Short Story Writers
Pacosz, Christina V.
October 12, 1946 -
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Kansas City, KA
Biography:
Christina V. Pacosz was born to Sophia and Walter Pacosz in Detroit, MI. Both of her parents were working-class and Polish-American, and raised their daughter in Detroit. Pacosz earned her BS at Wayne State University in 1970, and briefly attended Jagiellonian University in Poland. In 1993 she was accepted in the M.F.A. Creative Writing Program at the University of Alaska. She has written six books of poetry and her work (including both poetry, short stories, and reviews) has appeared in many publications, including the I-70 Review, Jane’s Stories III, Women Writing Across Boundaries, and Pemmican. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a small press book bus driver, waitress, library clerk, carpenter’s apprentice, teacher, and poet in the schools in several states. She now lives with her husband in Kansas City where she teaches urban youth.
Selected Works:
- This Is Not a Place to Sing (1987)
- Notes From the Red Zone (1983)
- Shimmy Up to This Fine Mud (1976)
- In, A Gathering of Poets (1992)
Awards:
- 2003 Prairie Poets Award
- 1994 Achievement Award in Fiction from Now & Then
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Pacosz was born and raised in a working-class family in Detroit, MI where she experienced the social struggles of those around her. After being educated at Wayne State University, Pacosz left Michigan, but her childhood experiences stayed in her writing.
Penn, William S.
March 21, 1949 -
Place of Birth: Los Angles, CA
Place of Principle Residence: East Lansing, MI
Biography:
William S. Penn was born in Los Angles, CA in 1949. Throughout his life he has lived in many regions of the U.S., as well as in England. In 1971 he graduated from the University of California with an A.B. and an M.A., and in 1979 graduated with his Doctorate of the Arts from Syracuse University. He has taught the State University of New York, Pace University, and Hostos Community College before becoming a professor at Michigan State University, giving courses in oral tradition, comedy and cultural survival, literature of the Americas, and creative writing. Penn has published fiction, essays, and reviws, drawing inspiration from his urban mixed blood Nez Perce heritage. He has received numerous awards, including the New York Foundation for the Arts Prize, and the Distinguished Faculty Award from Michigan State University. Penn lives in East Lansing, MI with his wife Jennifer and has two children: Rachel Antonia and William Anthony.
Selected Works:
- The Absence of Angels (1994)
- All My Sins Are Relatives (1995)
- Killing Time with Strangers (2000)
Awards:
- 1970 Departmental Citation for the Outstanding Undergraduate in English
- 1977, 1979 Stephan Crane Prize in Fiction
- 1979 Michael Alssid Prize
- 1979 University Research Fellowship
- 1979 Departmental Citation for Distinguished Work
- 1982 Honorable Mention, James B. Phelan Awards
- 1983 Montalvo Center for the Arts Fellowship
- 1983 Yaddo Fellowship
- 1984 Finalist, Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction
- 1985 Supporting Grant, Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation
- 1987 Finalist, P.E.N. Nelson Algren Awards
- 1988 New York Foundation for the Arts Prize
- 1988 All University Research Initiation Grant, Michigan State University
- 1990 Michigan Council for the Arts Grant
- 1991 Nominated for Pushcart Prize
- 1994 North American Indian Prose Award, University of Nebraska Press, All My Sins are Relatives
- All University Research Completion Grant, Michigan State University
- 1996 Critic’s Choice Award for the Most Acclaimed Books of 1995-96, All My Sins are Relatives
- 1997 Native American Writer of the Year in Non-fiction, Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers
- 1998 Native American Editor of the Year, Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers
- 2000 American Book Award for Literary Merit, Killing Time with Strangers
- 2003 Writer of the Year in Creative Prose, Wordcraft Circle, Feathering Custer
- Distinguished Faculty Award by Michigan State University
Critical Reception:
For All My Sins Are Relatives:
“All My Sins Are Relatives is both a beautifully wrought memoir and an important addition to the body of critical writing on Native American literature. The book is demanding in its sometimes dense prose and complexly developed images and ideas, but it yields rich rewards. “All good stories contain in themselves something about the act of storytelling or storywriting ... and usually a discoverable awareness of this aesthetic.” By Penn’s own definition, All My Sins are Relatives is a good story, and one of the pleasures of reading it is the depth and clarity with which he expresses this aesthetic.”
- Jeanne Rosier Smith, Professor of American Literature at Seton Hall University
“What more can be said about a book that has to be read to the end in order to get to the beginning? That Killing Time with Strangers is unlike any novel you have read before? Or perhaps that it is agonizingly familiar, giving us glimpses of a young man finding his precarious way in life? But when the power of dreaming is unleashed, time becomes negotiable and life’s joys and sorrows go up for grabs. And as sure as yellow butterflies will morph into Post-It notes, you will know you have experienced a new and utterly captivating way of looking at the world.”
- The University of Arizona Press
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Penn draws on his ethnic heritage to serve as a professor at Michigan State University. He has taught courses in oral tradition, comedy and cultural survival, Literature of the Americas, and creative writing, all of which play a role in his writing.
Perkins, George
August 16, 1930 -
Place of Birth: Lowell, MA
Place of Principle Residence: Ann Arbor, MI
Biography:
George B. Perkins was born to Gladys and George Perkins in Lowell, MA. He earned his AB at Tufts College in 1953, his MA at Duke University in 1954, and his PhD at Cornell University in 1960. In 1964 George married his wife, Barbara, and the two moved to Edinburgh, Scotland where he worked as a lecturer. Between 1957 and 2001, Perkins has taught or lectured at Washington University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, the University of Edinburgh, Peking University, and Eastern Michigan University. He has co-authored several books with his wife and in addition has written essays, reviews, and fiction in Nineteenth-Century Fiction, The Journal of American Folklore, The Explicator, The Dickensian, Choice, Descant, The New England Quarterly, The Journal of Narrative Technique, Contemporary Novelists, and Great Writers of the English Language. In addition, Perkins was the founding editor of the Journal of Narrative Technique, and after editing twenty-two years switched to the board of Narrative as associate editor. He is a member of the Author’s Guild and the National Books Circle. Today Perkins lives in Ann Arbor, MI with his wife, and has three children: Laura, Suzanne, and Alison.
Selected Works:
- American Tradition in Literature(with Barbara Perkins) (1999)
- Season in South Wales (1998)
- Practical Imagination: Poetry(with Northrop Frye and Sheridan Baker) (1983)
Awards:
- 1994 The annual Barbara Perkins and George Perkins Award for the Best book in Narrative Studies established in his and his wife’s honor by the Society for the Study of Narrative Literature
- Duke University Fellowship, Cornell University Fellowship, Eastern Michigan Univ. Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching, Research and Service; Eastern Michigan Univ. Board of Regents Commendation for Outstanding Contributions and Achievements; Fellow, Inst. for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, U of Edinburgh, Senior Fulbright Scholar, Univ. of Newcastle, Australia
Critical Reception:
Perkins is a respected writer and lecturer, and has won several awards and honors like the Duke University Fellowship and having the Society for the Study of Narrative Literature establish an award for the Best Book in Narrative Studies to honor him and his wife.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Perkins taught at Eastern Michigan University for thirty-four years, where he helped found the Journal of Narrative Technique, and wrote non-fiction both singularly and as a co-author.
Perry, Rachel
October 2, 1974 -
Place of Birth: Pontiac, MI
Place of Principle Residence: South Lyon, MI
Biography:
Rachael Perry was born to Barbara Alban and Thomas Perry in Pontiac, MI. She attended Michigan State University, where she worked for The State News, during which the newspaper won two consecutive Pacemaker Awards, one while Perry was editor-in-chief. After graduating in 1996 with her B.A. in Journalism, Perry went to graduate school at Bowling Green State University, and in addition to her studies taught undergraduate workshops, worked as the technical editor for The Mid-American Review, and received a Devine Fellowship. In 2000 she graduated with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Perry’s work has appeared in many publications, including Our Working Lives, StarQuartedly, and Heyden’s Ferry Review. She recently released her first novel, How to Fly: a collection of short stories. Perry lives in South Lyon, MI with her husband, Steve Showerman, and her daughter, Grace.
Selected Works:
- How to Fly (2004)
- Short stories in Quarterly, Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Confrontation, River City, Driftwood Review, South Dakota Review, and New Delta Review
Awards:
- July 2004 Best Book Award for Fiction by the Center for Great Lakes Culture at Michigan State University
Critical Reception:
For How to Fly:
“Although Michigan native Rachael Perry wrote most of these short stories while working in Germany, they are very much of the Midwest, whether they be her account of the lonely carpenter who sees an extraordinary event turn into an almost mythical experience, or of the outsider who literally falls in love with a lake. This collection is highly recommended for venturesome readers.”
- The Dallas Morning News
“Perry is an important up-and-coming writer who explores the lives of the people of the Great Lakes region in sensitive and perceptive ways.”
— The Center for Great Lakes Culture at Michigan State University
“Within these fifteen stories, Rachael Perry gives her readers many wonderful characters that will remain with them for some time. They will do so, not because of some monumental achievement, or due to some unbecoming physical trait. Instead, these characters will remain with her readers because they do what each of us wishes we had the gumption to do - they are comfortable with being themselves, and with following their dreams, no matter their individual little quirks.”
- Emerging Writers Network
“The heroes—healers, ice sculptors, visionaries, rainmakers—of Rachael Perry’s brave stories move gently through a mythic, transcendental Michigan, always earnest, always encircled by a murmuring public. Their hearts practically crack their chests with longing. A wonderful, whimsical collection by a writer with a palpable skill for the English language.”
— Anthony Doerr, author of The Shell Collector
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Perry drew inspiration for her collection of short stories, How to Fly, from growing up in Michigan. The book revolves around fictional individuals in the Great Lakes Region. In 2004 the novel won the Best Bok Award for Fiction from the Center for Great Lakes Culture at Michigan State University.
Pitrone, Jean
Place of Birth: Ishpeming, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Trenton, MI
Biography:
Jean Amelia Maddern Pitrone was born to Gladys and William Maddern in Ishpeming, MI. Early on in her childhood she has a love for music and writing, a passion that later manifested in her published works. Pitrone graduated from Ishpeming High School in 1938 and in 1940 married her husband, Anthony Pitrone. The couple moved to Detroit where Pitrone enthusiastically pursued historical research, writing many short stories and articles on her findings for a wide variety of publications such as Family Digest and the Chicago Tribune. In addition to her writing, Pitrone served as an organist and music director for different churches, and also served as a short story writing instructor for the Writer’s Digest School. During her time in Detroit, Pitrone was the president of Detroit Women Writers, and worked as a staff member and speaker for the Oakland University Writer’s Conference. Her book, Tangled Web: Legacy of the Auto Pioneer John F. Dodge, appeared on “Kelly & Company,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and the “Phil Donahue Show.” Pitrone died on March 12, 2008 in Trenton, MI.
Selected Works:
- Hudson’s: Hub of America’s Heartland (1991)
- The Dodges: the Auto Family Fortune & Misfortune (1981)
- Chavez: Man of the Migrants (1972)
- The Great Black Robe (1963)
Awards:
- 1990 Book of Distinction Award, International Society of Automotive Historians
- 1982 Books Across the Sea Selection
- 1970 First Place Award, Friends of American Writers
Critical Reception:
Pitrone has received several awards, including the First Place Award from Friends of American Writers. Her book, Tangled Web: Legacy of the Auto Pioneer John F. Dodge, has appeared on “Kelly & Company,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and the “Phil Donahue Show.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Pitrone spent her whole life in Michigan, the majority of which being in Detroit. She was an active member of the Detroit Womens Writers, and spent much of her time using resources in Detroit to pursue research for her books.