RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – The Library of Virginia and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts are pleased to announce that novelist and biographer Sue Prideaux has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award for her book “Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin” (W.W. Norton, 2025). Prideaux will be honored at a special reception at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Friday, Sept. 18, and during the 29th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration at the Library on Saturday, Sept. 19. 

"We’re proud to partner with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in recognizing Sue Prideaux with this year’s Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award," said Librarian of Virginia Dennis T. Clark. "Her work beautifully connects the worlds of art and literature, reflecting what both of our institutions are committed to celebrating." 

ART IN LITERATURE: THE MARY LYNN KOTZ AWARD

Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award recognizes an outstanding book that is written primarily in response to the world of art, while also showing the highest literary quality as a creative or scholarly work. This prestigious award is the first created for writing a book-length work about art in multiple categories: history, biography, fiction, poetry, journalism, art history, social history of art, museum catalogues and young adult literature. The Art in Literature Award is named in honor of distinguished journalist Mary Lynn Kotz, author of “Rauschenberg: Art and Life” (Harry N. Abrams, 1990), and longtime contributing editor of ARTNews.

Previous recipients of this award, now in its 14th year, have included Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk; Virginia Poet Laureate Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda; Pulitzer Prize recipients Erin Kelly and Winfred Rembert (“Chasing Me to my Grave”); novelist Susan Vreeland (“Lisette's List”); historian Mary Gabriel (“Ninth Street Women”); Katy Hessel (“The Story of Art Without Men”); and last year’s recipient, Deborah Parker (“Becoming Belle da Costa Greene: A Visionary Librarian Through Her Letters”).

SUE PRIDEAUX: WILD THING

In this year’s winning book, “Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin,” Prideaux re-examines the adventurous and complicated life of the artist Paul Gauguin. She illuminates the people, places and ideas that shaped his vision: his privileged upbringing in Peru and rebellious youth in France; the galvanizing energy of the Paris art scene; meeting Mette, the woman who he would marry; formative encounters with Vincent van Gogh and August Strindberg; and the ceaseless draw of French Polynesia.

Prideaux conjures Gauguin’s visual exuberance, his creative epiphanies, his fierce words and his flaws with acuity and sensitivity. Drawing from a wealth of new material and access to the artist’s family, this myth-busting work invites us to see Gauguin anew.

“Sue Prideaux’s book embodies the spirit of the Kotz award precisely because it encourages readers to reevaluate Gauguin and his paintings based on new scholarship,” stated Lee Bagby Ceperich, the Freeman Family Foundation Library and Special Collections Director at VMFA. “The reader’s curiosity about Gauguin will hopefully transform into a broader fascination with the power of art and art history.”

Sue Prideaux, described by The London Times as "one of the finest biographers working today," is an award-winning author whose work spans some of history's most compelling artistic and intellectual figures. Her biography "Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream" (Yale University Press, 2005) won the James Tait Black Prize. "Strindberg: A Life" (Yale University Press, 2012) won the Duff Cooper Prize and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. "I Am Dynamite! A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche" (2018) won the Hawthornden Prize and was published in 32 languages. Her most recent work, "Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin," was named one of the New Yorker's top ten Best Books of 2025.

Prideaux has written for many publications, including the Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Times, The Spectator, The Economist and The Art Newspaper.

EVENT DETAILS

Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 | Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award 
In-person event: 6–8 p.m. | VMFA, 200 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond, VA 23220
Tickets: lvafoundation.org/kotztickets

Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award, sponsored by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Library of Virginia, recognizes an outstanding book published in the previous year that is written primarily in response to a work (or works) of art while also showing the highest literary quality as a creative or scholarly work. Author Sue Prideaux will offer a presentation on this year’s winning book, “Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin.” A book signing and reception will follow the program. 

Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026 | 29th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration 
In-person event: 6–9:30 p.m. | Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Tickets: lvafoundation.org/tickets

The Library of Virginia will present the Commonwealth's highest prizes for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children's literature and art in literature at the 29th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration. Attendees will enjoy an awards ceremony, dinner and a silent auction hosted by award-winning author Adriana Trigiani to raise support for the Library's preservation, education and research initiatives. Presented by Dominion Energy, this annual gala celebration has become the Library's signature event and an eagerly anticipated cultural tradition in Richmond, attracting those who enjoy the written word and support literature.

For more information about either event, please call 804.692.3813 or visit https://www.lva.virginia.gov/events/litawards.

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA LITERARY AWARDS
In 1997, the Library of Virginia established its annual Virginia Literary Awards program to honor Virginia writers and celebrate their contributions to the literary landscape of our state and nation. Given to Virginia authors in the categories of fiction and poetry — and to nonfiction authors for works about a Virginia subject as well — the awards are presented at an annual celebration that has become the Library’s signature event and an eagerly anticipated cultural tradition in Richmond. While the main award recipients are selected by independent panels of judges, the Library also invites book lovers and readers to vote for their favorite works for the People’s Choice Awards for Fiction and Nonfiction. Also presented is the Children’s Virginia Literary Award. A partnership between the Library of Virginia and William and Mary Libraries, the award honors excellence in the field of children's literature with a focus on Virginia. In the past, the Library has also bestowed a Literary Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize the enduring influence of an outstanding Virginia writer, with past winners including Nikki Giovanni, Earl Hamner, Lee Smith, Jan Karon, Tom Robbins, Charles Wright, Barbara Kingsolver, Rita Dove, John Grisham, Tom Wolfe and David Baldacci. 

ABOUT THE LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA AND FOUNDATION 
The Library of Virginia is the leading source of information on Virginia’s history, government and people. The Library’s collections, containing more than 134 million items, document and illustrate the lives of both famous Virginians and ordinary citizens. Our online resources draw nearly 2 million website visits per year, and our on-site records, exhibitions and events bring in thousands of visitors annually. The Library is located in downtown Richmond near Capitol Square at 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219. Learn more at www.lva.virginia.gov.

The Library of Virginia Foundation supports the Library of Virginia and its mission by raising private financial support, managing its endowment, and helping to bring Virginia’s history and culture to life. Learn more at lvafoundation.org. 

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest comprehensive art museums in the United States. VMFA, which opened in 1936, is a state agency and privately endowed educational institution. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art, and to encourage the study of the arts. Through the Office of Statewide Partnerships Program, the museum offers curated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences, and workshops by visual and performing artists. In addition to presenting a wide array of special exhibitions, the museum provides visitors with the opportunity to experience a global collection of art that spans more than 6,000 years. VMFA’s permanent holdings encompass more than 50,000 artworks, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside of Russia, the finest collection of Art Nouveau outside of Paris and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art. VMFA is also home to important collections of Chinese art, English silver, French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British sporting and modern and contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing I after a transformative expansion, previously the largest in its history. A new expansion, the McGlothlin Wing II, is scheduled to open in 2029. Comprising more than 170,000 square feet, it will be the largest expansion in the museum’s history and will make VMFA the fourth largest comprehensive art museum in the United States. 

Named the 11th-best art museum in the U.S. by The Washington Post, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is the only art museum in the United States open 365 days a year with free general admission. For additional information, visit VMFA.museum.