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Tuesday, March 05, 2002

A native Pittsburgh author winning a Pulitzer Prize is not a common event. But Annie Dillard won the coveted award in May 1975 in the category of general nonfiction for her work "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."

Dillard was born in Point Breeze in 1945, attended Ellis School and graduated from Hollins College in Roanoke, Va. Her book "An American Childhood" is set in Pittsburgh and covers her life and impressions through age 17. Similar to many Pittsburgh writers, she drew from her home experiences and relied on memories to re-create past images.

Dillard explained in an interview that "An American Childhood" is about Pittsburgh in the same way "Moby Dick" is about whales. Her parents gave her the great gift of life, the decision on how to spend it and showed her what it feels to be alive.

Dillard's work shows a remarkable talent for word description, such that different reviewers have compared her abilities with John Donne, Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson. Her technique has been termed "primary scripture," depicting the natural world in a new and meaningful way. Her work has appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic, Harper's and the Christian Science Monitor. Her poetry likewise has been acclaimed widely. She has been asked to write for Hollywood and do television specials, but she has refused.

Dillard now resides on Cape Cod, Mass., maintains her writing schedule and teaches part time at Wesleyan College.

-- By Dr. E. Kenneth Vey, History Center Library and Archives volunteer