UI's Harding wins 2010 Pulitzer Prize

From University of Iowa News Services

IOWA CITY -- Paul Harding, a 2000 alumnus and visiting faculty member this spring in the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, is the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction. Harding was honored for his debut novel, "Tinkers."

A starred review in Publishers Weekly commented, "Harding's outstanding debut unfurls the history and final thoughts of a dying grandfather surrounded by his family in his New England home. George Washington Crosby repairs clocks for a living and on his deathbed revisits his turbulent childhood as the oldest son of an epileptic smalltime traveling salesman. The descriptions of the father's epilepsy and the cold halo of chemical electricity that encircled him immediately before he was struck by a full seizure are stunning, and the household's sadness permeates the narrative as George returns to more melancholy scenes.

 "The real star is Harding's language, which dazzles whether he's describing the workings of clocks, sensory images of nature, the many engaging side characters who populate the book, or even a short passage on how to build a bird nest. This is an especially gorgeous example of novelistic craftsmanship."

 Harding said, between responding to more than a hundred voice messages, "I'm just humbled and astonished and overjoyed. Part of my disbelief is that I'm the protagonist."

Harding's win has been the lead of most Pulitzer news stories, both because he is a first-time novelist, and because his book was published by the Bellevue Literary Press, a tiny publisher primarily devoted to books that straddle the line between arts and science.

Harding describes the book as "hand-sold," as opposed to the marketing might of major publishers. "It just makes me feel so good for all the people at this very small publisher," he said. "There are still people out there who want you to write good books and read good books."

At the Writers' Workshop, Harding studied with Pulitzer winner Marilynne Robinson, Elizabeth McCracken and Barry Unsworth. "These are the people who modeled the writing life for me," Harding said.