George Guthridge (born 1948) is an American author and educator. He has published over 70 short stories and five

novels 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 ...

and has been acclaimed for his successes teaching writing and critical/creative thinking. In 1997 he and coauthor Janet Berliner won the Bram Stoker Award for the Year's Best Horror Novel.

Early life and education

Guthridge earned a B.A. in English from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

in 1970, and a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

in creative writing from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. He earned a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for ...

in 2010 and also took doctoral courses 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 t ...

Speculative fiction

In the mid-1970s, Guthridge was teaching

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

Loras College Loras College is a Private college, private Catholicism, Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest Tertiary education, post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. The school ...

. A colleague in the department had received a

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States *Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

to attend a

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, but was unable to attend, so Guthridge went instead ("because Milwaukee is famous for beer"), although he confesses that at that time he despised

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

. At the convention, Guthridge met

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

, who persuaded him to give speculative fiction a second look, and to write in the field himself. "George changed my life, he really did," Guthridge says. "Not just because he opened doors for me, but he opened this whole vista of sci-fi and fantasy and horror that I never would've gotten into." In turn, Guthridge later helped Martin find a job at

Clarke College Clarke College may refer to: *Clarke College, the former name of Clarke University Clarke University is a private Roman Catholic university in Dubuque, Iowa. The campus is on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and downtown Dubuque. Clark ...

. (Martin had been operating chess tournaments to supplement his writing income, but "wasn't making enough money to stay alive," says Guthridge.) Guthridge has been a finalist for the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

and twice for the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...

for

and fantasy. In 1998 he and coauthor,

Janet Berliner Janet Berliner, formerly Janet Gluckman (September 24, 1939 – October 24, 2012), was a Bram Stoker Award-winning author and served as president of the Horror Writers Association from 1997 to 1998. She was also a member of Authors Guild, th ...

, won the

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

for the year's best horror novel.

"The Kids from Nowhere"

From 1982, Guthridge coached school pupils in the

Siberian Yupik Eskimo Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (russian: Юиты), are a Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik ...

village of

Gambell, Alaska Gambell ( ess, Sivuqaq, russian: Гамбелл) is a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located on St. Lawrence Island, it had a population of 640 at the 2020 census, down slightly from 649 in 2000. History '' ...

, on the remote

St. Lawrence Island St. Lawrence Island ( ess, Sivuqaq, russian: Остров Святого Лаврентия, Ostrov Svyatogo Lavrentiya) is located west of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea, just south of the Bering Strait. The village of Gambell, located on th ...

in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Amer ...

, to national championships in academics. They became the only Native American team ever to do that—and they did it twice. Guthridge's memoir of his years in Gambell was published as ''The Kids from Nowhere'' in 2006.

Publications

Novels *The Madagascar Manifesto (omnibus) (2002)¹ *Children of the Dusk (1997)¹ Bram Stoker Award Winner *Child of the Journey (1996)¹ *The Bloodletter (1994) *

Child of the Light ''Child of the Light'' is a novel by Janet Berliner and George Guthridge published by White Wolf in 1991. Plot summary ''Child of the Light'' is a novel which takes place in Berlin between World War I and World War II, and involves the love hel ...

(1991)¹ *The Death Mask of Pancho Villa (1987)² Nonfiction *The Kids from Nowhere: The Story behind the Arctic Educational Miracle (2006) Selected Short Fiction *The Bridge (2011) *Katoey (2008)³ *Nine Whispered Opinions Regarding the Alaskan Secession (2004) *The Silence of Phii Krasue (2000) *Mister Pigman (1999) *Something's Got to Give (1999)¹ *Notes Toward a Rumpled Stillskin (1997) *Chin Oil (1997) *Mirror of Lop Nor (1995) *The I of the Eye of the Worm (1997)¹ *Maskal (1996)¹ *The Faliksotra (1995) ¹ *Inyanga (1995)¹ *Song of the Shofar (1994)¹ *The Macaw (1994)⁴ *The Tower (1994) *Snowcoil (1993) *Exhibition (1988) *Philatelist (1988) *Evolutions (1988) *Recession (1987) *See the Station Master (1984) *Memory's Noose (1984)⁴ *Legacy (1983)⁵ *Champion of the World (1982)⁴ *Triangle (1982)⁵ *The Child (1982) *The Quiet (1982) *Blackmail (1982) *Taken on Faith (1982) *Pinnacle (1982) *Ishbar, the Trueborn (1981) *Jahratta Dki (1980) *Oregon (1979) *Warship (1979)⁶ *The Exiled, the Hunted (1977) *Dolls' Demise (1976) ¹ with Janet Berliner ² with Carol Gaskins ³ with Blythe Ayne ⁴ with Steve Perry ⁵ with Dianne Thompson ⁶ with George R.R. Martin

Writing awards

*1982 - Finalist, Nebula Award, "The Quiet" (science fiction short story) *1982 - Finalist, Hugo Award, "The Quiet" (science fiction short story) *1994 - Finalist, Nebula Award, "The Mirror of Lop Nor" (fantasy novelette) *1997 - Co-Winner, Bram Stoker Award, Year's Best Horror Novel (with Janet Berliner) *2007 - Finalist, Benjamin Franklin Award, Year's Best Book about Education, The Kids from Nowhere *2013 - First Place, Las Vegas International Film Festival, The Kids from Nowhere (screenplay), with Deborah Schildt *2013 - First Place, Moondance International Film Festival, The Kids from Nowhere (screenplay), with Deborah Schildt *2013 - First Place, Silent River International Film Festival, The Kids from Nowhere (screenplay), with Deborah Schildt *2013 - First Place, New Hampshire International Film Festival, The Kids from Nowhere (screenplay), with Deborah Schildt *2013 - Finalist, Portland International Film Festival, The Kids from Nowhere (screenplay), with Deborah Schildt *2013 - Second Place, Kay Snow Writing Competition, The Kids from Nowhere (screenplay), with Deborah Schildt

Educational awards and achievements

*1984 Future Problem Solving National Coach of the Year *1988 First Alaskan to be awarded Christa McAuliffe Fellowship *1990 Named (Simon & Schuster, Inc.) as one of America's top 78 teachers *1993 Profiled (Delacorte Press) as one of world's top educators *1996 Fulbright Scholar: Trained professors in the Caribbean *2001 Co-recipient, Alaska's first Distance Educator of the Year Award *2010 University of Alaska Fairbanks Exemplary Service Award *2013 University of Alaska Fairbanks Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award *2015 Professor Emeritus, University of Alaska Fairbanks *2018 Teaching Recognition Award, University of Maryland University College *2019 Finalist, Stanley J. Drazek Award for Teaching Excellence, University of Maryland University College Guthridge also helped develop the Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI). It has become one of the nation's top college preparatory programs for Native Americans. Over 2000 of its graduates have gone on to college success, including at such institutions as Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Notre Dame, Stanford, Berkeley, West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guthridge, George 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American educators American fantasy writers American horror writers American male novelists American science fiction writers 1948 births Living people American male short story writers Portland State University alumni University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni University of Montana alumni 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers