Uruguayan American author and novelist Carolina De Robertis will visit Longwood University to receive the 41st annual John Dos Passos Prize for Literature and read from their work on Wednesday, April 5.
De Robertis will be awarded the prize during a ceremony at 7 p.m. in the Soza Ballroom in the Upchurch University Center. The event, which is free and open to the public, will include an interview and reading by the author and be followed by a reception with complimentary refreshments.
With clear, precise prose, De Robertis makes audible the beating hearts of people navigating a terrifying world. They exemplify the spirit of John Dos Passos in form and content.
Brandon Haffner, Dos Passos Prize committee chair
“With clear, precise prose, De Robertis makes audible the beating hearts of people navigating a terrifying world. They exemplify the spirit of John Dos Passos in form and content,” said Dos Passos Prize committee chair Brandon Haffner, assistant professor of creative writing at Longwood. “We are excited to welcome them to campus. This event will be a treat for our students and the broader Farmville community.”
De Robertis, who lives in Oakland, California, and is an associate professor at San Francisco State University, is best-known for the novels The President and the Frog (2021), Cantoras (2019) and The Gods of Tango (2015). They were a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for The President and the Frog. De Robertis won a Stonewall Book Award for both Cantoras, which is set in 1970s Uruguay and was selected as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and The Gods of Tango.
The John Dos Passos Prize for Literature is the oldest literary award given by a Virginia college or university. It is given annually by Longwood University to a talented American writer who experiments with form, explores a range of voices and deserves more recognition.
For more information or if you have questions about this event, please contact Brandon Haffner at haffnerbs@longwood.edu.
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