Students, faculty gather for lecture from 2024 Thomas Wolfe Prize recipient

Warm lights illuminated the stage. The crowd was quiet, eager and anticipating.  

On Tuesday evening, students, alumni and community members gathered in Hill Hall’s Moeser Auditorium for the Thomas Wolfe Prize Lecture.

Ben Fountain is the 2024 recipient of the Thomas Wolfe Prize, a program established in 1999 to honor the memory of UNC alumnus Thomas Clayton Wolfe. Each year, a contemporary writer is recognized and invited to UNC to give a public lecture and engage with the community. 

Fountain graduated from UNC and is the award-winning author of two novels, a short story collection and a nonfiction book titled “Beautiful Country Burn Again” about the 2016 presidential election.

During the talk, Fountain spoke of witnessing the state's economic growth in contrast to the poorer eastern North Carolina community he grew up in. Fountain credited those changes to investments in public education and said that liberal arts are crucial to that growth. 

Additionally, Fountain spoke of his experiences in Haiti which inspired his 2023 novel, “Devil Makes Three.” For Fountain, the events he witnessed in Haiti exemplify how concepts such as race, power and capitalism affect the way the world works, allowing him to better understand his own life.

Liz Gualtieri-Reed, English professor and director of special programs for the Department of English and Comparative Literature, organized Tuesday's lecture. 

“It's a wonderful opportunity for students from all different majors to experience great literature and really feel one-on-one with a great writer,” Gualtieri-Reed said.

In addition to Tuesday's talk, Gualtieri-Reed said Fountain also met with various faculty and creative writing students, including the Thomas Wolfe Scholars. 

On Wednesday, community members — including several veterans — had the opportunity to engage in a conversation with Fountain based on a passage from his acclaimed novel “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.” The novel is about the experience of Iraq War veterans participating in a military appreciation football game. 

The conversation was facilitated by English professor and academic advisor Hilary Lithgow, and was co-sponsored by the English department and the Carolina Veterans Resource Center. The center is a resource for veterans, service members, military families and anyone interested in learning more about supporting those affiliated with the military.

One of Lithgow's research interests is literature of war, and she has done work with the military, student veterans and veterans in the community. She said that she had previously taught “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk,” so when she heard Ben Fountain would be visiting UNC, she was excited. 

“I've always wondered what drew him to the topic, why he wanted to write about this topic and what his experience is — because he's a civilian like me, and he's writing very perceptively,” Lithgow said. 

In both events, Fountain took various questions from the audience, and students expressed that they were excited about the opportunity to engage with him. 

Cannon Hawley, a sophomore majoring in global studies, said it was refreshing to hear from someone who did not publish their first novel until later in life.

“The fact that it wasn't some brilliant 19-year-old who released this incredible story before they even finished undergrad — it was someone who had lived a life, and then wrote, and then continued with it,” Hawley said. “It was very nice to see that you don't have to be brilliant when you're 19, that you can take your time.” 

For Samiha Bala, a sophomore studying English, the highlight of the event was when Fountain gave her valuable advice during the Q&A to pursue her passion of writing. Bala said she heard about the event from friends and decided to come after researching Fountain's work. 

“I was like, ‘What is the point of being at a university like this if you don't go to these really cool, once in a lifetime kind of events?’” Bala said. 

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