Lee Gutkind is an American writer, speaker, and founder of the literary journal called

Creative Nonfiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

. Gutkind has written or edited more than 30 books, covering a wide range of subjects from

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

to child and adolescent

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and

organ transplantation Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ (anatomy), organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organ ...

. Currently he is Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Consortium for Science Policy and Outcomes and Professor at the School of Life Sciences at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Early life

Gutkind was born on January 3, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

in 1968. After high school and service in the United States Coast Guard, he held jobs as a truck driver, traveling shoe salesman and public relations account executive.

Career

In 1973, he published his first book, ''Bike Fever: On Motorcycle Culture.'' He then joined the University of Pittsburgh's Department of English faculty, where he eventually became the first tenured professor at the university without an advanced degree. Gutkind founded the literary journal ''Creative Nonfiction'' in 1993. He also published three issues of ''Best Creative Nonfiction'', an anthology of creative nonfiction. At Arizona State University, he founded the ThinkWritePublish program, supported by The National Science Foundation (Science in Society) and the Templeton Foundation (True Stories About Science and Religion). Gutkind has lectured about nonfiction to a wide range audiences and organizations, including the National Academy of Science, Earth Justice, the Institute for Learning, the Council on Healthcare Economics and Policy at Princeton University, as well as foreign audiences. He helped found the low-residency MFA program in creative nonfiction at

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

, and for 11 years was director of the Mid-Atlantic Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference there. He was the director and founder of the "412 Pittsburgh Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival" for four years. He also served as the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Writer in Residence at Arizona State University in 2007-2008.

Awards and recognition

Lee Gutkind's list of honorary achievements include : The Steve Allan Individual Award, by United Mental Health, Inc; Chancellor's Award for Public Service; Meritorious Service Award by American Council on Transplantation; Howard Blakeslee Award by the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

for "outstanding journalism; Golden Eagle Award by CINE, for the film ''A Place Just Right''; Recipient of National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. In 2004, Gutkind was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from

Chatham College Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students an ...

. In a 1997 snipe at Gutkind in the print edition, '' Vanity Fair'' called Gutkind "the Godfather" of the genre of creative nonfiction . More than 10 years later, ''

Harper’s Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' was quoted as having stated he was "the leading figure behind the creative nonfiction movement."

List of publications

Written

Edited

References

External links

*
The Creative Nonfiction Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutkind, Lee 1945 births Living people Writers from Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty Arizona State University faculty American memoirists American non-fiction writers