Paul Collins (born January 12, 1969) is an American writer, editor, and professor of English and Creative Writing at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

.Portland State University: English - Contact
Retrieved on 06 January 2015 He is best known for his work with

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 Believer'', as editor of the

Collins Library The Collins Library is an imprint of McSweeney's Books that publishes unusual out-of-print books. The imprint is named for its editor, Paul Collins. Publications # ''English as She Is Spoke , commonly known by the name ''English as She Is Spok ...

imprint for McSweeney's Books, and for his appearances on National Public Radio's ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' with

Scott Simon Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of '' Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR. Early life Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons.

. His own books deal primarily with quirky forgotten figures from history, sometimes interwoven with memoir. Damian Kulash of the band

OK Go OK Go is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar, bass, backing vocalist, v ...

has stated that the chapter in Collins' book "Banvard's Folly" about

Augustus Pleasonton Augustus James Pleasonton, often called A. J. Pleasonton (January 21, 1808 – July 26, 1894), was a militia general during the American Civil War. He wrote the book ''The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Color of the Sky ...

's patent on blue light led to them naming their third album '' Of the Blue Colour of the Sky''.

Biography

Collins was born in 1969 in Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

with his B.A., the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

with his M.A., and from the CUNY Graduate Center with his Ph.D.. He is married to the children's author and illustrator Jennifer Elder. He is the parent of an autistic child and is known for his writings on the subject of

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

. His book on the subject, ''Not Even Wrong'', was adapted by Oliver Goldstick into the play ''Wild Boy''. Collins was awarded 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 2009.Paul Collins

Books

* ''Community Writing: Researching Social Issues Through Composition'' (Erlbaum, 2001) * ''Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of Renowned Obscurity, Famous Anonymity, and Rotten Luck'' (Picador USA, 2001) * ''Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books'' (Bloomsbury, 2003) * ''Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism'' (Bloomsbury, 2004) * ''The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine'' (Bloomsbury, 2005) * ''The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World'' (Bloomsbury, 2009) * ''The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars'' (Crown, 2011) * ''Duel With the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton And Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take On America's First Sensational Murder Mystery'' (Crown, 2013) * ''Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living'' (New Harvest, 2014) * ''Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder That Scandalized Harvard'' (W W Norton & Company, 2018)

References

External links

Identity Theory interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Paul 1969 births Living people American male writers McSweeney's University of California, Davis alumni College of William & Mary alumni Portland State University faculty Writers from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania