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Virgin Islands Writer Wins $10,000 Prize For Fiction Work

Tiphanie Yanique, assistant professor of writing at The New School in New York City and a graduate of All Saints Cathedral School in St. Thomas, is the recipient of the 2014 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize presented by The Center for Fiction for her 368-page debut novel, "Land of Love and Drowning." Yanique's work was selected from among 25 other first-time novelists and she was awarded a $10,000 prize at an awards ceremony held on Dec. 9. "It feels incredibly gratifying that the Virgin Islands is being noticed and lauded on a national level in this way," the writer said of the national recognition. "Yes, we are a place of great natural beauty--world class beaches, hiking trails, but we are also a place where serious art is being created by the human beings who call the Virgin Islands home. I hope this prize brings more attention to the many hard working and talented writers, painters, dancers and other artists in and from the Virgin Islands." The novel by Tiphanie Yanique titl...