Wells Tower
Encyclopedia
Wells Tower is an American writer of short stories and non-fiction.
He received a B.A. in anthropology and sociology from Wesleyan University
and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Columbia University
. After graduating from Wesleyan, he traveled around the United States doing odd jobs. He began his professional career when he convinced an editor at The Washington Post Magazine to publish an article about a carnival worker.
As of 2009, he divided his time between Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York.
s, the 2002 Plimpton (Discovery) Prize from The Paris Review, and a Henfield Foundation Award. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
published Tower's first short story collection, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned in 2009. The book was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review by Edmund White
and in the New York Times by Michiko Kakutani
. Kakutani picked it as one of her ten best books of 2009. It was also a finalist for The Story Prize
. In June, 2010, Tower was named as one of The New Yorker
magazine's "20 under 40" luminary fiction writers. On June 10, 2010, he was presented with the Tenth Annual New York Public Library
's Young Lions Fiction Award, a $10,000 prize for an American writer under 40. His work was selected for the Best American Short Stories
2010.
Early life, education, and early career
Tower was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, but grew up in North Carolina.He received a B.A. in anthropology and sociology from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. After graduating from Wesleyan, he traveled around the United States doing odd jobs. He began his professional career when he convinced an editor at The Washington Post Magazine to publish an article about a carnival worker.
As of 2009, he divided his time between Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York.
Awards and critical reception
Tower is the recipient of two Pushcart PrizePushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize 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 invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
s, the 2002 Plimpton (Discovery) Prize from The Paris Review, and a Henfield Foundation Award. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...
published Tower's first short story collection, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned in 2009. The book was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review by Edmund White
Edmund White
Edmund Valentine White III is an American author and literary critic. He is a member of the faculty of Princeton University's Program in Creative Writing.- Life and work :...
and in the New York Times by Michiko Kakutani
Michiko Kakutani
is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times and is considered by many to be a leading literary critic in the United States.-Life and career:...
. Kakutani picked it as one of her ten best books of 2009. It was also a finalist for The Story Prize
Story Prize
The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first published in the United States during a calendar...
. In June, 2010, Tower was named as one of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine's "20 under 40" luminary fiction writers. On June 10, 2010, he was presented with the Tenth Annual New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
's Young Lions Fiction Award, a $10,000 prize for an American writer under 40. His work was selected for the Best American Short Stories
Best American Short Stories
The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in contemporary American literature.-Edward O'Brien:The...
2010.
External links
- Wells Tower at Macmillan Books
- Review of Everything Ravaged Everything Burned by Michiko Kakutani, from The New York Times
- The World We Live In Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned review by Deborah Eisenberg from The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
- An Interview with Wells Tower on KRUI's The Lit Show
- The Still Lives of Wells Tower by Paul Maliszewski, from The Brooklyn Rail