Olympia Vernon is an African-American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 author who has published three novels: Eden (2002), Logic (2004), and A Killing In This Town (2006). Eden won the 2004 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters

The American Academy of Arts and Letters

The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member honor society; its goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Located in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan in New York, it shares Audubon Terrace, its Beaux Arts campus on...

. Vernon was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana

Bogalusa, Louisiana

Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,365 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa...

, and grew up in Mount Hermon, Louisiana

Mount Hermon, Louisiana

Mount Hermon is an unincorporated community in northwestern Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the home of the Yellow Jackets of Mount Hermon High School...

 and Osyka, Mississippi

Osyka, Mississippi

Osyka is a town in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 481 at the 2000 census. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Osyka is located at ....

. The family had seven children. Her father, Fletcher Williams, Jr., graduated from the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...

. Vernon attended South Pike High School in Magnolia, Mississippi

Magnolia, Mississippi

Magnolia is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2071 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pike County, which lies within the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

. She received a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice from Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...

 in 1999. She also earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in 2002.

She wrote Eden while in graduate school. In 2005 she received the Louisiana Governor's Award for Professional Artist of the Year. In 2007-08 Vernon was the Hallie Ford

Hallie Ford

Hallie Brown Ford was an American business person and philanthropist. A native of Oklahoma, she acquired her wealth in Oregon through the timber industry. As a philanthropist she made donations to many institutions in Oklahoma and Oregon to support education and the arts...

 Chair in Writing at Willamette University

Willamette University

Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and...

. In 2007, she won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence for A Killing In This Town.

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