Ron Carlson (born 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer and professor.

Life and career

Carlson was born in

Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 United States Census, 2020 census recorded the population at 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Ca ...

, and grew up in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. He received a master's degree in English from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. He then taught at

The Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a private college-preparatory day and boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut. It educates approximately 600 students in grades 9–12, plus postgraduates. Founded in 1891, it was one of the first English-style board ...

in Connecticut, where he began his first novel. He became a professor of English at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1985, teaching creative writing to undergraduates and graduates, and ultimately becoming director of its Creative Writing program. Carlson then moved to the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

. Carlson was the director of UCI's Creative Writing program until his resignation in 2018. His short stories originally appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''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 ...

'', ''

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 '' GQ''. In addition to his fiction, Carlson has also written for ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times Book Review The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

''. He wrote of his first "good" story: "I did not understand my story; many times you don’t. It’s not your job to understand or evaluate or edit your work when you first emerge from it. Your duty is to be in love with it, and that defies explanation." (''Ron Carlson Writes A Story''). The short story "Keith", from ''The Hotel Eden'', was adapted into a film by

Todd Kessler Todd Kessler is an American film and television writer, producer and director. Among his credits are showrunner and co-creator of Nickelodeon's preschool series ''Blue's Clues'' and director and producer of the feature film '' Keith'' (2008). ...

(2008). The independent film starred

Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama ''All My Children'' as JR Chandler. He later joined the boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a s ...

and

Elisabeth Harnois Elisabeth Harnois ( ; born ) is an American actress. Her career started at the age of five, where she began appearing in a number of film and television roles. As a child, she starred as Alice in Disney's ''Adventures in Wonderland'' and as an ad ...

. In August 2018, Carlson was named as having credible evidence of having committed sexual misconduct with a minor student in the 1970s. The report, prepared by the law firm Locke Lord, named seven teachers in all.

Awards

He has received a number of honors and awards, including a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Fellowship in Fiction, a

National Society of Arts and Letters The National Society of Arts and Letters (known by its abbreviation NSAL) is an American non-profit group founded in 1944 as a women's organization to assist promising young artists through arts competitions, scholarships and other career opportuni ...

Award, and the 1993 Ploughshares Cohen Prize.

Bibliography

Poetry

Novels

*''Betrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald'' (1977) *''Truants'' (1981) * * *''Return to Oakpine''. Viking. 2013. .

YA Novel

*''The Speed of Light'', HarperTempest, 2003,

Short stories

*''News of the World'' (1987) *''Plan B for the Middle Class'' (1992; a ''

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 ...

'' Best Book that year) * (an NYT Notable Book) * (a ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 2002 best book) *

Non-fiction

*''Ron Carlson Writes a Story'' (2007), subtitled: "From the first glimmer of an idea to the final sentence."

Anthologies

* Best American Short Stories * Sudden Fiction * Best of the West Epoch * In Our Lovely Deseret: Mormon Fictions *

The North American Review The ''North American Review'' (''NAR'') was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until reviv ...

* The

O'Henry Prize 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 ...

Series * The

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 ...

Anthology * ''Norton Anthology of Short Fiction''.

References

External links

*. Archived from .
"Author Talk: Ron Carlson", ''TeenReads''
Archived fro
the original
*http://www.pshares.org/authors/author-detail.cfm?authorID=186
now here maybe?The N
a short story, ''

Narrative Magazine ''Narrative Magazine'' is a non-profit digital publisher of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and art founded in 2003 by Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian. ''Narrative'' publishes weekly and provides educational resources to teachers and students; sub ...

'' (Spring 2007). {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, Ron 20th-century American novelists Living people 1947 births Writers from Logan, Utah University of California, Irvine faculty Arizona State University faculty Writers from Salt Lake City University of Utah alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Arizona Novelists from Utah