Recent Periodical Publications:
"The Spirit in the Statues" (creative non-fiction), Things, #14 (London, England), 2001
"Rewind" (fiction), River Styx, 2000
"The Power of Art: Novelist Ismail Kadare Shows Us the Connections Between Creation and Destruction" (creative non-fiction), Tribune Books, Chicago Tribune, 17 October 1999
"Beauty Marks" (fiction), Apalachee Quarterly, 1997
"Lucky" (fiction), The North American Review 1994
"Angel" (fiction), The Missouri Review, 1992
"The Pose" (fiction), The Chariton Review, 1992
Others in such journals as The New Yorker, Mid-American Review, Fiction, Chicago Review, Poets & Writers Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, etc.
Recent Book Publications:
Interior Design: Stories. Scribner, 1996.
How to Read an Unwritten Language (novel). Scribner, 1995.
Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa, co-authored
with Alma Gottlieb (nonfiction). Crown Publishers/Random House, 1995, 1993.
The Art of the Knock: Stories. William Morrow & Company, 1985.
Awards and Fellowships:
Artist's Grant, Illinois Arts Council, 2001.
How to Read an Unwritten Language nominated for the 1997 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
The Victor Turner Prize, awarded to Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer
Encounter Africa (co-authored with Alma Gottlieb) by the American Anthropological Association's Society for Humanistic Anthropology, 1993.
The William Peden Prize in Fiction, awarded by The Missouri Review for the short story, "Angel," 1992.
"Light Bulbs," short story, performed by actress Mary Ann Thebus (directed by Steve Scott) for Stories on Stage, Organic Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, December 14, 1992.
1992 National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Writing Fellowship.
Others
Recent Readings:
Illinois State University, 2001.
River Styx Reading Series, St. Louis, Missouri, 2000.
Sweet Briar College, Virginia, 1999.
Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1996 and 1998.
Hungry Mind Bookstore, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1997.
Elliot Bay Bookstore, Seattle, Washington, 1997.
Powell's Bookstore, Portland, Oregon, 1997.
Shakespeare & Co., New York City, 1997.
Others
Recent Workshops/Master Classes:
Visiting Hurst Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Three week residency in the graduate creative writing program. September 9-27, 1996.
The Abidjan Writers' Workshop, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire: was the Guest of Honor for two weekend writers' retreats with Ivoirian writers, critics and editors at Grand Bassam and the American Cultural Center in Abidjan.
Sponsored by Arts America, United States Information Agency, and United States Information Service. March 16-23, 1990.
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia: Young Writers' Workshop. July 17-21, 1988.
Available year-round for readings, lectures, master classes, and workshops in any area in Illinois.
Fees:
Performance: $ 1,000 to $ 1,500
Performance plus educational activities: $ 1,200 to $ 1,800
Technical Requirements: microphone, podium, glass of water!
Preferred audience: All audiences
