Phil Klay

Accomplished author and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay has made a significant impact on the literary world. Klay earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth, where he was mentored by acclaimed poet—and Hunter College faculty member—Tom Sleigh. After serving as a United States Marine Corps officer during the Iraq War, Klay pursued his passion for writing and enrolled in the Creative Writing MFA program at Hunter College, with encouragement from Sleigh. Three years after earning his MFA, Klay won the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction and the National Book Critics’ Circle John Leonard Prize for his short-story collection, Redeployment, which he honed while a student.

Inspired by his own experiences in Iraq, the collection explores the complexities of war and its aftermath, offering poignant and thought-provoking insights into the lives of soldiers and the moral dilemmas they face. The New York Times named the collection one of the “10 Best Books of 2014.” Klay’s debut novel, Missionaries, likewise gained a spot on The Wall Street Journal’s “10 Best Books of 2020.” Former President Barack Obama called it one of his favorite books of the year. Missionaries also had its genesis at Hunter, where Klay, who was named to the prestigious Hertog Research Assistantship, worked with novelist Richard Ford.

“The two years at Hunter’s MFA program developed me as a writer a tremendous amount, in part because of faculty, but also because of fellow students,” Klay said. “I was very lucky to have such a wonderful group of amazing writers, many of whom I’m still in touch with today.”