Jason Brown Michael Miller
“Exile on Maine Street,”
''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'', November 22, 2007. is an American writer who writes primarily about Maine and New England. He has published two collections of short stories and had a third forthcoming in October 2019. His fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies including ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' , '' Harper's'' , ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and '' The Best American Short Stories.''

Early life and education

Brown grew up in Maine. He earned an MFA in creative writing from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

.Yvonne Daley
“Success Stories,”
''Stanford Magazine'', July/August 1999. In 1996, he received a Stegner Fellowship to study creative writing at Stanford University.

Career

''Driving the Heart''

After its initial publication in the ''

Mississippi Review The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

'', his story "Driving the Heart" was selected for ''

The Best American Short Stories 1996 ''The Best American Short Stories 1996'', a volume in ''The Best American Short Stories series'', was edited by Katrina Kenison and by guest editor John Edgar Wideman.''Chicago Tribune'', Jan. 5, 1997 Short stories included References

''.Greg Schutz
“Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work by Jason Brown,”

Fiction Writers Review ''Fiction Writers Review'' is an online literary journal that publishes reviews of new fiction, interviews with fiction writers, and essays on craft and the writing life. The journal was founded in 2008 and incorporated as a non-profit organization ...

, September 19, 2008. The story later appeared in the 2012 collection ''Boston Noir 2: The Classics''. In 1999, Brown's debut collection was published. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described ''Driving the Heart and Other Stories'' as "bleak yet penetrating," adding that "each of Brown's elegant stories echoes with the same quiet despair."Jennifer Berman
“Books,”
''

'', May 2, 1999. The 13 stories are mostly set in and around

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, involving characters affected by tragic experiences past and present.“Driving the Heart and Other Stories,”
''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', April 1999. ''Driving the Heart'' was a starred review in ''

'', where it was called an "extraordinary debut collection."

''Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work''

Brown's second collection of 11 loosely linked short stories, ''Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work: Stories'', came out in 2007. The 11 stories set in the fictional town of Vaughn in central Maine are linked by geography and tone,Carolyn Kellog
“Down town,”
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', December 23, 2007. with "weary, complicated souls" of all ages. With the changes in narrative point of view within some of the stories, Brown has said he was influenced by the narration in the films of

Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenp ...

– ''

Days of Heaven ''Days of Heaven'' is a 1978 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in 1916, it tells the story of Bill and Abby, lovers who travel ...

'' and '' The Thin Red Line'' in particular. Some of the stories were originally published in magazines including ''Harper's'', ''

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

'', ''

Open City In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open the opposing military will be ...

'' and ''The Atlantic''. The book was given an A− by ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', and was a starred review in ''Publishers Weekly''. The ''

'' called it "an exceptionally beautiful and devastating book." It was a suggested summer reading by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

in 2009. ''The New Yorker'' said, "The narrators of Brown’s second book of stories are mostly watchers—witnesses to sordid events in the fictional town of Vaughn, Maine. Through their eyes, the familiar routines of small-town life are transmogrified into emblematic ugliness. Some of the stories deal with Maine’s twin preoccupations with boats and lumber, but the strongest anatomize the town with stunning emotional precision." Three of Brown's stories were named among the ''Best American Short Stories'' series "100 Other Distinguished Stories" in 1997, 2005 and 2010.“Fiction Points: Jason Brown,”
Points, November 7, 2013. His story "Wintering Over" was published in ''

The Southern Review ''The Southern Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established by Robert Penn Warren in 1935 at the behest of Charles W. Pipkin and funded by Huey Long as a part of his investment in Louisiana State University. It publishes fiction ...

'' in 2012.

''A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed''

Brown's third collection of stories, a novel in stories, chronicles the comic misfortunes of the Howland family of Maine published in October 2019 as the first collection in a new short fiction series created by Missouri Review Books.

Creative Nonfiction

''The Wrong Jason Brown'' ''

Teaching

Brown previously taught creative writing at Stanford University as a Jones Lectureship, Jones lecturer, and at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

's creative writing MFA program. He is currently an associate professor at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

's creative writing MFA program.Jason Brown, Associate Professor
University of Oregon Creative Writing Program. Accessed November 19, 2014.

Honors and awards (selected)

* Best American Essays, 2022, for "The Wrong Jason Brown" * Maine Literary Award for ''A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed'' * Best American Short Stories, 2020, for "A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed" * 2019 Pushcart Prize XLIV * NPR summer pick for ''Why the Devil Chose New England For His Work.'' * Best American Short Stories 1996 pick for "Driving the Heart" * Jeffrey E Smith Editor's Prize from the Missouri Review, 2017 * Stegner Fellowship in Fiction, Stanford University, 1996-98 *

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

Fellowship, 2002 * Corporation of

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

Fellowship, 2002 * Pushcart Prize special mention for "Why the Devil Chose New England For His Work", 2009''Epoch'' magazine Web page
Retrieved February 5, 2007 * Glenna Lusche Award for "Flood", 2009 * Mississippi Review Fiction Prize for "Driving the Heart," 1995 * Saltonstall Foundation Grant

Bibliography

Short story collections

* ''Driving the Heart and Other Stories'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1999) * ''Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work: Stories'' ( Open City/Grove Atlantic, 2007) * ''A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed: A Novel in Stories'' Missouri Review Books, Oct, 2019)

Stories (selected)

* "The Last Voyage of the Alice B Toklas" – '' The Pushcart Anthology XLIV'' * "Driving the Heart" – ''

'' (ed.

John Edgar Wideman John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus o ...

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, 1996); ''Boston Noir 2: The Classics'' (ed.

Dennis Lehane Dennis Lehane (born August 4, 1965) is an American author. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including ''A Drink Before the War''. Of these, four were adapted a ...

, Mary Cotton and Jaime Clarke,

Akashic Books Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent publisher. Akashic Books' collection began with Arthur Nersesian's ''The Fuck Up'' in 1997, and has since expanded to include Dennis Cooper's "Little House on the Bowery" series, Chris Abani's Blac ...

, 2012)
"Afternoon of the Sassanoa"
– ''

'' (April 1999)
"She"
– '' Harper's'' (March 2001) * "A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed" – ''

Sewanee Review ''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It publishes original fiction and poetry, essays, reviews, and literary criticism. History ''Th ...

'' (2019)
"North"
– ''

'' (Issue 19, June 2003) * "Instructions to the Living from the Condition of the Dead" – ''Missouri Review'' (2017) * "Dark Room" – '' StoryQuarterly'' (Issue 42, 2006)
"Life During Peacetime"
– ''TriQuarterly'' (March 2006) * "The last Voyage of the Alice B. Toklas" – ''

Missouri Review ''The Missouri Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1978 by the University of Missouri. It publishes fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction quarterly. With its open submission policy, ''The Missouri Review'' receives 12,000 manuscript ...

'' (2018) * "Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work" – ''

'' (2007)
"Wintering Over"
– ''

'' (Winter 2012)

Articles

* "Matinicus" – ''Maine Magazine'', June 2010 * "Mission Impossible: The Quest to Prosecute ISIS for Genocide," Construction Literary Magazine" – ''Construction Literary Magazine'', March 2019 * "If I did not Protest, no one would" – ''Salon'', August 2015 * "Digital Literacy For Women and Girls in Afghanistan" – ''Salon'' , May 2015 * "If I Teach Them, No One Can Stop Them" – ''Salon'' , February 2015 * "One Girl Can Be Silenced, But A Nation Of Girls Telling Their Stories Becomes Free" – ''Salon'' , February 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jason Living people 21st-century American novelists Novelists from Maine People from Hallowell, Maine Bowdoin College alumni Cornell University alumni Stegner Fellows University of Oregon faculty American male novelists American male short story writers American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Oregon Year of birth missing (living people)