That’s A Wrap

Award-winning author, scriptwriter, documentary filmmaker, director, and producer for

television and film, Adriana Trigiani will speak at Emory & Henry College Commencement
ceremonies on May 5. Trigiani will speak to the Emory & Henry College class of 2018, and the
first ever graduating class from the School of Health Sciences.

Trigiani grew up in an Italian-American family in Southwest Virginia’s Big Stone Gap which
later inspired her book series on the region.

Trigiani is the author of seventeen best-selling books. She has published a novel a year since
2000. Her most notable work includes ​Big Stone Gap series, including Big Stone Gap (2000),
Big Cherry Holler (2001), Milk Glass Moon (2002) ​and​ Home to Big Stone Gap (2006).

It wasn’t long after the ​Big Stone Gap ​series took off that it became a movie which was released
in October, 2015. This movie featured several familiar faces such as ​Ashley Judd, Whoopi
Goldberg, Jane Krakowski, Jenna Elfman and Patrick Wilson.

The American love story, ​Big Stone Gap ​was set in Adriana’s Virginia hometown. This iconic
film won #2 Top Romantic Comedy of 2015, and was shot entirely on location in the mountains
of Virginia.

In one of Trigiani’s many appearances on ​USA Today ​she was referred to as one of the “reigning
queens of women’s fiction.”

Emory & Henry College Commencement will be Trigiani’s third time speaking at a college
commencement ceremony. She has previously spoke at the University of Virginia at Wise and
the University of New Haven. She has also been a guest speaker at New York University and
The New School for Social Research in New York City.

In addition to Adriana’s success, she established and founded The Origin Project. This is an
attempt to introduce professional authors into classrooms in the Appalachian region. Trigiani
created this project as a way of helping students develop creative writing skills. She encourages
students to write stories inspired by their family history.

Commencement will take place on the South Lawn of the Memorial Chapel on May 5 at 10:00
AM.