UALR alumnus Mark Christ was recently featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette following his selection as winner of the 2013 Booker Worthen Literary Prize.

The Central Arkansas Library System awarded Christ the honor for his nonfiction work “Civil War Arkansas 1863.”

The Worthen Prize is awarded each year to an author living in the CALS’s service area whose work is highly regarded. It is named for Booker Worthen, who served 22 years on CALS’s board of trustees.

Christ will receive the prize at CALS’s annual event, “A Prized Evening,” held in October.

Christ, community outreach director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, has edited a number of books and articles about Civil War events in Arkansas.

He recently received the 2013 State Preservation Leadership Award from the Civil War Trust, the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States.

He is a member of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Arkansas Humanities Council, and is a member of the board of trustees of the Arkansas Historical Association.

Christ holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UALR.