Hudson named one of best young novelists

Gabe Hudson, a 2006-07 Hodder Fellow in the Council of the Humanities and lecturer in the Program in Creative Writing, has been named to Granta's "Best of Young American Novelists" list.

The list was first issued by the literary magazine in 1996 to recognize outstanding new American writers. This is only the second time the publication, which is based in London and New York City, has bestowed the honors. Princeton creative writing professor and author Edmund White was one of the six judges who selected the 21 winners.

Also honored was 1999 Princeton alumnus Jonathan Safran Foer, author of the critically acclaimed debut novel "Everything Is Illuminated." The writers were recognized March 1 during a ceremony in New York.

Hudson's first book in 2002, "Dear Mr. President," was a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and received the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the Academy of Arts and Letters. This collection of short stories about the Gulf War by Hudson, a former rifleman in the Marine reserves, also was named best book of the year by GQ, The Village Voice and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Joyce Carol Oates, the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton, has called Hudson "one of the most exciting and innovative young American writers today."

Hudson is the editor-at-large for McSweeney's and serves as faculty adviser for the Princeton student magazine Green Light. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, BookForum, GQ and The Village Voice. Hudson's upcoming novel, "American Buddha," will be published by Knopf and an excerpt from the book will be featured in an issue of Granta.