Remembering Brad Watson

PHOTO COURTESY OF WILTONBRADWATSON.COM

UW Memorializes Well Known Faculty Member

The University of Wyoming remembers beloved professor Wilton “Brad” Watson, who passed away July 8, 2020. An accomplished writer, esteemed professor and encouraging mentor, Watson began his career at UW in 2005 as a professor in the Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program and remained there until his death. Described as a thoughtful, inspired teacher, Watson was known for his mentorship.

Watson was the author of two collections of stories and two novels, The Heaven of Mercury, which was a finalist for the 2002 National Book Award, and Miss Jane, longlisted for the 2016 National Book Award.

His fiction and essays were published in The New Yorker, The Oxford American, Granta, Ecotone, Electric Literature and the Idaho Review, among others. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year in 2017, given to a living, nationally recognized Alabama writer who has made a significant lifelong contribution to Alabama letters.

A respected faculty member, his absence is surely substantial. UW Interim Provost Anne Alexander says she was “heartbroken” to hear about Watson’s death.

“He was an extraordinary writer, an inspirational teacher, a fantastic colleague, and a beautiful soul,” says Alexander. “UW was lucky that he chose to be part of our family and make Laramie his home.”

Known for his love of Wyoming, Watson wrote often about the state. In a 2010 publication in Granta literary journal he described his love for the wild and wonder-filled place he called home.

“Wyoming is warm only about three months of the year, and the rest of the year it is either cold or very cold. Such a climate tends to repel most people, and that’s fine since I believe that people here want Wyoming to remain wide-open. Even in the South these days, the interstates are crowded. You can’t find a non-crowded interstate east of Austin or Abilene, Texas; Lincoln, Neb.; or Galesburg, Ill. When you cross that imaginary line, driving west, it’s as if someone unwound an overly tight Ace bandage from around your head, unscrewed a clamp from your heart. This is a beautiful place in all seasons, no matter how harsh the winters are, the blessed charactertesting winters. The summers are the best I’ve known, and everyone lives for them.”

Watson is survived by his wife, two sons, and a granddaughter.