Former UM Resident in Writing Named Time's "100 Most Influential People of 2018"

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Former John and Renée Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi, Jesmyn Ward, has been named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of 2018.”

Originally from DeLisle, Mississippi, Ward received her Bachelor of Arts in English (1999) and her Master of Arts in Media Studies and Communication (2000) both at Stanford University. She then received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan in 2005.
Ward spent 2008-2010 back at her alma mater, Stanford, for a Stegner Fellowship. After completion, she made her way back to her roots in Mississippi. She was offered the John and Renée Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi, which she participated in from 2010- 2011.
The John and Renée Grisham Writer in Residence is based on the strength of one’s writing and chosen by internal nominations. The resident is supplied housing right of the campus and teaches one class per semester of the residency.
Ward has received many awards and accolades such as appearing on the shortlist for 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for “Men We Reaped,” which is an autobiography of five men she lost in a span of four years.
In 2017, Ward released her third book, “ Sing, Unburied, Sing,” and won the 2017 National Book Award for fiction.
Ward became a professor at Tulane University in 2014, and soon after received the Strauss Living Award for literary excellence in 2016 from the Academy of Arts and Letters.

By Talbert Toole, associate editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at talbert.toole@hottytoddy.com.