Manuel Muñoz (writer)
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Manuel Muñoz is an American novelist, short story writer, and professor at the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
.


Biography

Muñoz was born in
Dinuba, California Dinuba is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 24,563 at the 2020 census, up from 21,453 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. The Alta District Museum is ...
, a small city in the
Central Valley of California The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California, United States. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast. It cover ...
, to a family of
Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
farm workers. Despite his family's economic woes – and his occasionally having to lend a hand during the grape harvest – Muñoz performed very well in school. He graduated from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1994, and went on to earn a Masters in Fine Arts from
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
in 1998 He met Helena María Viramontes, who has had an important influence on his work, at Cornell. Muñoz considers her to be "his literary godmother." He moved to New York City in 2001, where he lived until 2008 when he accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
.


Writing career

Muñoz's early writing appeared in various publications, notably ''Rush Hour'', ''Swink'', ''Epoch'', ''Glimmer Train'', ''Edinburgh Review'', and ''Boston Review''. His first collection of short stories, ''Zigzagger'', was published in 2003. Most of the stories in this first tome are set in the rural towns of the Central Valley of California, which resemble his hometown of Dinuba. Muñoz has noted that the Central Valley has functioned as "reservoir of creativity" for him.
David Ebershoff David Ebershoff (born January 17, 1969) is an American writer, editor, and teacher. His debut novel, '' The Danish Girl'', was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name in 2015, while his third novel, '' The 19th Wife'', was ...
in a review for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' wrote, "Muñoz has created a wholly authentic vision of contemporary California— one that has little to do with coastlines, cities or silicon. ... ''Zigzagger'' heralds the arrival of a gifted and sensitive writer." Helena Maria Viramontes wrote that "''Zigzagger'' is not merely a contribution to Latina/o letters, but a major breakthrough." His second collection of short fiction, ''The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue'', was shortlisted for the 2007
Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented betwe ...
. Like ''Zigzagger'', ''The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue'' takes place in a small community in the Central Valley. Jeff Turrentine of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote of the collection: "His stories are far too rich to be classified under the limiting rubrics of "gay" or "Chicano" fiction; they have a softly glowing, melancholy beauty that transcends those categories and makes them universal." In his first novel, ''What You See in the Dark'' (2011), Muñoz moves away from the familiar rural settings of the Central Valley to the set of
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
's '' Psycho'' in 1950s
Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...
. Muñoz uses the
second person singular ''Second Person Singular'' () is a 2010 novel by the Palestinian writer Sayed Kashua. Kashua explores the identity of Arabs who are assimilated in Israeli culture; Arabs that speak Hebrew and had their education at Israeli institutes. Plo ...
to draw his reader into the novel. A starred review in ''Publishers Weekly'' called ''What You See in the Dark'' a "stellar first novel. ..The lyrical prose and sensitive portrayal of the crime's ripple effect in the small community elevate this far beyond the typical noir."


Awards and honors


Fellowships, grants, honors

* 2006
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
Fellowship * 2008
Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, ...
* 2009 PEN/O. Henry Award for his story "Tell Him About Brother John." * 2015 PEN/O. Henry Award for his story "The Happiest Girl in the USA." * 2017 PEN/O. Henry Award for his story "The Reason Is Because" * ''
The Best American Short Stories 2019 ''The Best American Short Stories 2019'' is a volume in the annual ''The Best American Short Stories'' anthology series. It was edited by the series editor, Heidi Pitlor, and guest editor and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner Anthony Doerr.Pitlo ...
'' includes "Anyone Can Do It" * New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship * 2023
MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals workin ...
("genius grant")


Literary prize


Works

* * * *


References


External links


Profile at The Whiting Foundation"Exclusive Interview: Whiting Winner Manuel Munoz on the Writing Vote", ''mediabistro''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Manuel American short story writers 1972 births Harvard University alumni Cornell University alumni Living people American writers of Mexican descent American gay writers American male short story writers LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people People from Dinuba, California MacArthur Fellows University of Arizona faculty