icon caret-left icon caret-right instagram pinterest linkedin facebook twitter goodreads question-circle facebook circle twitter circle linkedin circle instagram circle goodreads circle pinterest circle

Bluebird, Rapidan VA
Courtesy of Jan Langholz

I feel lucky to live in beautiful Rapidan, Va., a historic river-and-railroad village. Rapidan is the setting for my novel-in-stories, Horse People (Louisiana State University Press). Much of my work, such as "Merry-Go-Sorry," about the West Memphis Three, and "Brides in the Sky," about a family on the Oregon Trail, is inspired by true-life events. A few sample stories appear on the Works page of this site.
 
Fiction is my main focus, but when Arcadia Publishing asked me to do a nonfiction pictorial history of Glen Allen, Va., where my parents, my sisters, and I lived for a time, I was delighted. Images of America: Glen Allen presents vintage photos of village founder John Cussons and his magnificent 1880s hotel, Forest Lodge; pioneering Black educator Virginia Randolph and her students; the story of Jack Bourne Park; and more. Many thanks to all who contributed information and photographs. 
 
Awards
National Endowment for the Arts
Tennessee Arts Commission
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
O. Henry Prize for "Merry-Go-Sorry," inspired by the West Memphis 3 ; first published in Alaska Quarterly Review
Virginia Literary Awards, finalist for The Quick-Change Artist: Stories

Teaching
University of Memphis, Professor Emeritus; directed MFA program
University of Memphis, First Tennessee Professor
Pennsylvania State University, Fisher Family Writer-in-Residence 
Converse Low-Residency MFA
Wichita State University, Distinguished Visiting Writer 
Miami University of Ohio, Visiting Writer 
Fairmont State University, Artist in Residence
La Salle University, Writer-in-Residence