Robin Hemley, born in New York City, is an American nonfiction and fiction writer. He is the author of fifteen books, and has had work published in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Conjunctions,[1] The Sun,[2] and Narrative,[3] among others. In 2020, he joined the faculty of Long Island University, where his is Director and Polk Professor in Residence of the George Polk School of Communications.[4]

Robin Hemley
Hemley at a music class for DO-OVER
Born
Education
Occupation(s)Writer, professor
Awards

Life and career

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Robin Hemley was born to a Jewish family. His father, Cecil Hemley, was co-founder, with Arthur A. Cohen, of Noonday Press. His mother, Elaine Gottlieb Hemley, published fiction and poetry.[5]

Hemley graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.A. in comparative literature and from the University of Iowa with an MFA in Fiction.[6] He earned a PhD in creative practice from the University of New South Wales in 2020.

His writing awards include three Pushcart Prizes in fiction and nonfiction, first place in the Nelson Algren Award for Fiction from The Chicago Tribune, and the Independent Press Book Award for Nonfiction.[7]

At Western Washington University, he edited The Bellingham Review for five years and founded the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction and the Annie Dillard Award for Nonfiction. In 2004, he began teaching at the University of Iowa where he was hired as the Director of the Nonfiction Writing Program, and since 2000 he has taught at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he served as Faculty Chair for three years. At the University of Iowa, he founded the NonfictioNOW Conference in 2005.[8]

From 2013 to 2019, he was the Director of the Writing Program, Writer-in-Residence, and Professor of Humanities at Yale-NUS College in Singapore.[9]

He lives in Brooklyn, is married, and has four daughters.

Selected works

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Fiction
  • The Mouse Town and Other Stories (Word Beat Press, 1987) ISBN 978-0912527062
  • All You Can Eat (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988) ISBN 978-0871132611
  • The Last Studebaker, a novel (Graywolf Press, 1992) ISBN 978-0253000125
  • The Big Ear, stories (Blair, 1997) ISBN 978-0895871640
  • Reply All: Stories (Indiana University Press, 2012) ISBN 978-0253001801
Non-fiction
Short stories
  • "All Good Things are Surprises" (Narrative, 2007)[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Robin Hemley  |  Conjunctions — The forum for innovative writing". www.conjunctions.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  2. ^ "The Sun Magazine". www.thesunmagazine.org. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  3. ^ "Robin Hemley | Narrative Magazine". Narrative Magazine. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  4. ^ "Guggenheim Winner to Lead George Polk School of Communications". What's New at LIU. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  5. ^ "Novelist Elaine Gottlieb". Lake Chapala Artists. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  6. ^ "Robin Hemley | Department of English | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | The University of Iowa". english.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  7. ^ "Robin Hemley | Creative Nonfiction". www.creativenonfiction.org. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  8. ^ "Robin Hemley". the international writing life. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  9. ^ "Questions and Answers With Robin Hemley". www.asianbooksblog.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  10. ^ Clair, Christopher (April 14, 2013). "Life with Nola". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). University of Iowa News Services. p. M14. Retrieved August 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "All Good Things Are Surprises by Robin Hemley | Narrative Magazine". Narrative Magazine. 2008-08-14. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
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