KATHERINE VAZ

Katherine Vaz is a former Associate Professor of English at University of California-Davis, and is currently at Harvard. Ms. Vaz is the author of the acclaimed novel Saudade (St. Martin's Press, 1994). Saudade is the first contemporary novel about Portuguese Americans. "She is the first Luso-American writer to weave Portuguese tales, myths, and images into her fiction, which she has brought successfully to American readers." Her collection of short stories, Fado and Other Stories (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997) won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, 1997.

Vaz's second novel, Marianna (Harper Collins, 1998) has appeared in six languages. The Library of Congress picked Marianna as one of the Top 30 International Books of 1998. Vaz is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and is the first Portuguese-American to have her work recorded for the Library of Congress, housed in the Hispanic division alongside recordings made by Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Ms. Vaz holds a BA in English and a MFA in English Literature from the University of California at Irvine.

Other PAWA 2002 Honorees include:

HERITAGE AWARD
Nelly Furtado, Musician, Songwriter
Official Website

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
M. Rachel Souza Baxter,
Heritage Harbour Museum Board, Vice President

OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE
Dina Matos McGreevey, First Lady of New Jersey

OUSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE
Diane C. Mederos, Bristol (RI) Town Clerk

OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR
Linda Martins Silva, Lincoln (RI) High School

PAWA RECOGNITION
Susan Antonio Pacheco, Attorney