Mark Costello (Oct. 25, 1936—July 3, 2023), a native of

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, is the author of the story collections ''The Murphy Stories'' (University of Illinois Press, 1973), which won the St. Lawrence Award for Short Fiction, and ''Middle Murphy'' (

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...

, 1991). ''The Murphy Stories'' has received critical praise, and one of its stories, ''Murphy's Xmas'', was anthologized in several collections. Costello taught for many years at the

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

at Urbana as a creative writing instructor and was a visiting writer at many universities and colleges. He held the Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

at Tuscaloosa and was writer-in-residence at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, 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 int ...

Writers Workshop for one year. His story ''Room 601'' has received praise.Emerging Writers Network
/ref> Costello is known for his brevity and the introspective nature of his characters. The stories are set in central Illinois and feature a hard-drinking, hard-living character, Michael Murphy. Costello's work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies, including ''The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction'', ''The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction'', and ''

Best American Short Stories ''The Best American Short Stories'' is a yearly anthology that's part of '' The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the ''BASS'' has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of th ...

''. He is not related to the Mark Costello who wrote '' Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present'' (1990), with

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...

. He died in Lakewood, Colorado, on Monday, July 3, 2023.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Mark Writers from Decatur, Illinois American short story writers Living people 1936 births