Vincent Czyz (/ˈtʃɛz/ ''Chez''; born 1963) is an American writer and critic of

Literary fiction Literary fiction, serious fiction, high literature, or artistic literature, and sometimes just literature, encompasses fiction books and writings that are more character-driven rather than plot-driven, that examine the human condition, or that are ...

. His work often explores mythological motifs, religious themes, and dreams as a substrate of reality.

Biography

Vincent Czyz was born in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

and raised in nearby

East Orange East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

. He graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of his class at

Lakeland Regional High School Lakeland Regional High School is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district serving students from the Boroughs of Ringwood and Wanaque (including its Haskell neighborhood), communities in Passaic County, in th ...

. He received a B.A. from the Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, an M.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and an M.F.A. from Rutgers-Newark. He lived in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

for seven years, teaching English at several Turkish universities. He also taught creative writing at

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...

. He lives in

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

with his wife, Neslihan, and their son. His older brother is former American boxer, light-heavyweight champion

Bobby Czyz Robert Edward Czyz ( ; born February 10, 1962) is an American retired boxer and commentator. Czyz was a two-division world titleholder at light heavyweight and cruiserweight. Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He grew up in Wanaque, New Jer ...

Writing

Czyz is the author of a short story collection, two novels, and a collection of

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s. His short stories and essays have appeared in journals, magazines, and several anthologies, including, the ''

New England Review The ''New England Review'' is an American quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, ...

'', '' Shenandoah'', ''

AGNI Agni ( ) is the Deva (Hinduism), Hindu god of fire. As the Guardians of the directions#Aṣṭa-Dikpāla ("Guardians of Eight Directions"), guardian deity of the southeast direction, he is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples. ...

'', ''

The Massachusetts Review ''The Massachusetts Review'' is a literary quarterly founded in 1959 by a group of professors from Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It receives financial support from Five Colle ...

'', ''

Georgetown Review ''Georgetown Review'' was an annual literary magazine produced at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky. History and profile ''Georgetown Review'' was first published in 1993 and hosted a prestigious annual prose contest. The magazine was ...

'', ''

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

'',

The Arts Fuse ''The Arts Fuse'' is an online arts magazine covering cultural events in Greater Boston, as well as Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York. The Arts Fuse has published more than 2,000 articles and ...

, ''Tampa Review'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Copper Nickel'', ''Southern Indiana Review'', ''Skidrow Penthouse'', and a contribution in the

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

collection '' Stories for Chip'' (2015). In his prefatory note to ''Adrift in a Vanishing City'',

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

characterizes Czyz's short story collection as, "a small landmark in the sedimentation of new form in fiction". Czyz's novel, ''The Christos Mosaic'', is described by the American

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

scholar

Robert M. Price Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar who argues in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on biblical studies and the hi ...

as including "genuine, radical biblical scholarship in a beautifully rendered adventure full of unforgettable characters, set in exotic locales vividly and poetically described".

Awards

He is the recipient of the 1994

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

Wisdom Prize for Short Fiction, two fellowships from the NJ Council on the Arts In 2011 he was awarded

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

Fellowship at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Bibliography

*''Adrift In A Vanishing City'', a collection of interlinked

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

stories, was published May 10, 2015; having first been released in 1998. *''The Christos Mosaic'' (Blank Slate Press, 2015). *''The Three Veils Of Ibn Oraybi'': a novella; published July 10, 2021. The critic Diane Donovan of the ''Midwest Book Review'' stated, "Czyz weaves mystery, history, religious fervor, and social inspection into this story of struggle... Its lovely, lyrical language and thought-provoking encounters... explore the politics and psychological profiles of cultures that lived side by side...". *''The Secret Adventures of Order'' (2022): a collection of literary essays, creative nonfiction, and biblical

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Czyz, Vincent 1963 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Lakeland Regional High School alumni Postmodernists Rutgers University–Newark alumni Rutgers University alumni Columbia University alumni Novelists from New Jersey Writers from East Orange, New Jersey Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey Writers from Orange, New Jersey 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets American male poets 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American speculative fiction critics