MFA Alum Matthew Hawkins' essay wins TSR Nonfiction Prize

Congratulations to MFA Alum Matthew Hawkins on recognition for their essay! Hawkins' essay, "25 Fragments," was published in the Southampton Review's Summer/Fall 2021 Preview and was awarded the TSR Nonfiction Prize. The essay is also included as a notable essay in the 2023 edition of Best American Essays.

An excerpt from "25 Fragments":

At nineteen, I’ve spent my entire life trying to convince people I’m nothing like my mother. I’ve dropped out of college after only two years, I’m mentally unstable, and I’ve recently moved back into her house. I have two jobs. The first: manager of a run-down private pool. I sit with the guards at a picnic table while one exceptionally dorky kid flops around the shallow end. We take turns discussing what we think would be the best way to die. One of the guards says in your sleep. Another says prescription overdose. I tell them there’s no good way to die..   [ . . . ]

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