WLU Welcomes Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist Jayne Anne Phillips March 27 for Free Public Lecture
WEST LIBERTY, W. Va., February 11, 2025 – West Liberty University (WLU) is proud to welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and West Virginia native Jayne Anne Phillips, 4 p.m. Thursday, March 27, as part of the University’s ongoing Hughes Lecture Series.
Phillips will read from her novel, Night Watch, the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction. She’ll also speak about her life as an author and W. Va. native, and share a presentation of research images from the novel. Special guest, West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman, will introduce Phillips. A Q&A and book sale/signing will follow her keynote speech.
An epic and enthralling portrait of family endurance set in West Virginia, Night Watch is the story of Eliza and her twelve-year-old daughter ConaLee, who seek refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War. Their journey takes them to the historic Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum where they try to reclaim their lives. Here, they get swept up in the life of the facility—the mysterious man they call the Night Watch; the orphan child called Weed; the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen; and the remarkable doctor at the head of the institution.
“The Department of English and Modern Languages, as well as the entire campus community, is very excited for Jayne Anne Phillips’ visit to our campus,” remarks WLU Professor of English Dr. Scott Hanna.
“We are honored to add her name to the long and distinguished list of Hughes Lecturers,” he adds.
The event takes place in the Kelly Theater, Hall of Fine Arts. Admission is free. Those who wish to learn more about the event or pre-register (which is not required) can visit westliberty.edu/hugheslecture.
More about Jayne Anne Phillips:
Jayne Anne Phillips is also the author of Black Tickets, Machine Dreams, Fast Lanes, Shelter, MotherKind, Lark and Termite, and Quiet Dell. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Bunting Fellowship, and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Winner of an Arts and Letters Award and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she was inducted into the Academy in 2018. A National Book Award finalist, and twice a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, she lives in New York and Boston.
About the Hughes Lecture Series:
The Hughes Lecture Series is named for Dr. Raymond Grove Hughes, a beloved professor of English who joined the West Liberty Faculty in 1931. His generous bequest to the University established the Hughes Lecture Series Endowed Fund which is managed today by the West Liberty University Foundation.
