Phil Klay ’05 received the National Book Award for fiction this week for his first short story collection, “Redeployment.” The work was inspired by his experiences serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Public Affairs Officer, including his January 2007 to February 2008 deployment in Iraq’s Anbar province.
Klay studied creative writing at the College, where he also boxed and played rugby. Following his time in the Marines, Klay pursued an MFA in writing at Hunter College.
“Redeployment” received glowing reviews in The New York Times, The Guardian and other publications. Including both scenes of war and veterans’ return home, reviewers praised his humane treatment of flawed characters as well as thoughtful depictions of an apathetic civilian population.
The Wall Street Journal compared Klay’s awareness of his own writing to Tim O’Brien’s style and his declarative, machoistic language to war stories by Hemingway and John Dos Passos.
Klay was previously honored as a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree.
Read more about Klay in The Dartmouth’s spring interview with the author: http://thedartmouth.com/2014/03/30/arts/klay-05-pens-short-stories-about-iraq
