Valya Dudycz Lupescu (also known as Valya Lupescu) is a

Ukrainian American Ukrainian Americans ( uk, Українські американці, Ukrayins'ki amerykantsi) are Americans who are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent represen ...

writer of magic realism and speculative fiction.

Background and personal life

A second-generation

, Lupescu's writing reflects both her Ukrainian heritage and her American life. She holds an MFA in Writing from the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

and a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in English from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

, Chicago. She has taught at DePaul University, Loyola University, and Columbia College in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Lupescu is the daughter of retired Illinois state senator Walter Dudycz. She is divorced and lives in Chicago, Illinois with her partner and writer,

Stephen H. Segal Stephen H. Segal is a Hugo Award-winning American editor, author, journalist and publication designer. Editing career Segal began his editorial career as a journalist at ''In Pittsburgh Weekly'' and WQED's ''Pittsburgh Magazine''. In 2006, he j ...

and her three children.

Works

Lupescu's debut novel,''The Silence of Trees,'' was published in 2010 by Wolfsword Press and was selected as a semifinalist in the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Lupescu co-wrote two books of nonfiction with partner Segal, ''Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family'', published in 2016 by Quirk Books, and ''Forking Good: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place'', published in 2019 by Quirk Books. Lupescu's graphic novel, ''Mother Christmas Volume 1: The Muse'' is the first in a trilogy that "reimagines the origin story of Santa Claus, based on the Mediterranean legend of

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

." Lupescu's short story, "Honey" was selected for the ''Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2019,'' edited by Paula Guran. Lupescu's poems were included in the ''Ukrainian American Poets Respond'' Anthology, published by Yara Arts Group and Poets of Queens in response to the

2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

. Lupescu is also the founding editor of ''Conclave: A Journal of Character'' and occasionally teaches workshops around Chicago and online. Lupescu founded and works creatively with artists, writers, and musicians who are members of the Coop: Chicago Creative Collaborative Salon.

Contributions to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

Lupescu served on the board of directors for the Chicago Writers Association and was one of the founders of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame had its inaugural Induction Ceremony on November 20, 2010, at

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...

. Lupescu was the Director of Event Planning for the event that inducted

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...

, Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wright,

Nelson Algren Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren articulated ...

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highli ...

, and Studs Terkel. In 2012, Lupescu worked with Founder and Executive Directo
Don Evans
of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame to design a new award to honor living writers, the Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement. The first writer to be honored with the Fuller Award was

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...

at a ceremony held on March 17, 2012, hosted by Gary K. Wolfe at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills, IL. Among those who paid tribute to Wolfe were Neil Gaiman,

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap ...

, Audrey Niffeneger, and others.

Books

* ''The Silence of Trees'' (2010, Wolfsword Press, author) * ''Mother Christmas Volume 1: The Muse'' (2022, Rosarium Publishing, author) * ''Forking Good: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place (2019, Quick Books, co-author with Stephen H. Segal)'' * ''Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family (2016, Quick Books, co-author with Stephen H. Segal)'' * ''Conclave: A Journal of Character'' (2008, 2009–2010, editor) Various artists and authors with a focus on character-driven

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

References

External links

Valya Dudycz Lupescu Home Page
by

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. He is married to, and plays music with, MaryAnn Harris. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, cont ...