UIC professor named finalist for PEN/Faulkner literary award

CHICAGO (AP) - A University of Illinois at Chicago professor and novelist has been named one of five finalists for the 2016 PEN/Faulkner literary award.

English professor Luis Alberto Urrea is nominated for his book "The Water Museum." It's a collection of short stories that reflects his experience with the U.S.-Mexico border culture.

The PEN/Faulkner award is the largest peer-juried prize for fiction. Urrea's book was selected by a panel of judges from approximately 500 novels and short story collections published in 2015.

Urrea was a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and is a member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame.

The Naperville resident began teaching at UIC in 1999. He teaches fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry to undergraduate and graduate students.