AAUW to host scholarship tea Oct. 15

Published 3:11 pm Monday, September 5, 2016

Porcelain, Poetry and Prose to celebrate Stone’s “Iguana Tree” and Quigg’s “To Any Soldier”

The Tryon Branch of the American Association of University Women will host its sixth annual fundraising scholarship tea, “Porcelain, Poetry and Prose,” on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. at Sunnydale in Tryon. Enjoy an afternoon of sweets and savories and fabulous teas with authors who will share insights into their prose. The tea is by reservation only and seating will be on a first come, first serve basis.

Speakers include Spartanburg author Michel Stone and North Carolina writer Katheryn Watson Quigg.

Sign up for our daily email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Stone’s novel, “The Iguana Tree,” which Kirkus Reviews says, “recalls the work of John Steinbeck,” received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and an IPPY Award as one of the top novels published in 2012 by an independent press. The book was named a finalist for Foreword Reviews Book of the Year and The New York Journal of Books called “The Iguana Tree” “a triumph.”

Stone has published numerous stories and essays, and she is a 2011 recipient of the South Carolina Fiction Award awarded by the S.C. Arts Commission. She and her husband live in Spartanburg with their three children. Her second novel, “Border Child,” is forthcoming in April 2017 from Penguin Random House.

Watson Quigg’s debut novel, “To Any Soldier: A Novel of Vietnam Letters,” co-written with G.C. “Pete” Hendricks, is about a collection of letters between a Marine fighter pilot in Vietnam and a college freshman that tracks a profound friendship. It has received both the Editor’s Choice and the Rising Star awards from iUniverse and was also featured in the April 2016 edition of Booklist Magazine as a purchase recommendation to over 60,000 librarians. “To Any Soldier” has also received excellent reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Forward Reviews.

Watson Quigg is also a watercolor artist, certified reality therapist, and she has a first-degree black belt in tae kwon do. She lives in Wake Forest, N.C. with her husband, Tim. They have one adult son, Seth.

For reservations or more information, contact tryonbranchaauw@gmail.com or 864-457-3406.

-Submitted by Sandra Everhart