Andrew J. Porter
Encyclopedia
Andrew J. Porter is an American short story
writer.
, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
.
Currently, Porter lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he is an Associate Professor of English at Trinity University
.
His debut short story collection, The Theory of Light and Matter, won the 2007 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and was republished in 2010 by Vintage Books
/Random House
. His fiction
has appeared in publications such as One Story
, Epoch (magazine)
, The Ontario Review, Prairie Schooner, The Antioch Review, StoryQuarterly
, The Threepenny Review
, Others Voices, Story (magazine)
and The Pushcart Prize
Anthology. He appeared on NPR
's Selected Shorts
. Selected to "100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2007" for Best American Short Stories
by Stephen King
. Foreign editions and translations of The Theory of Light and Matter have been published in France
, The Netherlands, Korea
, Bulgaria
, Australia
and The United Kingdom.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer.
Life
Andrew Porter graduated from Vassar CollegeVassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
.
Currently, Porter lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he is an Associate Professor of English at Trinity University
Trinity University (Texas)
Trinity University is a private, independent, primarily undergraduate, university in San Antonio, Texas. Its campus is located in the Monte Vista Historic District and adjacent to Brackenridge Park....
.
His debut short story collection, The Theory of Light and Matter, won the 2007 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and was republished in 2010 by Vintage Books
Vintage Books
Vintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
/Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. His fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
has appeared in publications such as One Story
One Story
One Story is a literary magazine which publishes 18 issues a year, each issue containing a single short story. The magazine was founded in 2002 by writers Hannah Tinti and Maribeth Batcha...
, Epoch (magazine)
Epoch (magazine)
Epoch is a three-times-a-year American literary magazine founded in 1947 and published by Cornell University. The widely respected magazine has published well-known authors and award-winning work including stories reprinted in The Best American Short Stories series and poems later included in The...
, The Ontario Review, Prairie Schooner, The Antioch Review, StoryQuarterly
StoryQuarterly
StoryQuarterly is an American literary journal based at Rutgers University–Camden in Camden, New Jersey. It was founded in 1975 by Pamela Painter, among others. Works originally published in StoryQuarterly have been subsequently selected for inclusion in The Prize Stories: The O...
, The Threepenny Review
The Threepenny Review
The Threepenny Review is an American literary magazine founded in 1980. It is published in Berkeley, California by founding editor Wendy Lesser. Maintaining a quarterly schedule , it offers fiction, memoirs, poetry, essays and criticism to a readership of 10,000...
, Others Voices, Story (magazine)
Story (magazine)
Story was a magazine founded in 1931 by journalist-editor Whit Burnett and his first wife, Martha Foley, in Vienna, Austria. Showcasing short stories by new authors, 67 copies of the debut issue were mimeographed in Vienna, and two years later, Story moved to New York City where Burnett and Foley...
and The Pushcart Prize
Pushcart 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....
Anthology. He appeared on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts is an event at New York’s Symphony Space on the Upper West Side, in which actors read classic and new short fiction before a live audience. The annual season of the live events at Symphony Space begins in the mid-fall and ends in mid-spring, and a typical episode would include...
. Selected to "100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2007" for 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...
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. Foreign editions and translations of The Theory of Light and Matter have been published in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, The Netherlands, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and The United Kingdom.
Awards
- 2007 Flannery O'Connor Award
- 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award
- 2004 W.K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts from Vassar CollegeVassar CollegeVassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
- James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship from the James Michener/Copernicus Society of America
- 2009 Drake Emerging Writer Award from Drake University
- Iowa Teaching/Writing Fellowship from the University of IowaUniversity of IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
- Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsThomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
Scholarship from the Sewanee' Writers' Conference - Residency Fellowship from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation
- Glenna Luschei Award
- Pushcart PrizePushcart PrizeThe 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....
- The 2008 Artist Foundation of San Antonio Literary Arts Award
Works
- The Theory of Light and Matter published in 2008 by the University of Georgia PressUniversity of Georgia PressThe University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is a publishing house and is a member of the Association of American University Presses.Founded in 1938, the UGA Press is a division of the University of Georgia and is located on the campus in Athens, Georgia, USA...
. In 2010 it was republished in paperback by Vintage BooksVintage BooksVintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
/Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
Further reading
- Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers and Artists featuring Andrew Porter. Edited by Nan Cuba and Riley Robinson (Trinity University Press, 2008).