Josephine Humphreys

Josephine Humphreys, a native of Charleston, S.C. is a writer known for her moving and eloquent stories about life in the American South. She is the author of four novels: Dreams of Sleep (1984), winner of the Pen/Hemingway award for best first novel; Rich In Love (1987), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year which was also made into a movie; The Fireman's Fire (1991) also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and Nowhere Else on Earth (2000), winner of the Southern Book award.

She studied creative writing with Reynolds Price at Duke University, where she graduated summa cum laude in 1967. She earned a master's degree in English studies from Yale University in 1968, and she studied at the University of Texas. Humphreys has won a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction (1986), the Lyndhurst Prize, and a Literature award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a member of the South Carolina Academy of Authors and the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Humphreys was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from Coastal Carolina University during the May 2007 commencement ceremony.