NEW YORK, May 12 (AP/UNB) — Charles Baxter, a fiction writer whose books include "Harmony of the World" and "Gryphon," has won a $30,000 prize for short fiction.

Baxter, who turns 65 next week, is this year's winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story, a lifetime achievement honor. In a statement released Friday, prize judges praised Baxter's "original mind and ironic wit" and his "acute feeling for the landscape of marriage, childhood, and art."

The Rea award was established in 1986. Previous winners include John Updike, Grace Paley and Richard Ford.