Clark Literary Endowment and Fiction Prize

The L.D. Clark and LaVerne Harrell Clark Literary Endowment

The L.D. Clark and LaVerne Harrell Clark Literary Endowment provides a quiet and comfortable writers’ retreat in Smithville, 55 miles east of the Texas State University campus.

The historic home on Smithville’s Main Street was the residence of the writers L.D. Clark and LaVerne Harrell Clark. The Clarks donated their home and other property to Texas State in 2009 to create an endowment to support writers-in-residence.

Currently, writers-in-residence are chosen from among students in Texas State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. The endowment’s proceeds will also be used to award the annual L.D. and Laverne Harrell Clark Fiction Prize, which will be among the most prestigious fiction prizes in the country. Award winners will receive their honor and give a public reading at Texas State and will also visit the Clark House in Smithville. The inaugural prize will be awarded in February.

The Department of English and MFA program in creative writing in Texas State’s College of Liberal Arts sponsor the writers-in-residence program.