‘Haddad: A Requiem’ wins Nelson Algren Short Story Award

“Haddad: A Requiem,” a short work of fiction by Edward Hamlin about a professor struggling at the end of his life to cope with both personal and cultural loss, is the 2020 winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award.

The 38-year-old award, which carries a $3,500 cash prize, has been won previously by such authors as Louise Erdrich and Stuart Dybek.

“It feels like coming home in a way,” said Hamlin, 60, who now lives outside of Boulder, Colorado, but spent 40 years of his life in Wheaton and Chicago. He was a runner-up for the Algren Award in 2013 for his story “The Release.”

Authors Salvatore Scibona, Namwali Serpell and Weike Wang judged this year’s contest. This year’s finalists, each of whom received $750, include Nick Arvin, Omer Friedlander, Lillian Li, Becky Mandelbaum and Victor Yang. Their stories will be published at chicago tribune.com/books.

Elizabeth Taylor, Tribune literary editor at large, said the contest yielded about 2,300 “wildly diverse” stories, adding “this year’s winner and finalists rose to the top, because each in its own special way is distinguished by … providing form and language to the inchoate.” The stories pass through three rounds of judging anonymously.

Ben Fountain, author of the critically acclaimed novel “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” said he’s served as a mentor to Hamlin since they met in a writing workshop taught by Fountain.

“Edward has rare talent,” Fountain said. “His breakthrough is coming. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.”