Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings by Stephen O'Connor

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings by Stephen O

Ron Charles, Washington Post Longlisted for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize A debut novel about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, in whose story the conflict between the American ideal of equality and the realities of slavery and racism played out in the most. Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings - Stephen OConnor.

Winners receive a $5000 cash prize and, in the tradition of the Café de Flore in Paris, a complimentary glass of wine at Crook’s each day of his/her prize year. The most revolutionary reimagining of Jefferson’s life ever. Chronicles the life and legacy of Thomas Woodson, Jeffersons first child by. “As far as we know, this is the only café or restaurant-sponsored literary prize in the U.S., but we are hoping to start a trend.” The prize is open to self-published as well as traditionally published authors. “Our purpose is to encourage emerging writers in today’s challenging publishing environment,” says Anna Hayes, president of the foundation. The prize, established as a collaboration between the iconic Southern restaurant, Crook’s Corner Bar & Café and the Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation, was inspired by the prestigious book awards long given by famous “literary” cafés in Paris. O’Connor currently teaches in the Sarah Lawrence MFA writing program.Įlizabeth Cox, this year’s book prize judge, says she was “knocked out by this book,” in which the author’s inventiveness serves to augment “the sense of moral weight carried throughout this story.” Cox is the prize-winning author of poetry, short story collections, and five novels, the latest of which, A Question of Mercy, was published in 2016. His nonfiction books have explored issues relating to teaching children in inner city schools, and the history of the “orphan trains” of the 19 th and early 20 th centuries that transported parentless children from New York City to families in the Midwest. /rebates/2f97801431288922fThomas-Jefferson-Dreams-Sally-Hemings-01431288922fplp&. In addition to two collections of short fiction, O’Connor’s work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, as well as in a broad variety of literary journals, magazines, and newspapers, including The New Yorker and the New York Times.

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings by Stephen O'Connor