Number 9 Books and Records

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Annie Dillard '67, M.A. '68, beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," has died at 81.

Multiple sources have reported that Annie died Tuesday at her home in South Wellfleet, Mass., as confirmed by her literary executor, Maggie Nelson.

Annie received her B.A. in English. The 1967 issue of Hollins' yearbook, "The Spinster," records her participation as a contributor to a reference book, "Who's Who," and a member of a campus literary society, Grapheon. She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and served as an editorial assistant for the "Hollins Critic" literary journal. Just a year later, in 1968, she earned her M.A. in English, having written her thesis on Henry David Thoreau’s "Walden."

In addition to finding literary success with "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," a nonfiction narrative about the natural world near Roanoke, Dillard was also known for "Teaching a Stone to Talk," an essay collection, among more than a dozen other works.

Annie received many honors throughout her lifetime, including a 1975 New York Press Club Award for Excellence, Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts/Literature grants in the 1980s, and honorary doctorates from Boston College (1986), University of Hartford (1993), and Connecticut College (1993). On her website, Annie mentioned that she turned down multiple subsequent honorary degrees because “they take days and days in heels.”

Annie was honored with Hollins’ Distinguished Alumna Award in 2007 and, in 2014, Hollins Theatre presented the world premiere of the stage adaptation of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." Adapter/director Andy Belser and actor Rachel Nelson '07 joined then-Theatre Chair Ernie Zulia to devise and produce the work.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives," she notably said. "What we do with this hour and with that one, is what we are doing.”

Read Annie's obituary, as reported by NPR, here: https://www.npr.org/2026/09/16/1138680574/annie-dillard-dead.

And revisit Annie’s work on her website, anniedillard.com.