Creative Writing News
Writers’ League of Texas names ACC Creative Writing Faculty Joe O’Connell’s novel Evacuation Plan a finalist for their 2008 Violet Crown Book Award for fiction.
by John Silvey
ACC Creative Writing and English Instructor Joe O’Connell was named a finalist in the Writers’ League of Texas’ 2008 Violet Crown Book Award for Fiction for his work, Evacuation Plan. Evacuation Plan is a story loosely inspired by time spent with the terminally ill at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House. The Austin American–Statesman describes Evacuation Plan as “tales alternately gentle, dramatic, surrealistic, that collectively affirm the beauty of being alive, even as they acknowledge that all of us face the necessity of making our own ‘evacuation plan.’” Evacuation Plan also had the honor of being the No. 1 bestseller at Austin’s BookPeople in November 2007.
The author, Joseph O’Connell, has been a faculty member at Austin Community College since 1997. He also leads graduate Creative Writing workshops in the MLA program at St. Edward’s University. Prior to teaching, Joseph O’Connell worked as a newspaper reporter and editor within the state of Texas, as well as a screenwriter for the motion picture industry. O’Connell has been published in a variety of literary journals, including The G.W. Review, Other Voices, Lullwater Review, and Confrontation. His writing has also won him various accolades, including first prize in both the Deep South Writers Conference and the Louzelle Rose Barclay Awards.
The Writers’ League of Texas sponsors the annual Violet Crown Book Award, which features fiction, nonfiction, and literary prose and poetry categories to honor outstanding works published by Writers’ League of Texas members. The Writers’ League of Texas, a non–profit organization with a member base of over 1,500 members, was established in 1981 to provide a forum for information, support, and sharing among writers.
