Four writers, including two UGA faculty members, have been selected for induction into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
2009 inductees are Judith Ortiz Cofer, a faculty member in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Philip Lee Williams, assistant dean for public information in Franklin College. Poet Georgia Douglas Camp Johnson and journalist Walter Francis White will be inducted posthumously.
Born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, Cofer was raised in Puerto Rico and Paterson, N.J., before moving with her family to Augusta at the age of 14. Much of her work is centered on the lives of Puerto Rican young people who move between cultures.
An accomplished prose writer, poet and essayist, Cofer received the 1991 PEN/Martha Albrand Special Citation in Nonfiction and was awarded a Pushcart Prize. She joined the UGA faculty in 1984 where she is now Regents and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing.
“It is a great honor to be inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame,” Cofer said. “I have lived, taught and written in Georgia longer than anywhere else, and being included among Georgia writers is a confirmation that I am now home.”
Born in Athens, Williams is the author of 10 published novels, three books of creative nonfiction and a volume of poetry. Following a career as a journalist, he has worked at UGA since 1985. He is a winner of a Georgia Governor’s Award in the Humanities and is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Michael Shaara Prize for the best novel on the Civil War published in the U.S. for his novel A Distant Flame (2004).
He also is a winner of the Townsend Prize for his first novel, The Heart of a Distant Forest, and has twice been named Georgia Author of the Year.
Williams has written on many themes, but the natural world and issues of aging have been frequent topics.
“I’m naturally honored and delighted to be selected for the Hall of Fame,” said Williams. “I’m grateful to the judges for their support.”
The 2009 honorees will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at its annual public forum and awards ceremony, tentatively scheduled to take place at the Miller Learning Center March 22-23.
