NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward will deliver the keynote address for Tulane University's Commencement ceremonies next month.
Tulane President Mike Fitts says Ward joined Tulane's faculty as an associate professor of English in 2014 and has become a literary icon by winning the award twice, putting her in the company of writers such as William Faulkner, John Updike and Saul Bellow.
Fitts called Ward "a once-in-a-generation, transcendent talent who has much to impart to our graduates about empathy, life, literature and sustaining hope in the face of tragedy and struggle."
Ward, named one of TIME magazine's Most Influential People of 2018, is the author of five works including "Sing, Unburied, Sing" and "Salvage the Bones."
Graduation ceremonies are scheduled for 9 a.m. May 19 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
