Alan Davis wins prize for fiction

Alan Davis, Professor of English and Senior Editor of New Rivers Press/MSUM, has won the Prize Americana for Fiction 2010 from Hollywood Books International for his collection of stories So Bravely Vegetative. The book is available locally or from online vendors.

So Bravely Vegetative is a marvelous collection of stories—beautifully written, daringly inventive, frequently disturbing. Each story draws us into a fresh and startling world, one chock full of unique characters and vividly imagined scenes. But what makes Davis’ stories so riveting are the kaleidoscope of inimitable voices.  The stories here run a rich gamut: a son trying to understand a violent father, an imprisoned Afro-American convict struggling to survive his captivity, a British hobo making his way by freight train across a surreal American landscape, a man and woman being interrogated in a dark Huxleyian world, a father trying to save his cancer-stricken daughter.  These stories will haunt you.” (Michael White, author of Beautiful Assassin)

“Alan Davis writes with a poet’s sense of language, lyricism, and imagination. His prose is exquisitely crafted, and always fresh. The world he brings to life is as varied and unpredictable as life itself—sometimes magical, sometimes mysterious, sometimes chilling, sometimes heartbreakingly innocent. The range in these stories is nothing short of amazing.” (Clint McCown, author of The Weatherman)