A really home-grown writer: Wally Lamb named Norwich Native Son for 2023

Even though Wally Lamb has received much acclaim across the country for his stories, including being selected for Oprah's Book Club for two of his novels, he’s still excited to be honored in his hometown.

The Norwich Rotary Club and Norwich Woman’s City Club have named Lamb Norwich’s Native Son for 2023. The Native Son and Daughter award has been held almost yearly since 1968, and has included other people Lamb is familiar with, including his cousin Dr. Frank Pedace in 1981, and a student of Lamb’s from his NFA teaching days, Judge Nina Elgo in 2015.

Lamb was named the Native Son because of his literary work over the past three decades and his volunteer work with inmates at York Correctional Institution, a woman’s prison in East Lyme, from 1997 to 2019, Norwich Rotary Club President-Elect Mary Richardson said.

“It’s nice that you have a really home-grown writer,” she said.

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What it takes to be a Norwich Native Son or Daughter

The Norwich Rotary’s eligibility requirements for the award include being born in Norwich or to parents residing in Norwich, and have lived in the city most of their life through high school. People born to parents residing in a bordering town are eligible if they moved to Norwich before first grade, and stayed through high school, according to the website.

Nominated people have to be approved by a committee made from two members of Norwich Rotary, two members of Norwich Sunrise Rotary, and two members of the Norwich Woman’s City Club. Lamb won the nomination by a 5-1 vote, Richardson said.

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Norwich fictionalized

Two distinctive elements come up in Lamb’s storytelling. One is using a fictionalized version of Norwich, called Three Rivers, as the setting, and the other is an emphasis on damaged characters improving themselves.

In using Three Rivers, small details don’t get in the way of storytelling, yet Lamb gets to draw on his lived experience and the city’s history. For example, he uses a fictionalized version of the Norwich State Hospital in his novel "I Know This Much is True," he said.

"I Know This Much is True" was also adapted into an HBO series. Despite the prevalence of Norwich in the work, the series was filmed in Poughkeepsie, New York, he said.

Lamb said he doesn’t know what’s going to happen to his characters until he writes it, but his philosophy for it is guided by a quote from the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem": “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

When Richardson sent Lamb the note informing him of the honor, he was humbled and felt he was “in very good company” with prior recipients, she said.

Lamb said the honor was “very sweet.”

“I left Norwich quite awhile ago, but there’s still a lot of Norwich in me,” he said.

Norwich Native Son Award Presentation honoring Wally Lamb will be held at the Norwich Holiday Inn, 10 Laura Boulevard, at noon on Wednesday. Some attendees preordered tickets on the Norwich Rotary website for $40, but there will be a limited number at the door, Richardson said.

Lamb said he’ll make his remarks for the ceremony Wednesday poignant, but with some humor.

Other honors for Lamb and a preview of his next book

Other recognition Lamb received in the past includes adaptations of his work by HBO and Lifetime, multiple New York Times Bestseller list appearances, winning the New England Book Award, and more, according to the Rotary Club announcement.

Despite all his honors, Lamb isn’t resting on his laurels. He finished the first draft of his next novel, tentatively called The River is Waiting, after a five and a half year writing process. This next novel draws on his experiences helping at York Correctional, with a male protagonist convicted of unintentional manslaughter. It is expected to come out in late 2024, or in 2025.

“The challenge for me was to figure out how he was going to survive, and even thrive, in that prison situation,” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Oprah Book Club's Wally Lamb named Norwich Native Son for 2023