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Alumnus Phil Klay (MFA ’11) Wins 2014 National Book Award

Alumnus Phil Klay (MFA ’11) Wins 2014 National Book Award

Phil Klay accepting the National Book Award (Getty Images)

Hunter alumnus Phil Klay has won the National Book Award in Fiction for Redeployment, his debut short-story collection.

Based partly on Klay’s own time serving in Iraq, Redeployment received rave reviews, including one by The New York TimesMichiko Kakutani, who called it “gritty, unsparing and fiercely observed.” The editors of The New York Times Book Review selected Redeployment as one of the "10 Best Books of 2014" and Klay has also been named to the National Book Foundation’s "5 Under 35" list.

"I want to thank everyone who picked up the book, read it and decided to join the conversation," Klay said upon accepting the award. Speaking with a mix of humor and somberness, he also thanked Hunter College; MFA Professors Peter Carey, Colum McCann, Patrick McGrath and Nathan Englander; his wife; and his fellow Marines.

The previous day, Klay and his Hunter professors were featured in a BBC News Magazine video praising Hunter's MFA in Creative Writing Program.

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