James Braziel, MFA, author of Birmingham, 35 Miles (Bantam 2008) and Snakeskin Road (Bantam 2009) has joined the UAB's Department of English as an assistant professor of creative writing. A native of Pitts, Ga., Braziel has published fiction and poetry in Berkeley Fiction Review, Chattahoochee Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, and Clackamas Literary Review, among other journals.

Snakeskin Road was named by The Georgia Center for the Book as "one of the books all Georgians should read for 2010." It was shortlisted for the 2010 Townsend Prize and named one of Locus Magazine's Best of 2009. Braziel also has been the recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts and twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He earned his masters degree from Bowling Green State University in 1992.

Braziel will read from his work as part of the UAB Writers' Series at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010, in the Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. S. Admission is free to the public. Call 205-934-4250 for more details.