William Larry Brown (July 9, 1951 – November 24, 2004) was an American novelist, non-fiction, and short story writer.

[4] Brown worked at a small stove company before joining the city fire department in Oxford.

Always an avid reader, Brown began writing in 1980 in his spare time while he worked as a firefighter (at City Station No.1 on North Lamar Blvd.)

[4] Later, he would point to his own early failures and false starts, and offer encouragement to young writers and students caught in their own struggles with creative expression.

All of his books were well-received and, beginning with Dirty Work in 1989, he steadily gained a reputation for his novels, most receiving good reviews, acclaim, and steady sales.

In March 2007, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill published Brown's unfinished novel, A Miracle of Catfish.

Although Brown died before finishing the book, the final page of the published version includes his notes about how he wanted the novel to end.

Brown's nonfiction includes On Fire (1995), a memoir of his 17 years (1973–1990) as a firefighter, and Billy Ray's Farm (2001), a collection of essays.

For one semester, Brown taught as a writer-in-residence in the creative writing program at the University of Mississippi, temporarily taking over the position held by his friend Barry Hannah.

In interviews and some of his essays, Brown cited these authors, along with Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Carver, and Charles Bukowski, as influences.