“For me, a happy ending is not
everything works out just right and there is a big bow, it's more coming to a
place where a person has a clear vision of his or her own life in a way that
enables them to kind of throw down their crutches and walk.” –
Jill McCorkle
McCorkle – born in Lumberton, NC on
this date in 1958 – is the award-winning author of a dozen books and a
professor of writing at North Carolina State University. Among her
awards is the Dos Passos Prize for writing excellence.
She holds the distinction of having
her first two novels – The Cheer Leader and July 7th
(both award winners) – published on the same day in 1984. She has published five other novels and
five collections of short stories since, the most recent being 2024’s Old Crimes. Five of McCorkle’s books have been named New
York Times “Notable Books,” and four of her short stories have been named to
the “Best American Short Stories” list. She also earned the New England Booksellers
Award for outstanding writing.
McCorkle said she finds inspiration
everywhere. “I always tell my students,
'If you walk around with your eyes and ears open, you can't possibly live long
enough to write all the novels you'll encounter.'”
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