Creative Writing alumna celebrated by New York Public Library

It’s been a productive four years for Patricia Engel MFA ’07.

The Young Lions Fiction Award considered hundreds of books for a $10,000 prize. Patricia Engel MFA ’07 (far left) was among the five finalists in 2011. Here she is at the awards ceremony with actress Martha Plimpton, fellow finalist Suzanne Rivecca, and Young Lions co-founder Ethan Hawke.

The up-and-coming author, a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at FIU, published Vida, her debut book, last September. Earlier this month, Engel’s work was selected as one of five finalists for the New York Public Library’s 11^th annual Young Lions Fiction Award.

It is the latest accolade for the young author, whose first novel also was a finalist for a PEN/Hemingway Fiction Prize.

The book is a collection of stories about a young Colombian-American woman named Sabina. Engel began writing it at FIU while pursuing her master’s in the same program that produced the likes of Dennis Lehane MFA ’01.

“Vida is not exactly a traditional story collection or a traditional novel, but something in between,” Engel said. “I wrote one of the stories while at FIU but wrote the rest after graduating in 2007. I sold the book in 2009.”

The book follows Sabina, the protagonist, over a period of 25 years, exploring her identity and struggles to find her place in the world. Like Engel, Sabina was born in New Jersey to Colombian parents. The similarities end there, says the author. “The work is 100 percent fiction.”

The novel was lavished with praise upon its publication, with the New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani calling it a “striking debut.”

Les Standiford is the director of the Creative Writing Program. He was one of Engel’s professors at FIU.

“Patty’s a great success, and I’m very proud of her,” he said. “Most everyone we admit into the program has the capability of producing great work. I knew she had it. She was very pleasant, a very eager student and very congenial. And humble. She deserves this moment.”

The Young Lions Program was founded by a group of leading literati that includes actor and published author Ethan Hawke, philanthropist Hannah McFarland and Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm. The Young Lions Fiction Award is given each year to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories.

Engel attended the organization’s awards ceremony in New York City, where she rubbed elbows with her fellow honorees; Hawke, the evening’s host; and actor Billy Crudup. The actress Martha Plimpton (TV’s Raising Hope) performed an excerpt of Engel’s story “Lucho.”

“She did a wonderful job. They were all very nice and complimentary,” the Panther said. “Billy Crudup was very kind and offered very encouraging words about my work and said he enjoyed it very much.”