Allan Gurganus, a North Carolinian, writes novels, essays, and short stories. Works include Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, White People and The Practical Heart. A recent Guggenheim Fellow and a Pen Faulkner finalist, he won the the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His novel-in-progress, second in The Falls Trilogy that commenced with Widow, is The Erotic History of a Southern Baptist Church.