Joseph will receive the 2013 Mary Frances Hobson Prize and participate in the nineteenth annual Mary Frances Hobson Lecture to be held on the Chowan University campus in April 2013. Initiated in 1995 by the Hobson Family Foundation of San Francisco, the award serves as a memorial to Mary Frances Hobson (1912-1993), a journalist and poet, who was the first woman to receive the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in journalism from the University of North Carolina.
The purpose of the Mary Frances Hobson Lecture and Prize is to recognize distinguished achievement in the field of arts and letters. The annual event brings the university and community together each spring to celebrate the accomplishments of an author of note from the region. Previously honored recipients are Kaye Gibbons (1995), Mark Richard (1996), Jill McCorkle (1997), Randall Kenan (1998), G.D. Gearino (1999), Amy Hempel (2000), Allan Gurganus (2001), Padgett Powell (2002), Sheri Reynolds (2003), Chuck Sullivan (2004), Sheila Moses (2005), Michael Parker (2006), Josephine Humphreys (2007), Judy Goldman (2008), Darnell Arnoult (2009), Lee Smith (2010), Robert Morgan (2011), and Silas House (2012)
Congratulations, Joseph!