DURHAM -- Durham novelist Zelda Lockhart has been selected as the region's 2010 Piedmont Laureate.
Lockhart will receive an honorarium of $7,000 and serve for one year. Her duties will include presenting public readings and workshops, participating at select public functions, and creating at least one original activity to expand appreciation of literature. A schedule of the Laureate's 2010 activities will be posted in January at www.piedmontlaureate.com online.
Lockhart is the second Piedmont Laureate. Mebane poet Jaki Shelton Green last year was the first.
The Piedmont Laureate program is dedicated to building a literary bridge for residents to come together and celebrate the art of writing. The program's key goal is to "promote awareness and heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts throughout the Piedmont region."
Lockhart is the author of "Fifth Born," a 2002 Barnes & Noble Discovery selection and finalist for debut fiction from the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Foundation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Norfolk State University, a master's in English from Old Dominion University, and a certificate in writing, directing and editing film from the New York Film Academy.
In 2007, Lockhart's second novel, "Cold Running Creek," was published. It won the 2008 Honor Fiction Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. In June 2010, her third novel, "Fifth Born II: The Hundredth Turtle," will be published. Her other works of fiction, poetry and essays can be found in anthologies, journals and magazines.
"I am honored and excited to be sharing my passion for literature ... with the Piedmont community," Lockhart said in a written statement. "During my tenure as Laureate, I plan to design and participate in programs that will help individuals self-define through the experience of literature. ... I look forward to the many new people I am bound to meet and share precious time with over the next year," she said.
In her letter of support for Lockhart's laureate application, writer Dorothy Allison wrote: "Zelda has a strong commitment to beautiful and unique language. She gives us an unflinching view of the human spirit."
