[In the following interview, Brady discusses the Whitbread Award, Theory of War, and her writing process.]

[Dear]: As the 1993 Whitbread Award winner for Theory of War you hold two special distinctions: you are the first woman and the first American to receive this honor. How did this feel?

[Brady]: I didn't really expect to win. In the literary world here, the Whitbread now carries more weight than the Booker. I just couldn't see a middle-aged, American-sounding woman getting such a thing. Especially when the leading contender was a man—a poet, an establishment figure, very attractive—who had written a biography of Philip Larkin, another British poet, very eminent and newly dead. When the winner was announced, I was just plain shocked—and scared. I hadn't even prepared a speech. My agent had insisted I put on a "frock" for the event. I hadn't worn a dress in...