Thomas Jay Drury is an American writer. Drury was born in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, in 1956, grew up in the small town of Swaledale and received his bachelor's degree in journalism from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in 1980. For the next five years, Drury worked at a series of newspapers, including the ''

Danbury News-Times ''The News-Times'' is a daily newspaper based in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation. The paper covers Danbury, a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County in southwestern Conne ...

'', the ''Litchfield County Times'', and ''

The Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...

'' until he was accepted to the graduate writing program at Brown University in 1985. After his short stories were published in '' Harper's Magazine'', the ''

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived at ...

'', and ''

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 was contacted by Sarah Chalfant of the

Wylie Agency Andrew Wylie (born 1947), known as The Jackal, is an American literary agent. Early life Wylie is the son of Craig Wylie (1908–1976), one time editor-in-chief at Houghton Mifflin, and Angela (1915–1989), daughter of the landscape architect a ...

. Drury's first novel, '' The End of Vandalism'', was published in 1994 by

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 ...

, and was chosen as an ALA Notable Book in 1995. In 1996, an excerpt of ''Hunts in Dreams'' appeared in GRANTA 54, Summer 1996: The Best of Young American Novelists, published by ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'' magazine. In 2000-2001 he was a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Drury is also the author of ''The Black Brook'' (1998), ''Hunts in Dreams'' (2000), ''The Driftless Area'' (2006), and ''Pacific'' (2013) as well as works 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 ...

'' and ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

''. He was a writing instructor at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, and taught as a visiting writer at Florida State University, La Salle University, and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He also served as an editor at the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

''. Drury currently lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Awards and honors

* Granta‘s Best Young American Novelists * Best of BBC Radio’s Recent Short Fiction, “Heroin Man” * John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow * ALA Notable Books, ''The End of Vandalism'' * GQ‘s Best Books of Last 45 Years, ''The End of Vandalism'' * New York Magazine Best Books, ''The End of Vandalism'' * Publishers Weekly Best Books, ''The End of Vandalism'' * Borders Original Voices, ''The Black Brook'' * New York Times Notable Books, ''Hunts in Dreams'' * New York Times Editor’s Choice, ''The Driftless Area'' * Chicago Tribune Best Books, ''The Driftless Area'' * San Francisco Chronicle Best Books, ''The Driftless Area'' * MacDowell Fellowship * National Book Awards Longlist, ''Pacific'' * New York Times Editors' Choice, ''Pacific'' * San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Books, ''Pacific'' * Berlin Prize Fellowship

Bibliography

*''In Our state'' (1989) *'' The End of Vandalism'' (1994) *''The Black Brook'' (1998) *''Hunts in Dreams'' (2000) *''The Driftless Area'' (2006) *''Pacific'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drury, Tom 1956 births Living people 20th-century American novelists Novelists from Iowa University of Iowa alumni American male journalists Brown University alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers