Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Oh, My Gosh! Shirley Has An Award!

I was just thinking today about how much Shirley Jackson meant to me when I was in high school. Yes, back in the dark ages we didn't have a lot of YA gothie, dark, creepy stuff, so I had to read Shirley Jackson.

Well, Leila reports that there is now a Shirley Jackson Award. And there is a Shirley Jackson Awards Blog! (I suspect it won't be very active.)

Here are the finalists. Notice they don't have a YA category. I so think they should. Seriously, was I the only teenager who read her work?

The award will be given for "outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic." I want to write some of that, so I can be considered for the Shirl.

3 comments:

Sam said...

I love "We Have Always Lived in the Castle."

And Cece is a huge fan of one of her short stories, something about returning a shirt to a department store if I recall correctly.

Gail Gauthier said...

Yes, I read "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" back in my youth. Also "The Haunting of Hill House." I think I read either "Life Among the Savages" or "Raising Demons," too.

In recent years, I've tried to read more of her short stories. I was finding them kind of dated.

But I need to do a Jackson reread.

Leila said...

I agree, there should totally be a YA section.