CHICAGO (AP) - A University of Illinois at Chicago professor is one of eight winners of a prestigious literary award.

Luis Alberto Urrea has won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. The writer will receive the $10,000 award in New York next month during a ceremony.

Urrea is a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his nonfiction work titled “The Devil’s Highway: A True Story.” He’s won numerous other awards for poetry, fiction and essays.

In a statement released by UIC, Urrea says he’s “deeply grateful” for the honor.

Urrea lives in Naperville and came to UIC in 1999. He teaches creative writing, nonfiction, fiction and poetry workshops.

The academy, an honor society founded in 1898, announced awards for more than a dozen writers on Thursday.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.