For its season finale, the English-Speaking Union has another full program. Members will host the winner of the E-SU sponsored Sandhills Shakespeare contest, Will Gwyn, and the winners of E-SU's teacher scholarship which provides two of Moore Counties finest teachers the opportunity to study abroad in England. The featured speaker at the casual attire dinner-program event is a rising star in the literary scene, Salisbury author John Hart.

If John Hart does not immediately come to mind when picking one's next read, consider the following comment by one of the South's premier novelists, Pat Conroy: "'The King of Lies' moves and reads like a book on fire. The author is a lawyer who knows his way around the courtrooms and jailhouses, the cops and judges, the way Grisham and Turow do. Smart and swiftly moving, 'The King of Lies' is the work of an amazing new talent."

This is what Conroy said of John Hart's first novel, one that was nominated, but did not win the coveted Edgar Award. One wonders what Conroy will say of Hart's second work, the newly announced 2008 Edgar Award-winning mystery novel, "Down River."

Hart will no doubt reflect on his new accomplishment and how a lawyer from Salisbury came to win the Mystery Writers of America prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Award for best mystery fiction published in 2007. Hart and his wife, Katie, were in New York Thursday, May 1, attending the award ceremonies held at the Grand Hyatt hotel.

"Down River" was also nominated in March for the SIBA Award, given each year by the Southern Independent Booksellers Association to recognize the best in Southern fiction, and for the Strand Critics Award, judged by some of the best critics in the nation, from such newspapers as The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

"The E-SU membership and the community at large thanks The Pilot's publisher, David Woronoff, a longtime friend of Hart's, for making his appearance possible," says a spokesman.

The English-Speaking Union is an organization whose mission is "drawing together the English-speaking peoples of the world." It is committed to promoting scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community.

The local branch of the English-Speaking Union approaches the mission with an outstanding monthly program of informative and entertaining speakers on topics ranging from literary to the geo-political stage; the E-SU scholarship program for local educators to study in England, the Moore County Shakespeare Competition and the E-SU Speaking Program held each spring for students in Moore and surrounding counties.

The program and dinner will be presented at the Country Club of North Carolina, Wednesday, May 14. The evening begins with cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by introduction of the winners of the E-SU Shakespeare contest and teacher scholarship. Dinner is at 7 p.m.

John Hart will then present "Reflections on Really Recent Accolades." Hart will answer questions and sign books following the presentation.

The English-Speaking Union welcomes new members.

For information call Alice Irby at 215-4584 or e-mail Dr. Phil Hinesley at p.hinesley@gmail.com.