Douglas Arthur Unger (born June 27, 1952) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

Life and work

Unger was born in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Univers ...

. He received a BA from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1973 and a MFA from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wr ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

in 1977. Unger has written four novels, including his 1984 debut, ''Leaving the Land'', which was a finalist for the 1985

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, and received the

Society of Midland Authors Award A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

for Fiction and a Hemingway Foundation/PEN Special Citation. His short stories are collected in ''Looking for War'' (2004). "Leslie and Sam", a story from that collection, was short-listed for the 2002

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

and named a distinguished story in ''

Best American Short Stories The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of '' The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in ...

2002''. He has been an editor for three literary journals—''

Chicago Review ''Chicago Review'' is a literary magazine founded in 1946 and published quarterly in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. The magazine features contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, often publishing works in translation and ...

'', ''

The Iowa Review ''The Iowa Review'' is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. History and profile Founded in 1970, ''Iowa Review'' is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Origin ...

'', and ''Point of Contact''—as well as an essayist for the '' MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour'' and a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. From 1983 to 1991, Unger taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literar ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. During this time he advised

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

on his MA thesis. In 1991 he joined the faculty of the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

, where he co-founded the MFA program in creative writing. Unger was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2007.

Works

Novels

*''Leaving the Land'' (Harper & Row, 1984) *''El Yanqui'' (Harper & Row, 1986) *''The Turkey War'' (Harper & Row, 1988) *''Voices from Silence'' (St. Martin's, 1995)

Story collections

*''Looking for War'' (Ontario Review Press, 2004)

References

* (

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

cache page)

External links

Douglas Unger's website

at the

"''Point of Contact'': 30 Years" a talk by Douglas Unger
on the history of the journal ''Point of Contact''

from ''turnrow'', Summer 2004 vol. 3.2

1952 births Living people People from Moscow, Idaho University of Iowa alumni University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from Nevada Novelists from Idaho University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty Syracuse University faculty American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) {{US-story-writer-stub