Dr. Qiana Cutts, Associate Professor in Educational Foundations, received the 2024 Lillian E. Smith Writer-In-Service Award from the Lillian E. Smith Center at Piedmont University. The Center is named for Lillian E. Smith, author of Strange Fruit (1944), Killers of the Dream (1949) and other articles and essays on social justice and racial equality. Smith also operated the Laurel Falls Camp for Girls, considered a progressive camp for girls in the South and throughout country. Smith's legacy is honored via the Center for her service to rural Georgia communities and her early and consistent calls to end segregationist practices and policies.
This award provides an opportunity for writers who, like Lillian E. Smith, recognize "the power of the arts to transform the lives of all human beings" (LES Center, n.d.) As a recipient, Dr. Cutts will spend two weeks preparing a manuscript centering the girlhood and the creative artistry of rural Blackgirls.
Congratulations Dr. Cutts! We are proud of the work you are doing!