Carl Hiaasen Wins Lifetime Achievement Award from Florida Humanities Council

The Florida Humanities Council has announced that crime novelist Carl Hiaasen has won the 2011 Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing.

Widely known for his zany Florida noir novels with their wild and weird characters, the judges were also impressed with the breadth of his work, which includes hard-hitting newspaper columns, young readers' books, magazine articles, and provocative non-fiction. His most recent novel is Star Island, "... a canny blend of lunatic farce and savage satire." (New York Times Book Review)

"With their ripped-from-the-headlines timeliness, Hiaasen’s novels are hilarious, insightful and firmly rooted in Florida," said Janine Farver, executive director of the Florida Humanities Council, which originated the award last year, oversees the nomination process, convenes a panel of independent judges, and announces the winner. The Florida Humanities Council is the statewide, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The award will be presented to Hiaasen on March 23rd in Tallahassee at a special luncheon held at the Governor's Mansion.