FAIRHOPE, Alabama — Fannie Flagg, a Birmingham native and sometimes Fairhope resident, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year.

“I am absolutely thrilled and honored to receive this award—particularly this award named in honor of my idol Harper Lee,” Flagg said.

Flagg will receive the award at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville on April 27, 2012, at the annual luncheon. The conference will meet April 26-28.

The Harper Lee Award is made to a living, nationally recognized Alabama writer who has made a significant, lifelong contribution to Alabama letters. It includes a cash prize and a bronze sculpture by Frank Fleming of the iconic Monroe County Courthouse clock tower. The courthouse is a setting for Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Flagg will read selections from her work in the courthouse on Saturday, April 28.

Previous recipients include Winston Groom, Carolyn Haines, Rick Bragg, Rebecca Gilman, William Cobb, Wayne Greenhaw, Andrew Hudgins, Sonia Sanchez , Rodney Jones, Mary Ward Brown, Sena Jeter Naslund, Helen Norris , Madison Jones and Albert Murray.

A New York Times bestselling writer, Flagg is the author of seven novels, including “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Café.” Also known for her work as an actress, producer and writer for stage, film and television, she received an Academy Award nomination for her screenplay, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” an adaptation of her novel.

The Alabama Writers’ Forum, a partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, coordinates the selection of the Harper Lee Award recipient annually from nominations from the field. The honor is presented annually by Alabama Southern Community College at the Symposium, which is supported by a grant from George F. Landegger, chairman, Parsons and Whittemore.

“We’re excited to have Fannie Flagg return to the annual Alabama Writers Symposium,” said Melinda Byrd-Murphy, director of the Alabama Center for Literary Arts. “She was a featured author in 2000 and was a crowd favorite. We’re glad she is being recognized for her contribution to the literary arts at this year’s event.”

When nominating Flagg, Tina F. Turley, executive producer of Theatre Tuscaloosa, wrote, “While most people know that Ms. Flagg is a New York Times bestselling author, her credentials as a scriptwriter for television and an award-winning screenwriter demonstrate that she has worked successfully in two genres. To have visualized her material first in fiction and then adapted it to a screenplay demonstrates the versatility of her talent as a writer. Fannie Flagg is truly one of Alabama’s finest treasures.”

Flagg divides her time between California and Alabama, where she maintains a residence in Fairhope. Her 2005 novel “A Redbird Christmas” was set in the Magnolia Springs area.

“This year we have the advantage of announcing the 2012 Harper Lee Award recipient very early,” said Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. “Fannie’s fans will be happy to know they can register for the Symposium right away by contacting Alabama Southern Community College at mbmurphy@ascc.edu.”