Last-minute preparations | Woodrell: How d'you pronounce it?

Lots of feverish preparations for the Quill Award Celebration, which is sold out tonight.

(Sorry, it really is sold out—for the first time in memory, which rocks as an achievement for public interest in writing but is naturally very disappointing if you couldn't get a ticket. Watch this site for news of other writerly programming in the future. If you're interested in participating in this exciting effort to extend literary culture throughout southwest Missouri, e-mail our intrepid and gloriously cheery board vice-president, Dr. Laynah Rogers.)

• How do you pronounce Woodrell? I often get it wrong, saying "Woodrill," when it's really "Wood-RELL" (at least according to National Public Radio). David Harrison, our emcee, made sure to set me straight. Listen to an NPR interview with Woodrell all about Winter's Bone.

• Text message just in from Jeff Jenkins, Skinny Improv artistic boss man: "Hey. In meeting. Names are sarah jenkins and allen ansel." We have known the Skinny would assist with tonight's celebration, but not which actors would participate.... until now. Thanks to Sarah and Allen. The Skinny Improv is busy, in-demand, hilarious, and sometimes is doing gigs in London. We're fortunate to have them.

• If you have made a ticket reservation/payment, directions to the Drury University Findlay Center are easily found here.

—Greg Holman, board president

Sold Out!

The Missouri Ozarks chapter of Writers Hall of Fame® announces that The Quill Award celebration has sold out.

Thanks to all who have expressed interest in the banquet. Those who've contacted us about tickets have been placed on standby. If we have any cancellations, we'll contact interested people on a first-come, first-serve basis Thursday morning.


—Gregory Holman, board president

Quill Award tickets and media coverage

Quill Award celebration tickets are going like hotcakes. E-mail us to inquire if any remain for Thursday night.

Michael Brothers, the Springfield News-Leader's features writer and resident music expert, has this story on novelist Daniel Woodrell and the Quill Award that appeared in today's paper.
Writers Hall of Fame® local board member Julie Bloodworth was on KOLR's morning broadcast today; I'll be on KSFX's evening broadcast, tonight at 9 p.m.

This just in: Well Fed Head Books is discussing Woodrell's latest novel, Winter's Bone, Tuesday, May 29.

—Gregory Holman, board president

Photo copyright 2006 Edward Biamonte, reprinted by permission of 417 Magazine.

Writers Hall of Fame article runs in News-Leader

Jeanne Duffey, spokeswoman for our Springfield–Greene County library district, focused on our banquet coming up Thursday in her column in today's News-Leader.

Thanks to Jeanne and the paper's editors.

Quill Award May 3 major excitement

Writers Hall of Fame®'s local chapter is at a fevered pitch working out the last details of the May 3 Quill Award celebration. Tickets have sold very well. E-mail us to inquire about remaining tickets.

• Watch KOLR 10's morning news show around 6:30 a.m. and KSFX's news at 9 p.m. on Monday, April 30 as board members Julie Bloodworth and I go on air to talk about why it's so exciting to have Daniel Woodrell (photo above courtesy noexit.co.uk) receive our Quill Award and Tess Harper join us to honor him. Details about the TV stations are here.

• Tess Harper (pictured above in a still from her 2005 film Loggerheads) has graciously accepted an interview request from the mayor of Springfield! Tom Carlson will interview her on the City of Springfield's cable channel during the day of May 3. Tess told me Wednesday she plans to speak out about the interesting writers hidden in plain sight in Springfield and southwest Missouri.

• Daniels latest book, Winter's Bone, (pictured in American and British editions here) was honored last night as a finalist in the Los Angeles Times's Book Prizes. It will be available for purchase the evening of the Quill Award, but you can also pick it up at locations such as Well Fed Head Books. We'll also have Dahlia's Gone, by Katie Estill, for sale. She's a novelist in West Plains who happens to be married to Daniel Woodrell.

• Some folks have asked us about directions to Drury University. Visit this page for a map of campus. If you're coming from U.S. 65 near Springfield, exit at Chestnut Expressway, drive west to Benton Avenue. Turn right and then turn right again a block or so later at Central Street. The Findlay Student Center is on the Drury Lane cul-de-sac, but ample parking is one block further east off of Summit Avenue in Lot 7. Turn left onto Summit and park in the lot, then walk about a block west to Findlay.

—Greg, board president

Last Days for Quill Award Tickets

This is the final week to make ticketing arrangments for our Quill Award Celebration May 3. Doors open at 6 p.m. at Findlay Student Center at Drury University. Tickets are just $15! (Thanks to Drury University's English Department Writing Center, our presenting sponsor.) We'll have a gourmet buffet, dramatic readings from Dr. Sandra House, Dr. LJ Summers of the local theatre community and the Skinny Improv. Actress Tess Harper is joining us from Los Angeles and will read author Daniel Woodrell's work (photo at right, reprinted by permission of Edward Biamonte, © 2006).

• Make online reservations at 417mag.com. You may validate your reservation with cash or check at the door.

• Easiest: Send checks to PO Box 3024, Springfield, MO 65808 made out to Writers Hall of Fame of America Missouri Ozarks Chapter.

• Excitement is also building for the event, as Daniel Woodrell (author of Winter's Bone) is up for the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize. It's to be announced April 27—watch here for news if he wins.

• We're lucky enough to also have Katie Estill joining us for the dinner. She is a novelist whose most recent book is Dahlia's Gone... and she happens to be married to Daniel Woodrell. (The two of them met at Iowa Writer's Workshop.) Both Katie's and Daniel's latest books will be available to purchase at the Quill Award celebration, courtesy of sponsor Well Fed Head Books.

Woodrell wins Quill Award

Daniel Woodrell's the winner of the 2007 Quill Award from the Missouri Ozarks Chapter of Writers Hall of Fame® of America.

He's a novelist who lives in West Plains, east of Springfield. He is kind of quiet and low-profile but is among the best novelists in the country. Winter's Bone, his latest book, is up for a fiction prize from the Los Angeles Times, to be handed out April 27. (We hope he wins.)

But more importantly to us, Woodrell is going to receive our 2007 Quill Award on May 3. The Quill Award is selected by our chapter to an established writer, connected to southwest Missouri, who has had a distinguished career in writing.

Our big event celebrating Woodrell's work will also celebrate young students' poetry and prose and give college scholarships to exceptional writers from southwest Missouri.

The event is May 3, Findlay Student Center, Drury University. Drury is the presenting sponsor of the event and has provided tickets at just $15, a $13 price cut from last year's event.

To purchase tickets, send checks made out to Writers Hall of Fame, Missouri Ozarks Chapter, P.O. Box 3024, Springfield, MO 65808. Online ticket reservations are available via 417 Magazine. Simply leave your name, number of tickets to reserve and e-mail address, and you'll be on the invitation list; you can validate your purchase with cash or checks at the door. We expect tickets to sell like hotcakes, so be in touch with us soon.

—Greg Holman, board president

Photo courtesy National Public Radio/Bruce Carr

First post

We're breaking new ground with a Writers Hall of Fame® blog for the local Missouri Ozarks chapter. Check back often for updates.

—Greg Holman, board president