Philip Lee Williams (b. 1950) is the author of seventeen books, among them twelve novels, three works of nonfiction, and two volumes of poetry. His latest novel, Emerson’s Brother (Mercer University Press, 2012), is about the mentally challenged brother of Ralph Waldo Emerson; a thousand-page novel, The Divine Comics (2011), is a modern re-imagining and updating of Dante’s Divine Comedy; and The Flower Seeker: An Epic Poem of William Bartram (2010) was named Book of the Year by Books & Culture magazine. Williams’ books have been translated into Swedish, German, French, and Japanese and have appeared in large-print editions as well. A science writer and a teacher of creative writing at the University of Georgia for many years, Williams retired in 2012. He lives with his family in rural Oconee County, Georgia. (Inducted in 2010)
