Novelist and short story writer Jill McCorkle will speak May 2 at VCU Alumni's annual Monroe Scholars Book and Author Luncheon.

Novelist Jill McCorkle to speak at annual Monroe Scholars Book and Author Luncheon

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VCU Alumni is hosting the eighth annual Monroe Scholars Book and Author Luncheon, featuring award-winning novelist and short story writer Jill McCorkle, at noon on May 2 at the Jefferson Lakeside Country Club, 1700 Lakeside Ave.

McCorkle is known for creating vivid Southern female characters, such as Jo Spencer in “The Cheer Leader,” her first novel; and Ginny Sue in “Tending to Virginia,” an exploration of multiple generations of women and their families’ stories. Five of her 10 published books were selected as New York Times Notable Books. She is a winner of the New England Book Awards, the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature and the North Carolina Award for Literature.

Attendees can meet McCorkle at the luncheon and purchase an autographed copy of her book “Life After Life,” which chronicles the daily triumphs and challenges of the residents and staff of Pine Haven Estates, a retirement facility now home to a good many of the older citizens in Fulton, North Carolina.

Tickets to the luncheon are $75 per person or $600 for a table of eight; $50 of each individual ticket and $400 of each table is a tax-deductible contribution. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales funds VCU Alumni’s Monroe Scholars Book Award program, which provides an award and $1,000 scholarship to high school students who meet the criteria of leadership and scholarship and who enroll at VCU in any course of study.

For more information about the luncheon, contact Lauren Trinka, program coordinator for outreach and engagement, at lmtrinka@vcu.edu or (804) 828-1124, or purchase tickets online at support.vcu.edu/event/monroescholarsluncheon. The registration deadline is April 25.