Edgy writer receives Heinz literature prize

In a presentation reminiscent of a baptism, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg dubbed writer… In a presentation reminiscent of a baptism, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg dubbed writer Todd James Pierce as the newest recipient of the Drue Heinz prize for literature, substituting the sign of the cross for a $15,000 check.

“Todd, it is my pleasure to anoint you,” Nordenberg joked, “by the power vested in me by Mrs. Heinz, as the 2006 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner.”

Pierce’s novel “Newsworld” won him the distinction. He shared the stage with the 1985 recipient, author Walter D. Wetherell, as the two gave readings in the auditorium of the Frick Fine Arts Building Wednesday evening.

“The senior judge for this prize said that many of this year’s 300 entries had specific strengths, but that this year’s winner was by far the most ambitious,” Nordenberg said.

Pierce illustrated just how ambitious when he said, “In ‘Newsworld,’ I wanted to take a look at the way we relate to the news and media. The novel is set in a fictional amusement park with attractions like ‘O.J.’s Bronco,’ the ride, and recasts the Bush and Gore presidential race in a wrestling arena.”

Rather than reading from “Newsworld,” Pierce read a selection from his short story “Columbine the Musical.” The story focuses on a quiet 12th grader named Greg who reluctantly steps in to fulfill his duties as an understudy, forsaking his role as “Library Victim Number Four” and playing shooter Dylan Klebold instead.

Filled with satirical song and dance numbers and a scene involving students portraying the victims’ parents carrying blown-up pictures of their children’s dental records, Pierce’s drama teacher hopes to keep the rehearsals out of the paper.

“Already a story had come out under the headline ‘What Ever Happened to Hamlet?'” Pierce read.

In “Columbine the Musical,” the characters all have different desires attached to the show. Greg’s girlfriend, Susan, hopes to go to Rutgers for drama and tells Greg that if she played a lead, “Mark my words: Made-for-TV movies would be in my future.”

Describing Greg’s mother, formerly afflicted with road rage, Pierce read, “My mother was wearing one of her periwinkle suits. Periwinkle was one of the three recommended colors for workplace counselors specializing in conflict management.”

Pierce’s reading culminated with one of many ironies, in which Greg’s mother tells her son, “You’re gonna knock them dead” just after he is awarded the part of a murderer.

Following Pierce, Wetherell took the stage. Of the Drue Heinz prize Wetherell said, “I remember how proud and surprised I was when I received this award. Just having this prize out there gives hope to thousands, literally thousands of writers.”

“I try to match my readings to the occasion,” Wetherell said. “I remember being in Fairbanks, Alaska, and doing a reading. It wasn’t snowing at the time, but I read from a story called ‘Snow’ and by the end of it, it was snowing outside. It wasn’t until then that I realized the power of fiction.”

Keeping with the theme, Wetherell read from his latest novel, titled “A Century of November.” The novel chronicles a Canadian judge and apple grower as he travels to Europe in search of closure following his son’s death in World War I. Along the way, however, he learns of his late son’s girlfriend – who is pregnant with the soldier’s child.

“I know I’m not the first novelist to pick up on the unborn child as a symbol of hope,” Wetherell said, “but it’s the best metaphor we have, so I used it.”

Wetherell’s characters grapple with loss collectively and personally as they sail toward Europe. During dinner aboard the ship, “the silence was the kind that comes when there’s an obvious topic of conversation that no one wants to address,” Wetherell read.

One character asks, “What does ‘missing’ actually mean? Missing. Why don’t they spell it out? I think of the word constantly ever since the telegram came. I feel it like a hand around my throat.”

“A Century of November” particularly describes the misery of those left behind in death’s wake, as the protagonist walks down a corridor of the ship at night hearing crying behind every door.

“It wasn’t normal crying, sad crying,” Wetherell read, “but crying as if the sadness, as it left the woman, was being tortured and flailing.”

Following the readings, the audience was invited to attend a reception and speak with the authors. The ceremony was part of the ongoing Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series, which is free, open to the public and scheduled to continue Nov. 10 with a screening and discussion of “Friday Night Lights” with author H.G. Bissinger.