'Dog-Men' author wins literary prize

Author Brad Watson ('78) has received the prestigious Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his critically acclaimed collection of stories, Last Days of the Dog-Men. The award, established in 1980 in memory of novelist and short story writer Sue Kaufman, was presented in New York City in May. The book also earned a New York Times Notable Book of the Year citation in 1996.

Watson

Watson, who was featured in the Fall 1996 issue of Alumnus, currently teaches creative writing at the University of Alabama. This fall, he will move to Cambridge, Mass., to occupy the position of Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in English and American Literature at Harvard University.

A Meridian native, Watson recently participated in the Southern Literary Festival, held this year at Mississippi State. His fellow panelists included bestselling novelist John Grisham ('77) and novelist and screenwriter Thomas Hal Phillips ('43), among others. [See story this issue.]

Watson earned a master's degree in creative writing at the University of Alabama in 1985. He currently is at work on a novel.