Deb Olin Unferth (born November 19, 1968) is an American short story writer, novelist, and memoirist. She is the author of the collection of stories ''Minor Robberies'' and the novel ''Vacation'', both published by

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSw ...

, and the memoir, ''Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War'', published by Henry Holt. Unferth was a finalist for a 2012

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''The Paris Review'', ''Granta'', ''

'', '' The Believer'', ''

The Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and other magazines. She is a frequent contributor to ''

Noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cl ...

''. She also has received four

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

s. Unferth is a full professor in creative writing at

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where she teaches for the Michener Center and the New Writers Project.

Prison education

She founded and runs the Pen-City Writers, a two-year creative-writing certificate program at a maximum security prison in southern Texas. For this work she won the 2017 Texas Governor's Criminal Justice Service Award.

Books

*''Minor Robberies'' (short stories, McSweeney's), 2007 *''Vacation'' (novel, McSweeney's), 2008 * ''Revolution'' (memoir, Henry Holt), 2011 * ''I, Parrot'' (graphic novel) with Elizabeth Haidle, 2017 * ''Wait Till You See Me Dance'' (story collection, Graywolf Press), 2017 * ''Barn 8'' (novel, Graywolf Press), 2020

Awards

*Pushcart Prize, 2005 *

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has co ...

Grant for Literature, 2009 * First Novelist Award for ''Vacation'', 2009 *National Book Critics Award finalist for ''Revolution'', 2012 *Pushcart Prize, 2011 *

for "Likeable", 2014 *

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 ...

, 2018

Online texts

Nonfiction

Memoir Manifesto

Where I Write

Short fiction

Minor Robberies
ref>

Interviews

Interview
on The Rumpus
Interview
on HTMLGIANT
Interview
on Bookslut with

Tao Lin Tao Lin (; born July 2, 1983) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment o ...

2011 radio interview (50 minutes)
at The Bat Segundo Show
"I Start From a Place of Outrage and Sadness": A conversation on humor in fiction with Elisa Albert, Steve Almond, Brock Clarke, Sam Lipsyte, Zachary Martin, John McNally, and Deb Olin Unferth in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (24.2)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unferth, Deb 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American women short story writers Wesleyan University faculty Living people 1969 births 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American short story writers MacDowell Colony fellows American women academics American women memoirists