The South Carolina Academy of Authors will celebrate writers William Price Fox, Dot Jackson, Ron Rash, and George Singleton in an April ceremony in Spartanburg, inducting the four into the state’s literary hall of fame.

The April 17, 2010, event will be held in the Campus Life Center Ballroom at the University of South Carolina Upstate, with wine and heavy hors d'oeuvres at a 6 pm reception.

The ceremony begins at 7 pm. A sale and signing of authors’ books will start at 8:30 pm. Tickets cost $35 apiece.

Events preceding the ceremony include a reading by George Singleton on April 15 at 4 pm in USC Upstate’s J.J. Smith Board Room and a panel on poet James Dickey, “Remembering James Dickey: A Conversation with Dot Jackson, Bronwen Dickey, John Lane and Deno Trakas,” April 16 at 4 pm in the Sandor Teszler Library at Wofford College. Both events are free and open to the public.

• William Price Fox, born in 1926, grew up in Columbia, the setting for much of his fiction. His two collections of short stories,

Southern Fried and Southern

Fried Plus Six, have sold more than one million copies. He has also written four novels and seven books of humor and nonfiction. His most recent work, “Satchel Paige’s America,” was named one of the best books of 2007 by

The Library Journal.

• Dorothea “Dot” Jackson, born in 1932, published Refuge, her first novel, in 2006 through the Novello Festival Press of Charlotte. A career journalist,

Jackson wrote for The

Charlotte Observer , The

Greenville News, the North

Carolina Independent and

was a stringer for The New

York Times. She also edited or co–edited regional weekly newspapers. Her stories and articles have appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies.

• Ron Rash, born in 1953, is the author of four

novels: One Foot in Eden,

Saints at the River ,The

World Made Straight, and

Serena, a best seller named to many best–books lists and a Pen–Faulkner Award finalist. Rash, who teaches at Western Carolina University, also is author of four collections of short stories and three collections of poems.

• George Singleton, born in 1958, grew up in Greenwood. He is best known for his short stories,

collected in These People Are

Us, The Half–Mammals of

Dixie, Why Dogs Chase Cars,

and Drowning in Gruel. Singleton also is the author of

two novels, Novel and Work

Shirts for Madmen. His most

recent work is Pep Talks,

Warnings and Screeds: Indispensable

Wisdom and Cautionary

Advice for Writers. He is a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow.

Events following the induction include a brunch and library exhibits. The brunch with poet Cathy Smith Bowers will be held April 18, 10:30 am to noon, in the Alumnae House of Converse College. The 2010 recipient of the Carrie McCray Nickens Prize will be announced. The brunch is free, but reservations are necessary.

The library exhibit at the Main Branch of Spartanburg County Public Library will honor the four inductees. The Sandor Teszler Library exhibit will honor Dickey, a 1986 Academy inductee. The Mickel Library at Converse College will honor Julia Peterkin, a Converse alumnae and 1986 Academy inductee; Elizabeth Boatwright Coker, a 1991 inductee; and Katherine Mayrant Simons, a 1997 inductee.

Founded at Anderson College in 1986, the South Carolina Academy of Authors identifies and recognizes the state’s distinguished writers, living and deceased. In 2009, the academy honored Kwame Dawes, Susan Ludvigson, and Carrie Allen McCray Nickens. Other writers honored by the Academy include Dickey, Pat Conroy, Josephine Humphreys, and John Jakes.

The Academy’s annual induction ceremonies honor writers selected by its board of governors. The Academy also underwrites a program of literary fellowships and sponsors readings. The board of governors is working on ways to support the creation of county literary history projects, book-club reading programs and bookclub presentations on S.C. writers. The 2010 induction of the authors occurs in partnership with USC Upstate, Wofford College, Spartanburg County Public Libraries, Furman University, Gardner–Webb University and BMW. Reservations may be made online at www.scacademyofauthors.o rg. Tickets for the induction ceremony can be purchased by mail from the S.C. Academy of Authors, c/o Nancy Dew Taylor, 11 Ashwicke Lane, Greenville, S.C. 29615. For more information, contact Taylor at 864-329-8535 or dewtaylor@charter.net.