Ryan Anthony Mahan, GPC Student and Science Fiction Author

Congratulations to Ryan Anthony Mahan on the publication of his science fiction novel, Whether Men Do. The book's title is taken from the B.F. Skinner quote "The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do."

Support this emerging young author by visiting a traditional or online bookstore to buy a copy of his probing exploration of the place of artificial intelligence in the modern world. Also, visit Ryan Anthony Mahan's blog by clicking here.

Chinua Achebe Wins Gish Prize

Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe recently won the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for his over half-century of distinguished contributions to the arts. Achebe is considered to be one of the architects of modern African literature; his Things Fall Apart is required reading for many college students, including some at Georgia Perimeter College. For more on this story, click here.

(Above photo from Brown University website; photo credit Mike Cohea)

Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers

The Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers™ was established by novelist Marita Golden. This award honors excellence in fiction writing by students of African descent enrolled full-time as undergraduate or graduate students in any college or university in the United States. It is given for the best previously unpublished short story or novel excerpt and is presented during an annual program where published writers welcome the honorees into the national literary community. Submissions must be received by January 14, 2011.

The Hurston/Wright Foundation is named after writers Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright.

For more information about this competition as well as other programs and awards, visit the Hurston Wright Foundation webpage.