Sandy Longhorn
University of Central Arkansas Professor Sandy Longhorn is the recipient of the 2016 Porter Fund Literary Prize.
The Porter Prize is presented annually to an Arkansas writer with a substantial and impressive body of work that merits enhanced recognition. The $2,000 prize makes it one of the state’s most lucrative as well as prestigious literary awards. Eligibility requires an Arkansas connection.
Longhorn will be honored at an award ceremony Thursday, October 27 at the Main Library’s Darragh Center in downtown Little Rock. The event is free and open to the public.
“Given that writing is such solitary work, receiving the Porter Prize is all the more meaningful. I’m honored and thankful to all of my readers, fellow writers and friends for their encouragement, and I’m especially thankful to UCA for creating an atmosphere where creative writers flourish,” Longhorn said.
The Porter Prize was founded in 1984 by novelist Jack Butler and novelist and lawyer Phil McMath to honor Dr. Ben Kimpel. Butler and McMath were students of Kimpel, noted professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. At Kimpel’s request, the prize is named in honor of Kimpel’s mother, Gladys Crane Kimpel Porter. The annual prize, $2,000, has been given to 30 poets, novelists, non-fiction writers and playwrights.
Longhorn is the author of three books of poetry: “The Alchemy of My Mortal Form,” which won the 2014 Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, “The Girlhood Book of Prairie Myths” and “Blood Almanac.” She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of St. Benedict and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Arkansas. At UCA, Longhorn was recently named the director of the C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference, which will debut in November 2017.
