Author with deep Kentucky ties wins Pulitzer Prize for novel set in Appalachia
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A Kentucky author's story of a young Appalachian boy is "equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking" — so much so that it won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize.
That praise comes from the Washington Post's Ron Charles for Barbara Kingsolver's 2022 book "Demon Copperhead."
Kingsolver, who grew up in rural Kentucky, took home the presigious award in the "Fiction" category. She was one of two winners announced Monday for work in "distinguished fiction published during the year by an American author," according to the Pulitzer website. Fiction winners preferably deal with American life.
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Kingsolver is well-known for her works highlighting life growing up in Appalachia, where "Demon Copperhead" is set.
The novel explores the story of a boy, Demon, with a "fierce talent for survival" after being born into poverty, according to a summary of the book. Demon's journey follows coming-of-age experiences in addiction, love, school and more, reckoning with rural people getting abandoned by society.
Charles Dickens' novel "David Copperfield" is the inspiration behind "Demon Copperhead," though the Pulitzer committee said it's not required reading to understand Kingsolver's book.
It's not the author's first dance with a Pulitzer. Her novel "Poisonwood Bible," about a missionary family who moves to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1950s, was nominated for the same award in 1999.
Kingsolver's family traveled to several countries during her childhood where her father would donate time as a physician, including Congo, but they "always returned afterward to Kentucky," her autobiography reads. The travel shaped Kingsolver's work by giving her an understanding of the world while remaining somewhat isolated from her peer groups. After graduate school in Tucson, Arizona, Kingsolver started freelancing in 1985, and she published her first novel, "Bean Trees," in 1988.
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Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky author Barbara Kingsolver wins Pulitzer for 'Demon Copperhead'
