Donovan Hohn (born May 29, 1972

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Life

Donovan Hohn is the author of '' Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them'', the tale of the

Friendly Floatees Friendly Floatees are plastic bath toys (including rubber ducks) marketed by The First Years and made famous by the work of Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who models ocean currents on the basis of flotsam movements. Ebbesmeyer studied the ...

. He was raised in

. He graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

with an MA, and from

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, with an MFA. A former English teacher, and a former senior editor of ''Harper's Magazine'', he was also the features editor of ''GQ''. His work has appeared in ''Harper’s Magazine'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''Outside'', and ''The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2''.

Awards

* 2013

Knight-Wallace Fellowship The Knight-Wallace Fellowship (previously known as the NEH Journalism Fellowship and the Michigan Journalism Fellowship) is an award given to accomplished journalists at the University of Michigan. Knight-Wallace Fellowships are awarded to reporte ...

in Journalism * 2013

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for nonfiction is awarded by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) biennially "to a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating import ...

(runner-up) in General nonfictionPress release
"2013 PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award"
/ref> * 2010 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship * 2008 Whiting Award * 2004 Hopwood Award for Essay * 2003 Hopwood Award for Poetry

Works

Books

*''Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them' '(2011)

Essays

"A Romance of Rust", ''Harper's'' (January 2005)"Moby-Duck", ''Harper's'' (January 2007)"Falling", ''Harper's'' (April 2008)
*

References

External links

*
Profile at The Whiting Foundation
* ttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/03/the-exchange-donovan-hohn-on-moby-duck.html Interview on ''The New Yorker's'' "Book Bench"br>Interview on NPR's "Fresh Air""Back story," ''Gawker''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohn, Donovan American essayists Oberlin College alumni Boston University alumni University of Michigan alumni Writers from San Francisco Living people 1972 births