Pitt Honors Screen Writer and Novelist Sabina Murray With Fred R. Brown Literary Award

PITTSBURGH-Screenwriter and novelist Sabina Murray will be awarded the University of Pittsburgh's 2008 Fred R. Brown Literary Award, followed by a reading at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, 650 Schenley Dr., Oakland. The event is part of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series' 2008-09 season.

Established in 2007, the Fred R. Brown Literary Award recognizes fiction writers in the early stages of their careers. The honor carries a $3,000 honorarium and is underwritten by Pitt alumni Fred R. (CAS '71) and Melanie Brown (CGS '86, KGSB '90, KGSB '93) of Bethel Park, Pa.

Novelist Don Lee was selected as the award's inaugural recipient. Pitt's fiction faculty, the director of the writers' series, and the director of Pitt's writing program select the awardee.

Murray crafted the script for the 2004 film "The Beautiful Country" and authored the novels "Forgery" (Grove Press, 2007), "A Carnivore's Inquiry" (Grove Press, 2004), and "Slow Burn" (Ballantine Books, 1990). Her fiction has appeared in such publications as "Ploughshares," "Ontario Review," and "New England Review."

Murray's work has won several major honors and awards, including the Roger Murray Writer in Residence at Phillips Academy, the "Best Book of the Year" designation by The Chicago Tribune for "A Carnivore's Inquiry," and a nomination for the Best First Screenplay Award by the Independent Spirits Awards. She also is the recipient of a number of literary-based grants and fellowships, including the James A. Michener Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin and the Bunting Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Murray earned her BA degree in art history at Mount Holyoke College in 1989 and her MA degree in English and creative writing at the University of Texas in 1994. She is a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The 2008-09 Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series season is cosponsored by Pitt's Department of English in the School of Arts and Sciences, University Center for International Studies, Asian Studies Center, China Council Confucious Institute, Cultural Studies Program, Women's Studies Program, and Book Center and by the Carnegie Mellon University Creative Writing Program.

All events in the Writers Series are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jeff Oaks at oaks@pitt.edu, or visit http://www.umc.pitt.edu/news/documents/morningreport/2008/08/wsschedule.pdf.

###