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.

That First Glimpse

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Peter Selgin

If plot is the backbone of fiction, that which gives fiction its structure and movement, then scenes are plot’s vertebrae. A concatenation of causally related scenes add up to a plot. But beyond their technical function, scenes are what we’re … Continue reading →

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How to Buy Hat Factory Painting

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Peter Selgin

Bare walls give me the creeps. I’m always distressed and frankly a bit amazed especially in the homes of well-off people, homes equipped with the best appliances, expensive furniture, and two-hundred dollar faucets, when people either have nothing at all … Continue reading →

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From a Novel-in-Progress

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Peter Selgin

I’ve been working hard on a new novel, and also on my “Your First Page” blog, and hence I have been neglectful of this blog. When that will change I don’t know, but here at least I can offer my … Continue reading →

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The Curfew

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Peter Selgin

There’s a reason why few stories—and even fewer novels—are written using the second person point of view. It tires readers out. It says to them, in effect: here, you step into the protagonist’s shoes; you play the role; you do … Continue reading →

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