Derek Nikitas is the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

nominated author of ''Pyres'' and ''The Long Division''. His short fiction has appeared in ''

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Publications, Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is ...

'', '' The Ontario Review'', '' Chelsea'' and '' New South''.

Background

Nikitas was raised in Manchester, New Hampshire and Fairport, New York. He received a B.A. in English from the

State University of New York College at Brockport State University of New York Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). History C ...

, an M.F.A. in fiction writing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and a PhD from Georgia State University. His first novel, ''Pyres'', was nominated for an

for Best First Novel, and his story ''Wonder'' was nominated for a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

. Nikitas' second novel, ''The Long Division'', was published by Minotaur Books in October, 2009. His science fiction novel for Young Adults, ''Extra Life'', was published by Polis Books in 2015. He has also co-written two "Bookshots" novellas with James Patterson, ''Diary of a Succubus'' (2017) and ''You've Been Warned -- Again'' (2017). Nikitas' work has been translated into several languages including Japanese, Italian, French, and German. The German translation, '' Scheiterhaufen'', was selected as 'Crime Novel of the Month' by Radio House Europe. Nikitas currently teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Rhode Island. Previously, he taught in, and directed, the low-residency M.F.A. in creative writing program at Eastern Kentucky University, Bluegrass Writers Studio.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110203034026/http://www.dereknikitas.com/author.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikitas, Derek American short story writers State University of New York at Brockport alumni University of North Carolina at Wilmington alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)