Ernest J. Gaines was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for his novel A Lesson Before Dying. Other works include Of Love and Dust, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Gathering of Old Men, and Bloodline, a collection of short stories. He received a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1993, was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Lettres in 1996, and in 1998 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  His latest work is a collection of autobiographical essays and short stories, Mozart and Leadbelly: Stories and Essays.