Boston University’s Sigrid Nunez Wins 2018 National Book Award for Fiction

Sigrid Nunez, a lecturer in the creative writing program at Boston University, has won the 2018 National Book Foundation’s National Book Award for fiction. Nunez was honored for her most recent novel, The Friend (Riverhead Books, 2018). The award-winning book is the eighth novel authored by Nunez.

The Friend tells the story of a woman who loses a lifelong friend and mentor to suicide and now has to look after her late friend’s dog. As described by Nunez’s website, “The Friend is both a meditation on friendship, loss, and bereavement and a celebration of the wonder and healing power of the human-canine bond.”

Throughout her career, Nunez has taught at Columbia University, Princeton University, Boston University, and the New School. She has held visiting writer or writer-in-residence positions at Amherst College, Smith College, Baruch College, Vassar College, and the University of California, Irvine, among others. During the spring 2019 semester, she will be a visiting writer at Syracuse University.

Nunez holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master of fine arts degree from Columbia University.