by Annie Dillard

In 1974 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek earned Annie Dillard the distinction of being the youngest person (at age thirty-one) ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. Combining theological, scientific, and literary inquiry, the book offers insight into the everyday world. As national and international conflicts (the Watergate break-in and the Vietnam War) prompted controversy in America, Dillard, secluded in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia, looked to the earth and its creator for clues about how to live a fully human existence.

Events in History at the Time of the Essay

Naturalism in Virginia. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek takes place in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia, in the southeast Appalachians along a range known as the Blue Ridge Mountains. This geographical area is home to Virginia's highest peaks, which are also some of the most ancient mountains in the world...