Elaine Neil Orr
Elaine Neil Orr is the author of five books. Her latest novel, Swimming Between Worlds, is set in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement. The Richmond Times-Dispatch calls it “a novel of great humanity,” and it was short-listed for the Sir Walter Raleigh Award. Her memoir, Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life, was a Top-10 BookSense selection. Library Journal described A Different Sun as a “lush, evocative, breathtaking” debut novel. Elaine was born and grew up in Nigeria, the daughter of missionary parents, and most of her writing is grounded in both the American South and the Nigerian South. She is a professor of literature at N.C. State University, where she teaches American and Nigerian literature, and she serves on the faculty of the Brief-Residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University. She has won awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the North Carolina Arts Council and is a frequent fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her short memoirs and stories appear in the Missouri Review, Image, and Blackbird,
Ten Things I Can’t Do Without
- Faith in something that endures
- The natural universe of streams, birds, foxes, lizards, and stones
- Literature
- Mentors and friends (including Andy and Joel)
- Writing
- Students
- Journals
- Green tea
- Yoga
- A good haircut
I loved A Different Sun. I would have liked the introduction to have said more about Elaine growing up in Nigeria. Was her maiden name “Neale” , not “Neil’? How old was she when her parents went to the mission field ?
Hello Mary Ann Denmark, I’m so glad you enjoyed my novel. Thanks for writing to South Writ Large. My maiden name was Neil. I was born on the mission field in 1954 after my parents arrived in 1952. I lived in Nigeria until 1970. So I am “omo” Nigeria–a child born in Nigeria. You might be interested in my memoir: Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life (University of Virginia). Best wishes–Elaine