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Novelist Barry Hannah dies at age 67

March 2, 2010

OXFORD, Miss. — Novelist Barry Hannah died Monday, March 1, at his home in Oxford, Mississippi. He was 67.

The writer had battled cancer for 15 years. His death, just weeks shy of his 68th birthday, appeared to be due to a heart attack, according to his son, Barry Jr.

Hannah's fictional works include the 1972 novel Geronimo Rex, which won the William Faulkner Prize and was nominated for the National Book Award, and High Lonesome, a 1996 short story collection which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The 17th Annual Oxford Conference for the Book, which begins Thursday, is dedicated to Hannah and includes several sessions devoted to his work.

He was born in Meridian, Mississippi, and grew up in Clinton. He received his B.A. degree from Mississippi College in 1964 and earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Arkansas in 1967.

He taught at Clemson University, Middlebury College, and the University of Alabama before joining the faculty at the University of Mississippi as writer in residence in 1983, a position he held for the remainder of his life.

He is survived by his wife, Susan, and three children.

Related Links
	“Mississippi author Barry Hannah dies at 67,” by Billy Watkins, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS (2 March 2010).
	“Author Barry Hannah dies at 67 in Mississippi,” by Emily Wagster Pettus, the Associated Press (2 March 2010).
	The 17th Annual Oxford Conference for the Book