Author Barry Hannah dies at 67 in his Mississippi home, was Pulitzer nominee for short stories

Author Barry Hannah dies at 67 in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. — Acclaimed author Barry Hannah has died at his home in Oxford, Miss. He was 67.

Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy tells The Associated Press that Hannah died Monday. Kennedy says Hannah died of “natural causes,” but wanted to withhold further details of the cause until he shared them with Hannah’s wife.

Hannah’s first novel, “Geronimo Rex,” was published in 1972 and was nominated for a National Book Award. His 1996 short story collection, “High Lonesome,” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Longtime friend Malcolm White, the director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, called Hannah “Mississippi’s irreverent poet of the dark side.”

Hannah worked as writer in residence at several places, including the University of Mississippi, the University of Iowa, the University of Montana-Missoula and Middlebury College in Vermont.