Eckhard Gerdes (born 1959) 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 aspire to ...
and editor.
Life
Eckhard Gerdes was born in 1959 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia, and has lived in Switzerland, Germany, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Katanga, the Republic of South Africa, as well as in several locations throughout the United States in Illinois, Georgia, Iowa, Alaska, and California. He has three children and five grandchildren.
He earned his MFA in Fiction Writing from the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...
. He also holds an MA in English from
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The unive ...
in Chicago, and a BA in English from the
University of Dubuque
The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian university in Dubuque, Iowa. About 2,200 students attend the university.
History
The University of Dubuque has had a long history in Dubuque since its foundi ...
in Iowa.
Work
Perhaps best known for his novels, his work reflects experimental technique, sometimes ignoring time, space, or cause-and-effect, in the service of stories of individuals struggling to transcend fear and limitation.
His critical work on modern and post-modern literature has appeared in the Review of Contemporary Fiction, the American Book Review, and, recently, has included a chapter on the writing of his friend
Raymond Federman
Raymond Federman (May 15, 1928 – October 6, 2009) was a French–American novelist and academic, known also for poetry, essays, translations, and criticism. He held positions at the University at Buffalo from 1973 to 1999, when he was app ...
in Jeffrey R. DiLeo's collectio
''Federman's Fictions'' (SUNY Press, 2011)
Gerdes is also the editor of th
Journal of Experimental Fictionand publisher of its associated press, JEF Books.
Books
He is the author of
* ''Projections''
novella, 1986, No Press* ''Truly Fine Citizen''
novel, 1989, Highlander Press* ''Ring in a River''
novel, 1992, Depth Charge Press''Cistern Tawdry'' novel, 2002, Fugue State Press''Przewalski's Horse'' novel, 2006, Red Hen Press''The Million-Year Centipede, or, Liquid Structures'' novel, 2007, Raw Dog Screaming Press* ''Nin and Nan'' (appeared in Bizarro Starter Kit (Blue)
novella, 2008, Bizarro Press''My Landlady the Lobotomist'' novel, 2008, Raw Dog Screaming Press''The Unwelcome Guest b/w Nin and Nan'' wo novellas, 2010, Enigmatic Ink* ''Hugh Moore''
novel, 2010, Civil Coping Mechanisms; 2012, Heroinum Press; 2015, Dirt Heart Pharmacy Press''Three Psychedelic Novellas'' hree novellas, 2011, Enigmatic Ink''The Sylvia Plath Cookbook: A Satire'' short story chapbook, 2012, Sugar Glider Press''’S A Bird'' play, 2013, Black Scat Books''23 Skidoo! 23 Form-Fitting Poems'' oems, 2013, Finishing Line Press''How to Read'' onfiction, 2014, Guide Dog Books* ''Blues for Youse''
oems, 2015, ATTOHO Sounds* ''White Bungalows''
novel, 2015, Dirt Heart Pharmacy Press* ''Recto & Verso: A Work of Asemism and Pareidolia''
/ Dominic Ward, art, 2015, Dirt Heart Pharmacy Press''Three Plays'' hree plays, 2016, Black Scat Books''Marco & Iarlaith: A Novel in Flash Fictions'' ovel, 2018, Black Scat Books''The Pissers' Theatre'' ovel, 2021, Black Scat Books''The Chronicles of Michel du Jabot'' ovel, 2022, JEF Books
Awards and nominations
Recipient, &NOW Award for Innovative WritingFinalist, Wonderland Book AwardRecipient, Richard Pike Bissell Award for Creative Writing
References
Essays on his work, and reviews of individual publications, have appeared in
American Book ReviewRain TaxiNotre Dame Review and elsewhere.
External links
Bio from Raw Dog Screaming PressBizarro CentralAuthor's websiteThe Journal of Experimental Fiction websiteWord Riot interviewPenman Review interviewE & E's Compounding Pharmacy interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerdes, Eckhard
1959 births
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American literary critics
Living people
Postmodern writers
Postmodernists
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
Writers from Chicago
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Novelists from Illinois
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers