Douglas Arthur Unger (born June 27, 1952) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

Life and work

Unger was born in Moscow, Idaho. He received a BA from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1973 and a MFA from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in 1977. Unger has written four novels, including his 1984 debut, ''Leaving the Land'', which was a finalist for the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the

Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (formerly the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, or RFK Center) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit human rights advocacy organization. It was named after United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy ...

, and received the Society of Midland Authors Award for Fiction and a Hemingway Foundation/PEN Special Citation. His short stories are collected in ''Looking for War'' (2004). "Leslie and Sam", a story from that collection, was

short-listed A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the 2002

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

and named a distinguished story in ''

Best American Short Stories The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of '' The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in co ...

2002''. He has been an editor for three literary journals—''

Chicago Review ''Chicago Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1946 and published quarterly in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. The magazine features contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, often publishing works in translation and ...

'', '' The Iowa Review'', and ''Point of Contact''—as well as an essayist for the ''

MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the progr ...

'' and a screenwriter. From 1983 to 1991, Unger taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at Syracuse University. During this time he advised

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

on his MA thesis. In 1991 he joined the faculty of the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

, where he co-founded the MFA program in creative writing. Unger was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2007.

Works

Novels

*''Leaving the Land'' (Harper & Row, 1984) *''El Yanqui'' (Harper & Row, 1986) *''The Turkey War'' (Harper & Row, 1988) *''Voices from Silence'' (St. Martin's, 1995)

Story collections

*''Looking for War'' (Ontario Review Press, 2004)

References

* (

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cache page)

External links

Douglas Unger's website

at the

"''Point of Contact'': 30 Years" a talk by Douglas Unger
on the history of the journal ''Point of Contact''

from ''turnrow'', Summer 2004 vol. 3.2

1952 births Living people People from Moscow, Idaho University of Iowa alumni University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from Nevada Novelists from Idaho University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty Syracuse University faculty American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) {{US-story-writer-stub