To commemorate the legacy of West Virginia Pulitzer and Nobel prize-winner Pearl S. Buck, and the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prizes, the West Virginia Humanities Council, West Virginia University, the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation, and West Virginia Wesleyan College are partnering to present the Pearl S. Buck Living Gateway Conference. The conference will be hosted by West Virginia University on Sept. 11-13 at the Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown. The Living Gateway title refers to Buck’s Pocahontas County birthplace and her hope for it to serve as a “living gateway to new thoughts and dreams and ways of life.” Born in Hillsboro, Pearl S. Buck was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938, and her book “The Good Earth” won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer Prize Board awarded $35,000 to the West Virginia Humanities Council in support of the event. The international conference on Buck’s writing, advocacy, and enduring impact features 28 different sessions by presenters representing 14 colleges and universities from China and the U.S. It also includes a keynote address by Dr. Kang Liao, author of “Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Bridge Across the Pacific” and professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA, and a presentation by Keven Ann Willey, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize B\board and vice president and editorial page editor for the Dallas Morning News. The Buck manuscript collection housed at WVU Libraries and the Buck birthplace located in Hillsboro will be open for tours. For the complete conference schedule, listing of sessions and presenters, and registration and lodging information please visit the conference website at http://pearlsbuckconference.wvu.edu/ or call Jay Cole at 304-293-8673 with questions. Registration closes on Sept. 1.
