MURFREESBORO – The annual Mary Frances Hobson Lecture and Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters brings the College and surrounding community together each spring to celebrate the accomplishments of an author of note from the region.

The 2005 Hobson Prize will be presented to Shelia P. Moses on Monday, April 4. Moses is the author of &uot;The Legend of Buddy Bush,&uot; a finalist for the 2004 National Book Award in Youth Literature, as well as a 2005 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book

Her other works include &uot;One More River to Cross,&uot; &uot;So They Burned the Black Churches,&uot; and &uot;I, Dred Scott,&uot; the latter recently honored with a reception at the Center for Southern Literature at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of the Center’s &uot;Agents of Change&uot; series.

She is also co-author, with Dick Gregory, of Gregory’s latest autobiography, &uot;Callus on My Soul.&uot;

The event’s schedule includes:

Dialogue with Students, 2 p.m., Robert Marks Hall, Vaughan Auditorium

The dialogue is open and free to middle school, high school, and college students.

Dinner and Conferral of Hobson Prize, 6 p.m., Chowan Room

Dinner reservations are $20 per person. The deadline for registration is March 18. Call 252-398-1233 for details.

Hobson Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Vaughan Auditorium

The lecture is open and free to the public. There will be a book signing in Marks Lobby following the lecture.

For more information about the Hobson Lecture and Prize, please visit the Chowan College website at http://www.chowan.edu/cac/hobson/default.htm.