John Michael Cummings (born 1963 in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe....

) is an American short story writer and novelist. His short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review

North American Review

The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...

, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Kenyon Review

The Kenyon Review

The Kenyon Review is a Literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, USA, home of Kenyon College. The Review was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959...

, and The Iowa Review

The Iowa Review

The Iowa Review is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews.Founded in 1970, this magazine is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Originally, it was released on a quarterly basis. This frequency of publication lasted...

. Twice he has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His short story "The Scratchboard Project" received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007

The Best American Short Stories 2007

The Best American Short Stories 2007, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Heidi Pitlor and by guest editor Stephen King.-Short Stories included:-Other notable stories:...

.

Cummings lives in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

, with his cat Sentry.

Works

Short stories

• "Missing", Alaska Quarterly Review , Vol.10, Spring/Summer 1992
• "Like Apes", Berkeley Fiction Review, No. 11, 1992
• "Fourteen Seconds", The North American Review, Summer 01
• "Mountains and Seas", Sou’wester, 01
• "The Fence", Confrontation, No. 82/83 Spring/Summer 03
• "The Gun Wall", North Dakota Quarterly, Winter/Spring 03
• "Rising to the Occasion", South Dakota Review, Winter 04
• "The Scratchboard Project", The Iowa Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, 06 -> Nominated for The Pushcart Prize, Honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007
• "Treasure Hunt", The Chattahoochee Review, Winter 07, Vol. 27, No.2
• "Marshmallow People", The Kenyon Review, Winter 08, Vol. 30, No.1

Young adult novel

• The Night I Freed John Brown. New York: Philomel Books (Penguin Group), 2008. ISBN 978-0-399-25054-5

Novellas

• The House My Father. Finalist, 2006 Miami University Novella Contest.
• Chimney Rock. Semi-finalist ,Winnow Press 2004 First Book Award for Fiction.

External links

• John Michael Cummings’ Homepage