Andrew Ervin (born 1971) is an American writer whose debut 2010 novella collection ''Extraordinary Renditions'' (Coffee House Press) was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2010. His 2015 debut novel ''Burning Down George Orwell’s House'' (Soho Press) was listed as an Editor's Choice in the New York Times Book Review. He currently lives in Philadelphia.

Biography

Andrew Ervin was born in

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about west of Philadelphia. It is part of the Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area. ...

. He has lived in

Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

and now resides in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He is married to the flutist Elivi Varga.

Education and career

Ervin holds a BA in Philosophy and Religion (

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Nonsectarian, nonsecterian Women's colleges in the United States, ...

), an MS in English (Illinois State University) and MFA in Fiction (

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

). He served as the inaugural Southern Review Resident Scholar at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. He was previously the Kratz Writer-in-Residence at Goucher College and a 2016-2017 Digital Studies Fellow at

Rutgers University-Camden Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was affi ...

. He teaches part-time for the Honors Program and the MFA program in creative writing at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

as well as for the Interactive Games and Media department at

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

. As a fiction writer, his short stories have appeared in the literary journals Conjunctions, Fiction International,

The Southern Review ''The Southern Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established by Robert Penn Warren in 1935 at the behest of Charles W. Pipkin and funded by Huey Long as a part of his investment in Louisiana State University. It publishes ficti ...

Another Chicago Magazine ''Another Chicago Magazine'' is an American magazine established by Left Field Press, in 1977. Contributors include David Sedaris, Charles Bukowski, Samantha Irby, Ander Monson, Shelley Jackson, Charles Harper Webb, Maxine Chernoff, Kim Ad ...

, Monkeybicycle and Golden Handcuffs Review. His fiction has been included in the anthologies Chicago Noir (2005), Mythtym (2008), Topograph (2010), and Gigantic Worlds (2014). His story ''The Light of Two Million Stars'' in ''Conjunctions'' issue 53 was listed among the “distinguished submissions” in Best American Short Stories 2010, edited by Richard Russo. Selections of his fiction appear online at Hobart, Significant Objects, Revolver and Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. His first book was a collection of novellas, ''Extraordinary Renditions'', published in 2010. Publishers Weekly included the book on its list of the “Best Books of 2010.” It was also a long-list finalist for The Story Prize Ervin's debut novel ''Burning Down George Orwell's House'' was published in 2015 by Soho Press. Parisian publishing house Éd Joelle Losfeld/Gallimard released the novel's French translation. in 2016. As a critic, Ervin has published hundreds of book reviews and essays in USA Today, New York Times Book Review, The Believer, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, American Book Review and elsewhere. Selections of his critical essays can be found online at Salon, The Rumpus, Conversational Reading and Publishing Perspectives. His first book-length work of criticism ''Bit by Bit: How Video Games Transformed Our World'', a combination of history, criticism, and personal experiences relating to video games, was published by Basic Books in May 2017. As an editor, Ervin interned at the publishing houses Dalkey Archive Press and FC2. He guest edited two issues of American Book Review and one of nonfiction for an issue of Hobart. He has worked at the literary magazines Monkeybicycle, Ninth Letter and The Southern Review.

Published works

;Novel *''Burning Down George Orwell’s House'' (Soho Press, 2015), ;Novellas *''Extraordinary Renditions: 3 Novellas'' (Coffee House Press, 2010), ;Criticism * ''Bit by Bit: How Video Games Transformed Our World'' (Basic Books, 2017),

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ervin, Andrew Living people American male short story writers 1971 births People from Media, Pennsylvania Writers from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Novelists from Pennsylvania American male novelists 21st-century American novelists Goucher College alumni Illinois State University alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Louisiana State University faculty Temple University faculty Goucher College faculty and staff 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Maryland Novelists from Louisiana