Cynthia Shearer, curator of Rowan Oak, the historic home of author William Faulkner, won a prestigious Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for her first novel, The Wonder Book of the Air. Shearer is among six Mississippians honored on April 18 at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs.

Other winners are Stephen E. Ambrose for his nonfiction work Undaunted Courage, Paul Ruffin for poetry, Mark Howell for music composition, Valerie Jaudon for visual arts, and Marion L. Brown for photography. Past winners in the fiction category include Oxford writers Barry Hannah and Larry Brown, whose work was considered again this year with Shearer s. Since its founding in 1978, the Institute has recognized Mississippi writers Richard Ford, Ellen Gilchrist, Walker Percy, Donna Tartt, and Eudora Welty, among others.

Anyone may join the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters by paying a fee, which entitles members to nominate artists for awards and to attend meetings. Membership categories are:

Send membership checks and requests for additional information to Pic Firmin, MIAL President, 4818 Kendall Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39507.