Author and UNLV English professor Vu Tran is receiving a major literary award in New York today. Tran is one of 10 young writers to score a Whiting Writers’ Award, a huge get in the world of letters. The $50,000 award is basically literature’s way of saying, “We expect great things from you.” And if the careers of previous winners — including Michael Cunningham, Tobias Wolff and Mary Karr — are any indication, Tran should be on his way to penning some great work indeed. No pressure or anything.

Tran’s stories have appeared in the Harvard Review, Southern Review, Glimmer Train, the Antioch Review and the 2007 O. Henry Prize Stories collection. Closer to home, his short story, “This Or Any Desert,” appeared in the Las Vegas Noir anthology, and was selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery Stories 2009. He also landed a book deal with W.W. Norton for an upcoming novel based on that short story. “This Or Any Desert” is about a cop who encounters criminals and cultural barriers while searching for his recently disappeared Vietnamese ex-wife.

Last but not least, Tran is also writing the final (and now even more anticipated) chapter in the Las Vegas Writes collaborative web novel, Restless City. Tran’s chapter will debut at the upcoming Vegas Valley Book Festival. CityLife Books will also publish a print version of Restless City. (Disclosure: CityLife Books is an imprint of Stephens Media, which also owns CityLife.)