Senate Resolution 12

A RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE MISSISSIPPI SENATE TO NOVELIST JESMYN WARD AS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2021 GOVERNOR'S ARTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LITERATURE.

WHEREAS, the Governor's Arts Awards Program has announced its 2021 recipients, which includes Novelist Jesmyn Ward for Excellence in Literature; and

WHEREAS, established in 1988, Governor's Arts Awards are given to individuals and organizations to recognize outstanding work in the artistic disciplines, as well as arts-based community development and arts patronage in Mississippi. The awards are presented in partnership with the Governor's Office and signify the important relationship between government and the arts; and

WHEREAS, born in 1977 and raised in the coastal Mississippi Town of DeLisle, Jesmyn Ward was a bookworm from an early age. A regular at her school library, she sought out tales featuring strong-willed, smart girls. As she read all of the books she could get her hands on, however, she noticed none of the characters she admired looked like her or came from a place like rural Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, after earning Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Stanford University, Ward considered doing something "practical," rather than pursue writing. But, the tragic death of her brother, Joshua, was the impetus for pursuing writing full time. In 2005, she received her Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, where she won several writing awards. In 2008, her first novel, Where the Line Bleeds, was published. She says it was inspired by the story of her late brother; and

WHEREAS, three years later, her second novel, Salvage the Bones, was released. After quite a critical reception, the novel surprised the literary world and Jesmyn Ward by winning the National Book Award. In 2013, she published her memoir, Men We Reaped, about the loss of her brother and four friends, who all died in a four-year span. The memoir received rave reviews and several prize nominations; and

WHEREAS, Ward followed the memoir with the anthology, The Fire This Time, which she edited in response to the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Her third novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing, made history by winning Ward her second National Book Award. She was the first woman and the first person of color to be a two-time winner of the fiction award. Others include Faulkner, Philip Roth and John Updike; and

WHEREAS, Ward received the Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award for literary excellence from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016 and a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred to as a "Genius Grant," in 2017; and

WHEREAS, her latest book, Navigate Your Stars, is an illustrated version of the stirring commencement speech she delivered at Tulane's graduation in 2018; and

WHEREAS, in September 2020, Jesmyn Ward penned a personal essay for Vanity Fair magazine about the COVID crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement that included the shocking news of the death of her partner, Brandon Miller, likely from Coronavirus-related respiratory distress at the age of 33. Most recently, Ward interviewed President Barack Obama about his memoir A Promised Land, also for Vanity Fair; and

WHEREAS, Jesmyn Ward still lives in her hometown of DeLisle and is a Professor of Creative Writing at Tulane University in New Orleans. In 2017, Ward was added to the state's literary map; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we pay tribute and express appreciation for the talent of a world-class Mississippi writer who has made Mississippi a better place and exemplifies the literature traditions of our great state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby extend the recognition of the Mississippi Senate to Jesmyn Ward, the recipient of the 2021 Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Literature, and extend our congratulations to this world-class writer on this auspicious occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Jesmyn Ward as part of the Governor's Arts Awards presentation, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.