This year, novelist Jim Crace, whose archive resides in the Ransom Center, has received an award of $150,000 for his fiction writing. Presented by Yale University, the Windham Campbell Prize is awarded to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and drama to financially support their literary endeavors.
Upon receiving the award, Crace said, “After a couple of years of creative doubt when I thought I might not write another novel but should turn instead to the theatre, I have rediscovered my passion for fiction. Stories are crowding in, demanding their space on the page. The Windham Campbell Prize at Yale gives me the independence and the confidence to take on those stories, free from everyday pressures. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. My gratitude couldn’t be greater.”
Crace’s writing is celebrated for its powerful style, inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez and rich with the natural imagery of imagined worlds. He is the author of 13 award-winning novels, including Continent (1986), Quarantine (1997), and Being Dead (1999). Crace has served as a Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the James A. Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas at Austin. His most recent novel, Harvest, was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
