Michael Mewshaw (born February 19, 1943) is an American author of 11

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", itself ...

and 11 books of

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

, and works frequently as a travel writer, investigative reporter, book reviewer, and tennis reporter. His novel ''Year of the Gun'' was made into a film of the same name by John Frankenheimer in 1991. He is married with two sons.

Alan Cheuse Alan Stuart Cheuse (January 23, 1940 – July 31, 2015) was an American writer, editor, professor of literature, and radio commentator. A longtime NPR book commentator, he was also the author of five novels, five collections of short stories and n ...

, National Public Radio's longtime "voice of books," called him "the best novelist in America that nobody knows."

Background

Early life and education

Born in Washington, DC, and raised in the suburb of

Prince George's County, Maryland ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...

, Mewshaw graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland, College Park (1965), then was granted a four-year fellowship to attend the graduate writing program at the University of Virginia, where he attained his Masters (1966) and Doctorate (1970) degrees under the tutelage of George Garrett. While studying at UVA, Mewshaw completed two unpublished novels, then embarked on a road trip across Mexico with his wife (at the urging of William Styron, who was the subject of his masters thesis and doctoral dissertation); a journey which would form the basis of his first novel ''Man in Motion'' (1970), which he completed while on a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

in France.

Early career

Mewshaw taught creative writing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and subsequently was named Director of Creative writing at the University of Texas at Austin. Taking leaves of absence every other year from this post, Mewshaw based himself in Rome, Italy, and continued traveling throughout Europe and North Africa. While Mewshaw researched his third novel ''The Toll'' (1974) in Marrakesh, Morocco, his wife Linda was hired as Lindsay Wagner's stand-in on the set of Robert Wise's film '' Two People''. Mewshaw's experience of that shoot was the jumping-off point for his fifth novel ''Land Without Shadow'' (1979).Mewshaw (2003) pp.80–166 Conroy Mewshaw3

Bibliography

Novels

*''Man in Motion'' (1970) *''Waking Slow'' (1972) *''The Toll'' (1974) *''Earthly Bread'' (1976) *''Land Without Shadow'' (1979) *''Year of the Gun'' (1984) *''Blackballed'' (1986) *''True Crime'' (1991) *''Shelter from the Storm'' (2003) *''Island Tempest'' (2005) *''Lying with the Dead'' (2009)

Nonfiction

*''Life for Death'' (1980) *''Short Circuit: Six Months on the Men's Professional Tennis Tour'' (1983) *''Money to Burn'' (1987) *''Playing Away'' (1988) *''Ladies of the Court: Grace And Disgrace On The Women's Tennis Tour'' (1993) *''Do I Owe You Something?: A Memoir of the Literary Life'' (2003) *''If You Could See Me Now: A Chronicle of Identity and Adoption'' (2006) *''Between Terror and Tourism: An Overland Trip Across North Africa'' (2010) *''Sympathy for the Devil: Four Decades of Friendship with Gore Vidal'' (2014) *''Ad In Ad Out: Collected Tennis Articles'' (2016) *''The Lost Prince: A Search for Pat Conroy'' (2019)

Honors

*Fulbright Fellow in Creative Writing to France, 1968–69 *William Rainey Prize at Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 1970 *Wallace Stegner Fellowship, 1971 *National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 1974 *Visiting Artist at American Academy in Rome, 1975–76 *Carr Collins Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of 1980 *Guggenheim Grant, 1981–82 *Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, 1980–83 *Carr Collins Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of 1983 *Book of the Year, Tennis Week, 1993 *Runner-up, William Hill Award, Best Sports Book of the Year in England, 1993 *Investigative Journalist of the Year, Tennis Week, 1997 *Independent Bookseller's Award Best Novel of the Year, 2009 - Lying With The Dead *Longlist, PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography, 2020 - The Lost Prince

Footnotes

References

*Mewshaw, Michael (2003). ''Do I Owe You Something?: A Memoir of the Literary Life.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. .

External links

Charlie Rose interview with Michael Mewshaw about Gore Vidal and "Sympathy for the Devil"Mewshaw speaks about "Sympathy for the Devil" at the American Library in Paris and takes questions from the audienceBen Rothenberg interview with Mewshaw on "The Ugly Side of Tennis"
*
WNYC radio interview with Mewshaw about ''Shelter from the Storm''
* ttp://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=865 Bookbrowse's interview with Mewshawbr>Mewshaw's essay "Travel, Travel Writing, and the Literature of Travel" first presented as the plenary address at the 2004 South Central MLA Conference in New Orleans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mewshaw, Michael 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 1943 births Living people University of Maryland, College Park alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers