About this item
Fall, 1970. At the start of eighth grade, Peter Selgin fell in love with the young teacher who'd arrived from Oxford in Frye boots, with long hair, and a passion for his students that was intense and unorthodox. The son of an emotionally remote inventor, Peter was also a twin with a burning need to feel unique.The teacher supplied that need. They spent hours in the teacher's cottage, discussing books, playing chess, drinking tea, and wrestling. They were inseparable, until the teacher "resigned." Over the next decade they met occasionally and corresponded constantly, their last meeting a disaster. Only after he died did Peter learn that the teacher had completely fabricated his past.As for Peter's father, the British-accented genius inventor, he turned out to be the son of prominent Italian Jews.
About the Author
Peter Selgin won the 2007 Flannery O'Connor Award for Fiction (Drowning Lessons, UGA Press, 2008) , and the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Prize for Best Novel-in-Manuscript (The Water Master) . His first novel, Life Goes to the Movies, was a finalist for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship and the AWP Award for the Novel, and was named one of the Best Books of 2009 by ForeWord Magazine.
His most recent book, Confessions of a Left-Handed Man: An Artist's Memoir, was published by the University of Iowa Press/Sightline Books. He is also the author of two books on writing craft, By Cunning & Craft: Practical Wisdom for Fiction Writers, and 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers (both from Writers Digest Books) , as well as several books for children. He is a faculty member of Antioch University's MFA writing program and Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Georgia College & State University, where he teaches in their MFA Program.
Before turning full-time to writing, Peter earned his living as a visual artist and illustrator, with work appearing in The New Yorker, Gourmet, The Wall Street Journal, Outside, Fine Gardening, and other magazines. His paintings of the Titanic were the subject of articles in the Wall Street Journal and on NPR and Fox's Good Morning, America. His plays, including A God in the House, based on Dr. Kevorkian and his suicide machine, have won national competitions. He was a three-time finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwright's Conference, where A God in the House had its world premiere.
Peter's hobbies include swimming in all seasons in almost any body of water (lakes being preferable) , and writing or sketching at sunny outdoor cafe tables (preferable in Venice or on the Mediterranean coast) .
Website: http://www.peterselgin.com
