Troy, N.Y. — Acclaimed novelist Edward P. Jones will present awards to winners of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s McKinney Contest writing competition on April 18 at 8 p.m. Jones also will read selections from his own work at the event, which is co-sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute. 

In 2004 Jones received both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award for his novel The Known World. He also is a PEN/Hemingway Award recipient for his collection of short stories titled Lost in the City. In 2006 he published another collection of short stories, Aunt Hagar’s Children.

Since 1941, the McKinney Contest has awarded prizes to students who have demonstrated talent in various genres of writing. The competition is open to all Rensselaer students, and prizes are given to the top three undergraduate and graduate entries in the categories of fiction or drama, poetry, essays, and electronic media. The competition is administered and judged by the members of Rensselaer’s Department of Language, Literature, and Communication faculty.

The April 18 event will be held in room 308 of Rensselaer’s Darrin Communications Center. It is open to the campus community and the general public free of charge.