Author Archives: Peter Selgin

About Peter Selgin

Peter Selgin is the author of Drowning Lessons, winner of the 2007 Flannery O’Connor Award for Fiction, Life Goes to the Movies, a novel, two books on the craft of fiction, and several children’s books. His memoir, Confessions of a Left-Handed Man, was short-listed for the William Saroyan International Prize. His latest novel, The Water Master, won the William Faulkner Society Prize, selected by Random House Senior Editor Will Murphy. His work has won the Missouri Review Editors’ Prize, the Dana Award, six Best American Essay notable essay citations, and two selections for the Best American series. A second memoir, The Inventors, is forthcoming from Hawthorne Books in April of 2016. He teaches at Antioch University’s MFA program and is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Georgia College & State University.

Head of Christ

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Peter Selgin

Yesterday in class I shared with my students what I called an “appreciation” essay by a Romanian painter named Joel Klepac. The object of Klepac’s enthusiasm was the French post-Impressionist (to the extent that he is categorizable) George Rouault, who … Continue reading →

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“Finished”

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Peter Selgin

Yesterday I “finished” a draft of a new novel. Finished? What does that mean—especially when I know from experience that I’m likely to do another three, four, five, maybe even fifteen drafts? And just what qualifies as a draft, anyway? … Continue reading →

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Thinking on Paper

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Peter Selgin

The more papers I read by my undergraduate students, the more I come away convinced of this: that their problems have less to do with the mechanics of writing (though many have problems here as well) as with the thinking … Continue reading →

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Welcome to Interesting Times

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Peter Selgin

Remember the Great Depression? The stock market crash of 1929? Ticker tape machines? Men jumping out of windows? Bathtub Gin? Giggle water? Al Capone? Neither do I; I wasn’t even born. But I don’t feel too bad and you shouldn’t … Continue reading →

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