Thanks to Suzanne for this link:
http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/to_the_whiting_award_winners_2009/
to Margaret Atwood’s speech at the Whiting Awards. My favorite bit was this, because yes, I went pre-med for my first degree, and yes, my parents – even though I am 36, had a decade-long career in business before I devoted my time to writing, and am currently teaching poetry at the university level – still tell me to go get my MD:
“Be vigilant – there are ambushes everywhere. On one side lurk the critics, getting ready to sneer and denounce, or worse, to praise for the wrong reasons; on the other side your parent figures, who always wanted you to be doctors, and who have furnished themselves with a list of writers such as Checkhov who were writers, yes, but doctors too: why can’t YOU do that? This is not helpful.”

I was also happy to see Jericho Brown on the list of recipients. Congrats, Jericho! But also interested to read at Steve Fellner’s that unfortunately, the Whiting Awards haven’t been that kind to women lately…Come on, Whiting Award mystery list of nominee-makers! Isn’t it about time women writers earned one half of the big, money-granting awards?