Stephen Dixon (born Stephen Bruce Ditchik; June 6, 1936 – November 6, 2019) was an American author of

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s and short stories.

Life and career

Dixon was born on June 6, 1936, in Manhattan,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was the fifth of seven children of Florence Leder, a beauty queen, chorus girl on Broadway, and interior decorator, and Abraham M. Ditchik. He graduated from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1958 and was a faculty member of Johns Hopkins University. Before becoming a full-time writer, Dixon worked a plethora of odd jobs ranging from bus driver to bartender. In his early 20s he worked as a journalist and in radio, interviewing such political figures as John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev. Dixon was nominated for the National Book Award twice, in 1991 for '' Frog'' and in 1995 for '' Interstate''. ''Frog'', at 860 pages, was his longest and most ambitious novel, and garnered reviews comparing the work favorably to James Joyce's ''Ulysses''. He also was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Prize for Fiction, the O. Henry Award, and the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

. He cited

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

, Franz Kafka,

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet who explored death, social injustice, and human misery in controversial literature that was deeply pessimistic about modern civilizati ...

, and James Joyce as some of his favorite authors. Dixon died from complications of Parkinson's disease at a hospice center in Towson, Maryland, on November 6, 2019; he was 83.

Works

Novels

*''Work'' (Street Fiction Press, 1977) *''Too Late'' ( Harper & Row, 1978) *''Fall & Rise'' (

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, 1985) *''Garbage'' (Cane Hill Press, 1988) *''Frog'' (British American Publishing, 1991) *''Interstate'' (

Henry Holt Henry Holt may refer to: *Henry Holt (North Dakota politician) (1887–1944), lieutenant governor *Henry Holt (publisher) (1840–1926), American publisher and author **Henry Holt and Company, Holt's publishing company *Henry E. Holt (born 1929), ...

, 1995) *''Gould'' (Henry Holt, 1997) *''30: Pieces of a Novel'' (Henry Holt, 1999) *''Tisch'' (

Red Hen Press Red Hen Press is an American non-profit press located in Pasadena, California, and specializing in the publication of poetry, literary fiction, and nonfiction. The press is a member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, and was a final ...

, 2000) (his first completed novel, written 1961–1969) *''I.'' ( McSweeney's, 2002) *''Old Friends'' ( Melville House Publishing, 2004) *''Phone Rings'' ( Melville House Publishing, 2005) *''End of I.'' (McSweeney's, 2006) *''Meyer'' ( Melville House Publishing, 2007) *''Story of a Story and Other Stories: A Novel'' ( Fugue State Press), 2012 *''His Wife Leaves Him'' (

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

), 2013 *''Letters to Kevin'' (

), 2016 *''Beatrice'' ( Publishing Genius), 2016

Story collections

*''No Relief'' (Street Fiction Press, 1976) *''Quite Contrary: The Mary and Newt Story'' (Harper & Row, 1979) *''14 Stories'' (Johns Hopkins, 1980) *''Movies: Seventeen Stories'' (North Point Press, 1983) *''Time to Go'' (Will and Magna Stories) (Johns Hopkins, 1984) *''The Play and Other Stories'' (

Coffee House Press Coffee House Press is a nonprofit independent press based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The press’s goal is to "produce books that celebrate imagination, innovation in the craft of writing, and the many authentic voices of the American experience ...

, 1988) *''Love and Will: Twenty Stories'' ( Paris Review Editions / British American Publishing, 1989) *''All Gone: 18 Short Stories'' (Johns Hopkins, 1990) *''Friends: More Will and Magna Stories'' (Asylum Arts, 1990) *''Long Made Short'' (Johns Hopkins, 1994) *''The Stories of Stephen Dixon'' (Henry Holt, 1994) *''Man on Stage: Play Stories'' (Hi Jinx Press, 1996) *''Sleep'' (

, 1999) *''The Switch'' (Rain Taxi, 1999) (a single story; Rain Taxi Brainstorm Series, Number 3) *''What Is All This?: The Uncollected Stories of Stephen Dixon'' (

, 2010) *''Late Stories'' ( Trnsfr Books, 2016) *Dear Abigail was published on 2/5/19. Writing Written was published on 2/26/19.''Dear Abigail and Other Stories'' ( Trnsfr Books, 2019) *''Writing, Written'' (

, 2019)

References

External links

10/14/19 Review of his most recent (2019) booksComprehensive career interview with Fifth Wednesday Journal.2002 profile of Dixon in ''The Johns Hopkins News-Letter''"The Plug", Dixon on Thomas Bernhard, at Rain Taxi
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020805125535/http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2002/06/14paris.html Excerpt from the novel ''I.'', at ''McSweeney's Internet Tendency'' with links to other excerpts, and to comments on Dixon's work by

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publishe ...

and

J. Robert Lennon John Robert Lennon (born 1970) is an American novelist, short story writer, musician and composer. Early life Lennon was raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania (1992) and an M.F.A. (19 ...

.
February 2007 article about Dixon in ''Baltimore City Paper''Dixon interviewed
by Tao Lin {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Stephen 1936 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American male novelists American male short story writers Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Maryland MacDowell Colony fellows Johns Hopkins University faculty Novelists from Maryland Novelists from New York (state) PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners Writers from New York City Writers from Baltimore