Craig Nova is an American novelist and author of fourteen novels. His writing has appeared in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', and ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' was an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenner of ...

'', among others. His short story, "The Prince," won an O. Henry Award. His first novel, "Turkey Hash", won the prestigious Harper-Saxton Award. Nova received an Award in Literature from the

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

and received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 199

His fourteen novels thus far are somewhat thematically linked. The first two novels, written in the 1970s, were basically coming of age or bildungsroman novels. The next three, his third, fourth and fifth books ('' The Good Son (Nova novel), The Good Son'', ''The Congressman's Daughter'' and ''Tornado Alley'') are often thought of as his Passion Trilogy, sharing similar structures (each novel is broken up into different "books"; each novel is narrated in the first person by a variety of characters, male and female). And the books share similar geography, with stories that either take place largely in the East (as it does in "The Congressman's Daughter"), or which begin on the East coast and gradually move West. "The Good Son" starts out in the East (Ohio), New York and in New England (Vermont, etc.), where Nova lived for over three decades, and its denouement takes place in both the West (Washington) and East, New York. "Tornado Alley", The last book in the Passion Trilogy moves the action from the East coast (Pennsylvania) across country to the West coast, in California, where the majority of Nova's story about passion, adultery and unrequited love plays out. In each book, a serious conflict arises between parent and child, or man and wife (or both), usually due to one or both of them being in love (complicated triangles were part of Nova's well-written bag of tricks during this era of his career). This Passion Trilogy may well prove to be Nova's personal masterpiece. In its unerring ability to capture Americans of all classes (lower, middle and upper) and the struggles for power that take place every day (between father and son, father and daughter, husband and wife, etc.), and its uncanny ability to capture the voices of characters feminine and masculine, the three novels and writing therein are reminiscent of the best work of Booth Tarkington. A book critic for the Seattle Times was moved to write, "I see them as the all-American prose equivalent to Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 3, 5 and 7. ...there's a genuinely classical grandeur to Nova's tales of erotic derailment and titanic family conflict." Nova's next three novels, his seventh, eighth and ninth books ("Trombone", "The Book of Dreams", and "The Universal Donor"), are linked geographically, with all of the action taking place on the West coast, largely in California, where Nova was born and raised. As a child, he played with the daughter of Jane Mansfield and as a teenager, raced against Steve McQueen. His Hollywood childhood was put to good use in his California trilogy of novels that taken on relationships the various people (lovers, fathers, friends and others) wrapped up in movie-making and con games, with the lines between both often being blurred. In his three most recent novels ("Wetware", "Cruisers", and "The Informer"), Nova has moved into the genre of crime and mystery fiction, taking cues and borrowing tropes from writers like William Gibson ("Wetware"), James M. Cain ("Cruisers") and Graham Greene ("The Informer"). In 2005 he was named Class of 1949 Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...

. Nova was a judge on the fiction panel of the 2006

National Book Awards The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

. He lives in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Bibliography

Novels *''Turkey Hash'' (1972) *''The Geek'' (1975) *''Incandescence'' (1979) *'' The Good Son (Nova novel), The Good Son'' (1982) *''The Congressman's Daughter'' (1986) *''Tornado Alley'' (1989) *''Trombone'' (1992) *''The Book of Dreams'' (1994) *''The Universal Donor'' (1997) *''Wetware'' (2002) *''Cruisers'' (2004) *''The Informer'' (2010) *''The Constant Heart'' (2012) *''All The Dead Yale Men'' (2013) *''Double Solitaire: A Novel'' (2021) Autobiography *''Brook Trout and the Writing Life'' (1999)

External links

Official website of Craig Nova

Craig Nova's Blog, "The Writing Life"

at the

2004 interview with Craig Nova
by

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

2004 audio interview with Craig Nova
by John Walters on

New Hampshire Public Radio New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) is the National Public Radio member network serving the state of New Hampshire. NHPR is based in Concord and operates eight transmitters and six translators covering nearly the whole state, as well as portions ...

2004 audio interview with Craig Nova
by Michael Silverblatt on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

's ''Bookworm''
1994 audio interview with Craig Nova
by Michael Silverblatt on

's ''Bookworm''
Craig Nova's books
at

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Craig Nova listed as a judge
of the 2006

1982 review of Craig Nova's novel ''The Good Son''
in ''

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 ...

'' by author

John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American and Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of his fourth novel '' Th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nova, Craig 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Living people Novelists from North Carolina 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Year of birth missing (living people)