Author Annie Proulx to Receive Evil Companions Literary Award at Reception April 5

Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx is the recipient of the 2001 Evil Companions Literary Award, an honor presented to poets and writers living in, writing about or with ties to the West.

Proulx, author of three novels and three short-story collections, will receive the honor at a special reception April 5 in the ballroom of the Oxford Hotel on 17th Street in Denver. The event is sponsored by "Colorado Review," Colorado State University’s literary journal; Tattered Cover Book Store; and the Oxford Hotel.

Proulx will read from her work, answer questions and sign copies of her books at the event, which runs from 6-9 p.m. Tickets are $45 per person and $80 per couple, and include a subscription to "Colorado Review." Student and group rates also are available. Tickets are limited and are on sale at the "Colorado Review" office. To order, call (970) 491-5449. All proceeds benefit "Colorado Review."

The Evil Companions Literary Award, now in its ninth year, was named for the self-proclaimed Evil Companions, a group of Denver journalists and writers who gathered in the 1950s and 1960s to drink, socialize and discuss writing.

The Oxford Hotel will serve hors d’oeuvres and the Wynkoop Brewing Co. will brew an Evil Companions Ale for the event. A special poster will be available for purchase at the event.

"Annie Proulx is a distinctive voice of the West, a writer for whom place is essential but whose place is really anywhere where fine writing is treasured," said David Milofsky, editor of "Colorado Review" and English professor at Colorado State.

Proulx’s 1994 novel, "The Shipping News," won a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Irish Times International Fiction Prize and Chicago Tribune’s Heartland Award. Proulx, who lives in Wyoming, also is recipient of a PEN/Faulkner Award for her novel, "Postcards."

Proulx’s other works include "Accordion Crimes" and short story collections "Heart Songs," "Heart Songs and Other Stories" and "Close Range: Wyoming Stories." She was editor for "The Best American Short Stories…and the Yearbook of the American Short Story" and "Fiction, Flyfishing and the Search for Innocence." She also wrote several guides, including "Great Grapes! Grow the Best Ever," "Cider: Making, Using and Enjoying Sweet and Hard Cider" and "Plan and Make Your Own Fences and Gates, Walkways, Walls and Drives."

For more information about Evil Companions, call the "Colorado Review" office at (970) 491-5449.