It's almost uncanny to receive a prize named in honor of Bernard Malamud. I must have been in my early teens when 'The Magic Barrel' was published and I first read it.

I have a St. Bernard named B.

It's much easier to read the stories that have a lot of dialogue; of course, they flow much more easily into speech.

The first story I wrote was called 'Days,' and I have very little affection for it.

I had written a story. I wrote the story out of some desperation, really, and I didn't know I was writing a story, and it took me years. And when I finished, a friend of mine had the idea that the story should be read as a monologue in a theater.

The world we live in has been and is being increasingly politicised so that our daily experience is more and more a matter of public policy.