Bill Text: MS HR44 | 2018 | Regular Session | Engrossed

Mississippi House Resolution 44 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Jesmyn Ward; commend as an award-winning novelist and congratulate upon her many accomplishments.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-03-16 - Enrolled Bill Signed [HR44 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2018-HR44-Engrossed.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Dortch, Baria, Bell (65th), Hines, Johnson (94th), Paden, Straughter, Williams-Barnes

House Resolution 44

(As Adopted by House)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE AWARD-WINNING AND CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED NOVELIST JESMYN WARD FOR HER MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND WISHING HER MANY MORE YEARS OF SUCCESS.

WHEREAS, celebrated novelist and Mississippi Gulf Coast native Jesmyn Ward, is the first woman and first person of color to win two National Book Awards for Fiction; and

WHEREAS, she has also won the Strauss Living Award, which is given every five years by the American Academy of Arts & Letters for literary excellence and awarded a coveted MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant; and

WHEREAS, she has been hailed by various media outlets as "the standout writer of her generation"; and

WHEREAS, many of her stories are largely set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where she grew up, experienced Hurricane Katrina and lives today with her family; and

WHEREAS, her novels Salvage the Bones, Where the Line Bleeds and Men We Reaped are more akin to memoirs that deal with social and economic struggles, familial bonds and the complexities of those relationships; and

WHEREAS, always pulling from her beloved Mississippi roots, her novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing, which earned her second National Book Award in 2017, as well as New York Times, "10 Best Books of 2017," explored rural southern living and the heartbreak that such can bring; and

WHEREAS, this acclaimed novelist is also an adored professor at Tulane University, where she teaches creative writing and imparts her intellectual knowledge and wisdom to the next generation of creative minds; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to praise and acknowledge creative Mississippians, such as Jesmyn Ward, who bring great honor to our communities and to this great Magnolia state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend and congratulate critically acclaimed novelist Jesmyn Ward for her many accomplished works and wish her many more years of success.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Jesmyn Ward and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.