The Western North Carolina Historical Association has selected author Brent Martin’s George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina for the 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.
The award has been presented annually by the Western North Carolina Historical Association since 1955 for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina.
“Martin brings together Masa’s arresting images and his own reflections on walking in Masa’s footsteps to tell one of our region’s important stories in an innovative way,” said committee chair Catherine Frank. “Masa played a pivotal role in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the Appalachian Trail through photographs that allowed viewers to experience places they would never visit. Martin creates a portrait of a man and a region we now know a little better.”
A $2,500 prize accompanies the award.
The WNC Historical Association presented the first Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to Wilma Dykeman in 1955 for her novel The French Broad. Last year’s winner was Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle for her novel, Even As We Breathe. Other authors who have received the award include Charles Frazier, Robert Morgan, John Parris, Gail Godwin, John Ehle, Robert Brunk, Michael McFee, Lee Smith, Ron Rash, Wiley Cash, Wayne Caldwell, Fiona Ritchie, and Doug Orr.
This year’s finalists were chosen from an original group of over 50 nominations. They are:
Anne Chesky Smith, Murder at Asheville's Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger's Killer
Lance Greene, Their Determination to Remain; A Cherokee Community's Resistance to the Trail of Tears
Brent Martin, George Masa's Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina
Heather Newton, McMullen Circle
John Ross, Through the Mountains: The French Broad River and Time.
A December 13 ceremony will celebrate all five finalists. Registration is available for this free event at www.wnchistory.org. Light refreshments will be served.