Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, short story writer and Louisiana native Shirley Ann Grau was named recipient of the Louisiana Writer Award in 2004. She was honored by the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana for her extraordinary contributions to the state's literary heritage exemplified by her body of work.

The prestigious Louisiana Writer Award has been given annually since 2000 to recognize outstanding contributions to the literary and intellectual life of Louisiana.

Grau has written three short story collections: The Black Prince and Other Stories, The Wind Shifting West and Nine Women. She is also the author of novels such as The Hard Blue Sky and The Condor Passes.

For her 1964 novel The Keepers of the House, Grau was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1965.

Grau has contributed stories and articles to journals and magazines, including Atlantic, New Yorker, Redbook, Mademoiselle and Reporter.

Grau was born in 1929 in New Orleans. She studied English at Tulane University and graduated with honors in 1950. From 1966 to 1967, Grau served as a creative writing teacher at the University of New Orleans.

In addition to the Louisiana Writer's Award and the Pulitzer Prize, Grau has received honorary doctorates from Rider College and Spring Hill College.

Grau is a board member of St. Martin's Episcopal School in New Orleans.