PITTSBURGH — The Drue Heinz Literature Prize was established in 1981 by its namesake — the actress and philanthropist who died in 2018 at the age of 103 — in order to recognize and support writers of "short fiction," namely short-story collections. The prize, while given by the University of Pittsburgh Press and established with Heinz family money, is of national importance: To win the Drue Heinz is to be thrust into the literary limelight, as the winning writer receives publication, money ($15,000) and recognition as a master of the craft of short fiction.
It's a big deal.
"I had to keep it a secret for a few months," said 2022 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner Ramona Reeves. "Once they announced it, a year before the book was published, I told my boss at the time, and he asked me what I was going to do — and I said, well, I'm just going to keep working."
When her book, "It Falls Gently All Around: and other stories," came out in October 2022, Reeves decided to leave her job for good: She had to prepare for a book tour, and her job schedule did not allow her to simply leave for a month at a time.
"So I thought, OK, well I'm just going to go for it and see what happens."
What happened is that after her short stories received national coverage, she soon embarked upon a series of readings and events that took Reeves out of her home state of Texas and all over the country. But no matter where she is, Reeves thinks of herself as a Southern writer.
Which makes sense. "It Falls Gently All Around" is a collection of interconnected stories about Babbie and Donnie, two people on the Gulf Coast of Alabama who dream of bigger and better things. There's a gothic energy to "It Falls Gently All Around," as the collection explores dark hotel rooms, bathroom stalls, country clubs, class differences and how money can influence more than just a person's spending power.
"Writing about class in this country is also writing about religion, gender, and the expectations of race," Reeves said. Babbie, the central female character, is a thrice divorced woman who has a checkered past that includes some sex work. As she navigates friends, lovers, her softball team and ex-husbands, Babbie considers the shame and need that drove her to desperation.
"People said that a woman had choices, but they never said how few those choices could be," Babbie thinks as she examines what she's had to do to survive. She lives in a contained world, a Mobile that offers little promises of advancement and that knowledge traps Babbie in place, as does "the knowledge that anything could be sold." Including herself.
A blue-collar depression lingers over many of the stories, but Reeves loves her characters. Babbie and Donnie emerge as real people, with all the complexities and self-sabotage that make up the human experience.
Even though it's set in Alabama in the early aughts, so much of what Reeves's characters endure will resonate with working-class people everywhere as Babbie and Donnie grapple with what the broken American Dream actually gave them: little money and big aspirations.
"It Falls Gently All Around" cares about its characters. Reeves has created a unique collection, one that seduces the reader with great writing, and also leaves them wanting more.
"I had to share these stories," Reeves noted, "and I'm so grateful that the Drue Heinz Prize allowed me to do exactly that."
