We are saddened to hear that Barry Hannah, a great friend of the conference, passed away on Monday, March 1.  Barry was a member of the fiction faculty at Sewanee in 1999, 2000-2003, and 2006.  He visited the conference to read in 2004, 2005, 2007, and he was scheduled to read at this summer's conference.
One of the finest writers in American letters, Barry Hannah published eight novels—Geronimo Rex (Alfred A. Knopf, 1972—winner of the William Faulkner Prize), Nightwatchmen (Viking, 1974), Ray, The Tennis Handsome (Alfred A. Knopf, 1981, 1983, respectively), Boomerang, Never Die (University Press of Mississippi, 1986 and 1990), Hey Jack! (Dutton, 1992), and Yonder Stands Your Orphan (Grove/Atlantic, 2001). His story collections are Airships, Captain Maximus (Alfred A. Knopf, 1978 and 1985), Bats out of Hell, and High Lonesome (Grove/Atlantic, 1993 and 1996).
Barry's readings at Sewanee were always the highlight of the conference, and his openness with all participants spoke to his generosity.  We will miss him greatly.

• You can read the New York Times obituary here.
• Tom Franklin (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/Fiction/1999) interviewed Barry in Tin House in the Summer '09 issue, which you can read here.
• At Wired for Books, you can hear Barry Hannah read from his stories "Water Liars" and "That's True".
• The Oxford Conference for the Book, which begins March 4th, is dedicated to Barry Hannah.  Writers such as Tom Franklin and Amy Hempel will discuss his life and work.
• Jeremiah Chamberlin (Tennessee Williams Scholar/Fiction/2003) talks about his time in Barry's workshop here at Sewanee in a wonderful essay at Fiction Writers Review.