This Town'' (2006). ''Eden'' won the 2004 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from

The American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

.Langley, Greg. Olympia Vernon is winner of inaugural Gaines Award. ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'', December 9, 2007.

Biography

Vernon was born in

Bogalusa, Louisiana Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. In th2020 censusthe city, town, place equivalent reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city ...

, and grew up in

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the ...

, Louisiana, and

Osyka, Mississippi Osyka is a town in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. It is located on the Mississippi–Louisiana state line. The population was 440 at the 2010 census. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. The peak of its ...

. The family had seven children. Her father, Fletcher Williams, Jr., graduated from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. Vernon attended South Pike High School in

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

, Mississippi. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

(SLU) in 1999. She also earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

in 2002. She was appointed

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at SLU in 2004. She wrote her first novel, ''Eden'', while in graduate school. In 2005 she received the Louisiana Governor's Award for Professional Artist of the Year. In 2007-08 Vernon was the

Hallie Ford Hallie Brown Ford (March 17, 1905 – June 4, 2007) was an American business person and philanthropist. A native of Oklahoma, she acquired her wealth in Oregon through the timber industry. As a philanthropist she made donations to many instit ...

Chair in Writing at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

. In 2007, she won the

Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is an annual national literary award designed to recognize rising African-American fiction writers. First awarded in 2007, the prize is underwritten by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation in ...

for ''A Killing In This Town''.

Bibliography

* ''Eden'' (2002) * ''Logic'' (2004) * ''A Killing In This Town'' (2006)

References

External links

* * 1973 births Living people Louisiana State University alumni Willamette University faculty American women novelists People from Bogalusa, Louisiana Novelists from Louisiana People from Pike County, Mississippi Novelists from Mississippi Southeastern Louisiana University alumni 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers African-American novelists Novelists from Oregon American women academics 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women {{US-novelist-1970s-stub