Peter Cameron (born November 29, 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

short-story writer A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

. Several of his works have been adapted into films.

Life and career

Cameron was born and raised in the Pompton Plains section of

Pequannock Township, New Jersey Pequannock Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 15,420, reflecting an increase of 1,652 (+11.9%) from the 13,888 counted in the 2000 Census, whi ...

. He graduated in English literature in 1982 from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

. Cameron lived in Pompton Plains,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and, later,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1983, he published his first short story (''Memorial Day'') in

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 ...

; he then continued to contribute to the magazine in the following years. His first book was a collection of short stories entitled ''One Way or Another'', published by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in 1986. His debut novel ''Leap Year'' was published by Harper & Row in 1990. His second novel, ''The Weekend'', was edited in 1994 by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

, and adapted as the

Brian Skeet Brian Skeet is an English director, writer, producer, and cinematographer. His work includes Documentaries, Films and Short films, a lot of it touching on romance and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Biography Skeet was born on November 21st, 1965 in Lo ...

film of the same name released in November 2000. In 1997, Farrar, Straus and Giroux published Cameron's next novel, ''Andorra'', and ''The City of Your Final Destination'' in 2002, (which in 2009 was adapted into a film of the same name directed by

James Ivory James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screen ...

). In October 2007, Cameron's young adult novel '' Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You'' was published, and in October 2012 it was adapted into a film of the same name. In March 2012, he published ''Coral Glynn''. His last novel, ''What Happens at Night'', was published by Catapult in August 2020. In addition to his work as a writer, he has taught at Columbia,

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

. Between 1990 and 1998, he worked for the

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as Lambda Legal, is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS ( PWAs) through impa ...

. In 2020, he founded Wallflower Press, whose name had to change in January 2014 to Shrinking Violet Press due to a rights conflict with Columbia University.

Influences

Cameron was influenced by authors such as

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritua ...

Barbara Pym Barbara Mary Crampton Pym FRSL (2 June 1913 – 11 January 1980) was an English novelist. In the 1950s she published a series of social comedies, of which the best known are ''Excellent Women'' (1952) and '' A Glass of Blessings'' (1958). In 1977 ...

and

Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and ''Jer ...

, borrowing their aptitude for probing individual lives.

List of works

Novels

*''Leap Year'' (1990) *''The Weekend'' (1994) *''Andorra'' (1997) *''The City of Your Final Destination'' (2002) *'' Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You'' (2007) *''Coral Glynn'' (2012) *''What Happens at Night'' (2020)

Collections

*''One Way or Another'' (1986) *''Far-flung'' (1991) *''The Half You Don't Know'' (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Peter 1959 births Living people Hamilton College (New York) alumni People from Pequannock Township, New Jersey American male novelists Novelists from New Jersey The New Yorker people 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American novelists American male short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers