Lisa Pullen Kent was honored to receive the 2020 Betty Gabehart Prize for Nonfiction, awarded annually by the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, for her essay “Death, Rock Me Asleep,” excerpted from her as yet unpublished memoir of the same name.
“Each year three emerging writer awards are presented by Kentucky Women Writers. The Betty Gabehart Prizes in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry recognize and support writers of exceptional talent who show potential for excellence in their literary endeavors.” From the Kentucky Women Writers Conference website
Read what the judges had to say.
The prose was at times stunning. The author does a great job of drawing you into the scenes.
Reads so beautifully, and also honors honest lived experience of a family system amidst a loved one’s final hours, how every person is having a very different experience with different feelings, wishes, memories in the same room or house.
Would make for a creative piece of curriculum for my graduate and post graduate interns and residents who daily provide acute end of life care.
The Kentucky Women Writers Conference was moved online in 2020, held virtually on September 10–13. Lisa was honored to be paired with featured presenter, Bridgett M. Davis, author of The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers to read from her entry.
Watch for more excerpts for a sneak preview into this intriguing story.
