Ballance’s work has a “wonderful stream of consciousness narrative,” with “grittiness in language takes you to a grounded place. His poetry embodies the spirit of the award.”

Hannah de la Cruz Abrams, Krista Bremer and Jaki Shelton Green, judges for the 2017 Linda Flowers Literary Award

Aaron Ballance ’04, lecturer in the Appalachian State University’s Department of English, is the recipient of the North Carolina Humanities Council’s 2017 Linda Flowers Literary Award for his poems “Sugarfoot,” “Old Trouble,” “The Peaks,” “One-Eyed Jenny,” “The Brink,” “Leading Flash to the Barn — January” and “Rust.” The award was announced Nov. 4, 2017, during the North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference panel discussion session titled, All Stories Connect.

Since 2001, the annual award — which serves as a memorial to former council trustee, writer, professor and humanist, Linda Flowers — is given to writers who care, as Flowers did, about North Carolina and writing truthfully.

As the awardee, Ballance received an honorarium and a weeklong residency at Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities in Southern Pines, North Carolina, which he will complete in June 2018.

The Winston-Salem native first studied creative writing as an undergraduate at Appalachian and earned a Master of Arts in English from Western Carolina University, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the winner of the Academy of American Poets’ Noel Callow Poetry Award, as well as the Amon Liner Poetry Award. His work has appeared in The Greensboro Review and Poetry Daily.

About the Department of English

The Department of English at Appalachian State University is committed to outstanding work in the classroom, the support and mentorship of students, and a dynamic engagement with culture, history, language, theory and literature. The department offers master’s degrees in English and rhetoric and composition, as well as undergraduate degrees in literary studies, film studies, creative writing, professional writing and English education. Learn more at https://english.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

North Carolina Humanities Council Announces 2017 Linda Flowers Literary Award Recipient

North Carolina Humanities Council

Dec. 4, 2017

On November 4, 2017 the North Carolina Humanities Council announced Mr. Aaron Ballance as the recipient of its 2017 Linda Flowers Literary Award for his entries of “Sugarfoot,” “Old Trouble,” “The Peaks,” “One-Eyed Jenny,” “The Brink,” “Leading Flash to the Barn – January,” and “Rust.”

Read the announcement

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.