Sarabande Books' McCarthy prizewinner speaks out - from their blog

 

Mary McCarthy’s Centenary: An Author’s Gratitude

June 29th, 2012

In honor of Mary McCarthy, the lady and her work, we’ve asked one of our McCarthy Prizewinners to say a few words. Take it away, Mr. Mullins.

“Winning Sarabande’s Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction was the break I needed at a critical time in my career as a writer.  I’d worked on Greetings from Below for eight years, and I was in my thirties, and I felt that if I didn’t publish the collection, after toiling for so long, I might give up on the whole endeavor of writing fiction.  Then Sarabande called with the good news, and everything changed.  I soon got a job teaching creative writing.  And I had the confidence to begin a new book, a novel.  The fact that the prize carries the name Mary McCarthy means a lot.  The Company She Keeps was a significant inspiration for Greetings from Below—each of which is a novel in stories.  I’ve always been a fan of McCarthy’s work, and it’s been a tremendous honor to hold a prize named for such an inimitable writer.”

—David Phillip Mullins, author of Greetings from Below
Winner of the 2009 Mary McCarthy Prize in Fiction

For more about Mary McCarthy and her 2012 centennial, visit:http://mmcentenary.blogspot.com/