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NORTH CAROLINA L I T E R A R Y RE V I E W
Winter 2022
FIRST PUBLISHED NOVEL BY A MEMBER OF THE EASTERN BAND OF CHEROKEE INDIANS RECEIVES 2021 THOMAS WOLFE MEMORIAL LITERARY AWARD by Margaret D. Bauer, Editor
Even As We Breathe immerses us in a specific place and time, Asheville’s Grove Park Inn when it was being used to house Axis diplomats and their families in 1942, and in the Qualla Boundary where Cherokee traditions are deeply embedded but in conflict with an ever encroaching outside world. But the story of Cowney Sequoyah and Essie Stamper is also timeless and universal, exploring what it means to lose innocence and to find “who we are supposed to be.” Most importantly, the book is beautifully written, with convincing, well-drawn characters and compelling imagery that tie the various stories together.1
Clapsaddle lives in Qualla, NC, and teaches at Swain County High School. For the second year, due to the COVID pandemic, the Western Historical Association presented the awards virtually, with readings by the winner and other finalists. Frank began her introductions by explaining the committee’s process narrowing down from “almost forty works” to their finalists, which included history, archaeology, memoir, guidebooks, anthologies, poetry, and all varieties of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. Each member of the committee donated hours and hours of time reading, thinking, and talking to carefully consider and weigh the merits of such a diverse group of authors and work. Our most challenging decisions involved narrowing the field, since there were so many intriguing and well-crafted offerings. For our finalists we sought and found books that depicted Western North Carolina or represented the talents of the writers and scholars of the region. We looked for books that were well-written and represented a fresh point of view, a voice that we wanted to hear more of or that we hadn’t heard before. We considered how best to balance all of these criteria. We feel we came up with a group of works that represent the ongoing effort to create a more accurate and complex view of our region,
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works that suggest the ways that the past continues to shape our present, and that show at every turn the ways the natural beauty of our region serves as comfort and inspiration and a reminder of the need to protect all of our people and resources to remain a unique place.
The final shortlist included two historical novels, two collections of poetry, and a memoir. PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN; COURTESY OF ECU THOMAS HARRIOT COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
From an impressive slate of five finalists, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle’s first novel, Even As We Breathe (University Press of Kentucky, 2020), was selected for the 2021 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, given annually since 1955 by the Western North Carolina Historical Association for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina. Catherine Frank, Chair of the selection committee, describes the award selection thusly:
The memoir is Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia, published in 2020 by Mary Othella Burnette. Committee member Jim Stokely described this narrative, inspired by Burnette’s paternal grandmother who was born into slavery, as a wonderful memoir of mid-20th century life in a closely knit African American community in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Mary Othella Burnette takes us on an episodic journey among neighborhood people, places and change as seen through the eyes of a curious child/teenager/ young woman. Whether she is describing an elderly laundry woman carrying her basket of newly cleaned and folded clothes on her head, or reflecting on the unequal educational opportunities between black and white, Ms. Burnette maintains a clear eye for the way things are as well as a stubborn sense of the power of individuals to imagine the way things might be.
Quoted from the award’s information page, where you can find a link to watch the 2021 award ceremony featuring readings by all of the finalists (also available on YouTube). Read more about the author and her novel in an interview published in NCLR 2021.
