Archived Outdoors

George Masa book wins Thomas Wolfe award

Brent Martin. File photo Brent Martin. File photo

Brent Martin has been named the winner of the 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award for his book “George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina.”

Born in Japan, Masa made his way to the Southern Appalachians in the early 1900s, where his photographs of the region’s wild places became instrumental in building the case to designate the Great Smoky Mountains as a national park. In the book Martin, a poet, essayist and outdoorsman based in Cowee, pairs creative nonfiction inspired by visits to Masa’s old haunts with Masa’s crisp black-and-white landscape photography from the 1920s and 1930s. It’s an experiential ode, not a biography. 

Martin was one of five finalists for this year’s award. Originated by the Louis Lipinsky family, the Award has been presented annually by the Western North Carolina Historical Association since 1955 for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina. The award comes with a cash prize of $2,500. Martin received it during a Dec. 13 ceremony at UNC-Asheville’s Reuter Center. 

This year’s finalists were chosen from an original group of over 50 nominations. Other finalists were Anne Chesky Smith, for “Murder at Asheville’s Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger’s Killer;” Lance Greene, for “Their Determination to Remain; A Cherokee Community’s Resistance to the Trail of Tears;” Heather Newton, for “McMullen Circle;” and John Ross, for “Through the Mountains: The French Broad River and Time.” 

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.