Joy Williams' first novel, State of Grace, published in 1973, was a finalist for the National Book Award. More recently, her novel The Quick and the Dead (2000) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her 2001 essay collection, Ill Nature, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her several other books include a recent collection of shortstories, Honored Guest (2004), a guide to the Florida keys, and the novel Breaking and Entering (1988). Her awards include a Guggenheim fellowship,the Harold and Mildred Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Rea Award for the Short Story. She lives in Key West, FL, and Tucson, AZ.Joy will be in Laramie for the entire academic year, teaching the MFA fiction workshop in the fall and a graduate readings course in the spring.
