ALUMNA'S FIRST NOVEL NOMINATED FOR PULITZER

The first novel by Old Dominion alumna Donna M. Dean has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Literature. Dean, who lives in Westport, Wash., earned her master's degree in education from the university in 1981.

"Deep Six" is a complex, layered novel of a young woman's coming of age in an often overlooked segment of society whose struggle to stay alive is difficult and often exacerbated by racial prejudice. Also a mystery, it features heroine Tondelayo Dubois, who descended from a Cherokee mother and a Cajun father, and her search for the killer of her adopted sister.

Along the way, readers get an introduction to Native American spirituality as Tondelayo moves through her grief and rage.

Dean, who served in the Navy 18 years, is of Cherokee and Irish descent. The book is published by Palo Alto Press.