West Virginia University English professor Mark Brazaitis is the winner of the 2014 Autumn House Press Fiction Contest for his collection of short stories “Truth Poker.”
Brazaitis’ collection, which comes with a $1,000 prize and a $1,500 allowance toward marketing the book, will be published in early 2015 by Autumn House Press, headquartered in Pittsburgh.
“Mark Brazaitis continues his phenomenal run of prize-winning writing, this time with another fine collection of short stories,” said Jim Harms, chair of the English Department at WVU.
“To say he’s an asset to the creative writing program at WVU is like describing LeBron James’ importance to the Cleveland Cavaliers as, ‘sort of crucial.’ We’re very lucky to have him on our faculty.”
Brazaitis’ manuscript was selected by the final judge, fiction writer Sharon Dilworth, from among more than 500 submissions of novels and short-story collections.
Stories in “Truth Poker” have appeared in magazines and literary journals such as “The Sun,” “Notre Dame Review,” “West Branch,” “Witness,” and the “Beloit Fiction Journal.”
“Obviously, it’s a thrill to win such a great prize,” Brazaitis said.
“I look forward to seeing “Truth Poker” into print with such an outstanding publisher.”
Brazaitis, who directs the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop, is the author of five previous books of fiction, including “The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala,” winner of the 1998 Iowa Short Fiction Award, and “The Incurables: Stories,” winner of the 2012 Richard Sullivan Prize, and a book of poems, “The Other Language,” winner of the 2008 ABZ Poetry Contest. His fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism have appeared in “Ploughshares,” “Hayden’s Ferry Review,” “Passages North,” “Guernica,” “Poetry East,” “Poetry International,” “Glamour,” “the Washington Post,” “the Detroit Free Press,” “the Charleston Gazette,” and elsewhere.
For more information, contact Mark Brazaitis at 304-293-9707 or Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu or go to the Autumn House Press Web site at http://www.autumnhouse.org/
-WVU-
ma/08/29/14
CONTACT: Mark Brazaitis, English professor
304-293-9707, Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu
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