OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — New Orleans native Maurice Carlos Ruffin has been chosen as the University of Mississippi’s 2020-21 John and Renée Grisham writer in residence.

Ruffin gained national recognition after writing “We Cast a Shadow,” a horror novel about a father trying to shield his son from racism.

The New York Times chose it as a notable book of 2019. The Washington Post and National Public Radio also put the book on their best books list for 2019.

While at the University of Mississippi, Ruffin will be working on a new novel. He describes it as an “upbeat and hopeful side of the race problem in America.”