"We couldn't understand why they couldn't award a winner," said Katharine Walton of the Pulitzer Board's decision to not award the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012. "The thing about the prize is that it really helps promote books, helps promote reading."
Spurred in part by the Pulitzer snub, a group of publishing veterans, authors and booklovers teamed up with Crook's Corner, a famous eatery in Chapel Hill, N.C., to create a new literary award: the Crook's Corner Book Prize. Debut novels set in the American South and published within the last two years are eligible. The winner will receive a $1,000 prize and be Crook's Corner's writer-in-residence--and receive a free glass of wine any time he or she visits the restaurant.
The organizers decided to model the prize after literary awards given out by a number of Parisian cafes, including Deux Magots, Café de Flore and Brasserie Lipp, and it was not long before Crook's Corner became the sponsor. Walton, head of promotion, publicity and editorial services agency Katharine Walton Represents, is helping to promote the prize.
The restaurant has served Chapel Hill for 31 years, and was named an "American Classic" by the James Beard Foundation. Crook's Corner was founded by the late Bill Neal, who wrote a series of cookbooks, including Good Old Grits Cookbook, Bill Neal's Southern Cooking and Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie. The current chef, Bill Smith, is also a cookbook author. Said Smith: "It seems a natural evolution for Crook's, which is so interwoven with the arts and the literary community, to honor emerging writers."
So far there have been 24 submissions for the Crook's Corner prize, and roughly half have been sent by small publishers or self-published authors. Submissions are open until June 1, and every submission will have at least two readers. A list of finalists will be announced in July, and from there, author and North Carolina resident Jill McCorkle will pick a winner.
"It's a lot of damn work," said Walton, laughing, "but it's also a lot of fun to launch something like this." Walton sees local restaurants as powerful potential allies to authors, booksellers and publishers. "This is the era of the restaurant. In terms of recognition, food seems to be trumping the other arts. I'm hoping other restaurants will join in with their own awards." --Alex Mutter
