STARKVILLE, Miss.--The co-director of Mississippi State's creative writing program is receiving a top honor from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.
Michael Kardos, an assistant professor of English at the university, is the 2012 winner of the organization's annual award in fiction.
A University of Missouri doctoral graduate, he joins such previous honorees as Howard Bahr, Ellen Douglas, Richard Ford, Barry Hannah, and Walker Percy. Among other winners is MSU alumnus and National Book Award nominee Brad Watson, a Meridian native.
Kardos is being recognized for "One Last Good Time" (Press 53, 2011), his recent collection of short stories.
Tom Perrotta, author of the best-selling "The Leftovers," has called Kardos' work "a remarkable debut collection, full of stories that are funny and melancholy at the same time."
A teacher of 20th and 21st century literature and creative writing, Kardos is the author of a forthcoming novel, "The Three-Day Affair" (Grove Atlantic), and a textbook, "The Art and Craft of Fiction" (Bedford/St. Martin's).
He also edits "Jabberwock Review," MSU's national literary journal.
Kardos is a Princeton University music graduate who went on to complete a master of fine arts degree in fiction from The Ohio State University.
His work has appeared in the Harvard Review, Prairie Schooner and The Southern Review, among other literary publications.
Now in its 33rd year, the Jackson-based Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters works to recognize the creative efforts and accomplishments of the state's artists, musicians and writers. For more information, visit www.ms-arts-letters.org.
