An El Paso publishing company believes a recent prestigious national award for a collection of stories by an El Paso native will help the Sun City gain a sense of importance and recognition.

Benjamin Alire Saenz won the PEN-Faulkner Award for Fiction on Tuesday, along with $15,000.

The book, "Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club" is a compilation of short stories that take place in the El Paso and Juarez region.

The Kentucky Club is a bar in Juarez that was frequented often before the violence increased across the Mexican border.

"I use it as an emblem that connects El Paso and Juarez," said Saenz. "It's in Juarez but if you ask anybody in El Paso that's been here for a while, they know about the Kentucky Club. It's like a legend."

His publisher, Cinco Puntos, believes people will appreciate reading about themselves and the award has been very encouraging.

When you read a book and it's your neighborhood, you're like, 'Oh'. Or when you see a movie that's based on where you live, you feel important. You're in books. And Ben's heart is right here in the border," said publisher Lee Byrd.

The publisher has already seen an increase in sales locally. It is expected that sales will increase nationally since Sanez is a sought-after author, Byrd said.
Saenz is also chairs the creative writing department at the University of El Paso, Texas, his alma mater. 

"We are all very proud of Ben Saenz' many accomplishments and grateful to him for the spotlight that his excellence has brought to UTEP and this impossibly ambiguous border region that we call home," said Diana Natalicio, UTEP's president.

Saenz will travel to Washington, D.C., to receive his award.