Connor Coyne grew up in Flint, Michigan, and has lived in Chicago and New York City. He received his Bachelors from the University of Chicago and his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Fiction) from the New School. He has written plays, poetry, essays, short stories, and novels.
Connor's work has been published in the Santa Clara Review, the Moria Poetry Zine, the Flint Broadside, the Dick Pig Review, and the Saturnine Detractor. He has been a contributor to the literary blog bkish, a cofounder of Chicago's Gothic Funk Nation, and the editor-in-chief of its arts journal, The Paramanu Pentaquark.
He maintains a website at connorcoyne.com. |
Influences/Inspirations:
Connor's greatest inspiration is his family, especially his wife Jessica and his baby daughter, Mary Adelina. These fine folk are closely followed by his kin in the Gothic Funk Nation. His greatest influence is the City of Flint, Michigan, where he grew up. In fact, thirteen years after leaving, Connor will be moving back to Flint the next spring. The city is haunted and tragic, but raw and ready for renewal; full of the potential of what Peter Brook would call "the empty space."
Favorite Writers and Artists:
Connor is a big fan of the early English Gothic; some of his favorite writers are William Beckford, Ann Radcliffe, and that errant American Henry James. He also digs some Hugo. Among more contemporary writers, Connor admires Thomas Pynchon, Jeffery Renard Allen, and Anne Carson. There are dozens of others of course, including many genre writers.
Connor is also obsessed with music, from Funk (James Brown, P-Funk) to Rock (R.E.M.) to Hip Hop (Eminem, Outkasat) and Electronic (Orbital, Ladytro
Current Projects:
Right now, Connor's energy right now is being funneled into promoting his novel Hungry Rats. But he does have work in the wings:
∙ Beowulf is a retelling of monster-heavy epic in an unending post-apocalyptic winter.
∙ Hollywood Noir is the story of a Norko-addicted nanny pulled to Chicago for a new job and confronted with a new, hallucinatory reality.
∙ Several plays including Canaryville Blue and Post-Modern Prometheus.
∙ A collection of science-fiction short stories: The Silurians.
∙ Mo
Interests:
Connor is undiscriminating in his interests, because the world is so very interesting. He is a history, geography, and science nut (having formerly majored in Physics), and is particularly interested in the history and culture of the American Midwest. He likes taking long walks in the darkness of night, and is fascinated with sharks, monkeys, and octopodes.
Family:
Connor comes from a small family that became much larger when he married into a Polish American family. Half of the holidays are spent in Michigan, where he is comfortably free from harassment; the other half are spent with people who are into that Ohio school. Connor is grateful for all of his family however, regardless of their misplaced loyalties.
University Affiliations:
Connor earned his BA in the Humanities with honors from the University of Chicago in 2001.
He earned his MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from the New School in 2007.
Contact Information:
Interview and business inquiries should be directed to Connor's publicist, Skylar Moran. Skylar can be contacted at skylar@gothicfunk.org.
Connor maintains accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. More details on his website.
Charities/Causes:
Connor will be donating 100% of the profits he earns from his novel Hungry Rats to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, through 12/31/2010.
Learn more about the Food Bank at http://fbem.org.
Other worthy charities include:
The Flint Cultural Center
The Mott Foundation
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Catholic Relief Services