Author will speak at Hoag Lecture Series

Author Stacia Pelletier will serve as a keynote speaker for this year's Hoag Lecture Series at the University of North Georgia (UNG). Her theme is "Bringing the Georgia gold rush to life: History and fiction in 'The Deliverance of Barker McRae,'" and she will speak at noon March 5 in the Cottrell Center Ballroom at UNG's Dahlonega Campus.

Pelletier has been nominated twice for the Townsend Prize in Fiction, Georgia's highest literary honor.

Her third historical novel, "The Deliverance of Barker McRae," was released in September 2025. It follows the 14-year-old title character through north Georgia during the Cherokee land lottery and the gold rush. Though Barker is fictional, her journey unfolds amid real events and the rise of Methodist circuit riders.

The author will talk about researching the region, the mix of faith and fortune-seeking, and how she builds a writing life alongside a full-time job. Her talk ties in well with UNG's literacy initiatives.

"Stacia is going to be talking about how to have a regular job and be a writer at the same time," said Dr. Laura Getty, professor of English and Hoag Lecture Series committee member. "Her practical advice should be very helpful for our students, as well as for anyone interested in writing a book, since most of us need a full-time job to pay the bills."

Pelletier will also speak in history and English classes while visiting UNG, then be part of a session at the March 7 Dahlonega Literary Festival.

She has been a Robert W. Woodruff Fellow and a W.M. Keck Foundation Fellow, and she was awarded a 2025 Hearst Foundation Fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society. A writer with a day job, Pelletier serves as executive director of corporate and foundation relations at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and was previously the speechwriter for the president of Emory University. She holds a Master of Divinity and a Ph.D. in the history of religion from Emory University.