Yesterday, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) announced a new scholarship in honor of Rocky Wood, the organization’s late president, who passed away on December 1st as a result of complications from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
From the HWA’s press release:
The new scholarship, which joins the existing Horror Writers Association and Mary Shelley Scholarships, will focus on non-fiction. Rocky Wood, a two-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award®, was best known for his extensive work involving the writings of Stephen King. The scholarship was proposed by HWA Treasurer Leslie Klinger, who will also oversee its implementation.
You can read the rest of the press release here, which also details who will be succeeding Wood for the rest of his term.
That’s all the information I’ve heard about the scholarship so far. I assume they’re still hammering out all the details. But I think the scholarship is a grand idea, not just to commemorate Wood, who was probably the most effective and forward-thinking president the HWA has had in quite some time, but also because of its focus on non-fiction, which I feel doesn’t get as much attention as fiction by the organization’s members. (The Outstanding Non-Fiction category of the Bram Stoker Awards is routinely filled with works by other HWA members, despite the hundreds if not thousands of eligible non-fiction books published every year, which to me is an indication that the membership doesn’t read much non-fiction in general.) The scholarship may not change how the award too often goes to another HWA member, but it just might raise non-fiction’s visibility among the membership, which can only be a good thing.
Leave a Reply