Austin-born Tim O’Brien wins $100K award for military writing
Published 5:30 pm Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Author Tim O’Brien has been awarded the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award.
O’Brien was born in Austin, Minn., in 1946 and grew up in Worthington, the son of William and Ava O’Brien. After graduating from Macalaster College in 1968, O’Brien was drafted into the Vietnam War. His military service figures largely into his writings, including one of his best-known works, a 1990 story collection, “The Things They Carried,” about a platoon of U.S. soldiers serving in Vietnam.
He won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1979 for his novel, “Going After Cacciato.” Last year, O’Brien was awarded the 2012 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
The Pritzker award comes with a $100,000 cash prize.
O’Brien, now of Austin, Texas, is a visiting professor and endowed chair at Southwest Texas State University, where he teaches in the creative writing program. He is on the advisory board for The Ridenhour Prizes.
