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The Society for the Study of Southern Literature has selected Professor M. Thomas Inge, Ph.D. as this year’s recipient of the Richard Beale Davis Award for lifetime contributions to Southern letters.
The award carries with it a rich history. In his lifetime, Richard Beale Davis was America’s most distinguished scholar of colonial and federal culture and literature. A native Virginian and 1927 graduate of Randolph-Macon College, Davis published scores of groundbreaking and award-winning studies. His spirit remains a strong presence on campus, manifested in R-MC’s research library, which Davis left to the college after he died. The award will be presented at the meeting of the Society at William & Mary in Williamsburg on Thursday, April 17, 2008.
Inge’s most recent work, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, (The University of North Carolina Press, 2008) is the ninth volume in a series that explores the South’s fertile literary landscape, past and present. The book’s 31 essays pay homage to the South’s thriving literary culture as it touches on myriad genres.
A 1959 graduate of R-MC, Inge received his Master’s degree and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He is an expert on humor and pop culture and a recognized authority on comics and their impact on our culture. His vast collection of comic books will form the hub of an upcoming exhibit, “The Incredible Mr. Poe: Edgar Allen Poe in the Comics” at The Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. The colorful exhibit highlights Poe’s unlikely—but popular—appearance in graphic novels and comics. The exhibit runs from April 24 to October 31, 2008.
For more information, please contact Pam Harris Cox at 752-3712, pamelacox@rmc.edu or Anne Marie Lauranzon at 804-752-7317.