Stuart Dybek, the famous author, also a winner of this weeks MacArthur ‘genius’ grant has also won the $30,000 Rea Award for ‘originality and influence’ in short stories. The Chicago native, 65 now, is well known for his ‘The Coast of Chicago’ and ‘I Sailed With Magellan’.
Dybek who earned his MFA from the University of Iowa, also has an MA in literature from Loyola University Chicago. He is currently teaching at Northwestern University. Honors like PEN/Bernard Malamud Prize and 4 O’Henry awards, have been named to him.
A statement from Rea judges read,
With three distinguished collections of short stories, Stuart Dybek has created his own country. The coast of Chicago is his landscape, one he has inhabited, pondered, remembered and made hauntingly real.
Rea award which was established in 1986 by Michael M. Rea, a publisher and collector of short stories have been previously won by authors like Ann Beattie, Richard Ford and Alice Munro. Critics have stated that Dybek is a master of the short story.
Source: USAtoday
Image credit: Stlawu
